Last Updated on August 13, 2019
The New York Times claims that “the incendiary words of conservative media stars” are indistinguishable from the ravings of mass shooters.
At this point, it would be a stretch to call mainstream media mischaracterization of pro-America talking points as murderous and fascistic unprecedented, but Sunday’s edition of the New York Times went a step beyond in an editorial titled “The New Nativists: How The El Paso Killer Echoed The Incendiary Words Of Conservative Social Media Stars.”
Predictably, the Times name-drops Tucker Carlson in the very first sentence. The conservative television commentator has recently become a favorite target of the left when it comes to prescribing blame for right-wing radicalization. The piece makes note of how Carlson refers to to foreign nationals crossing the border as “border-jumpers” instead of “refugees.”
Other mainstream conservative figures are named as well, such as talk show host Rush Limbaugh and columnist Ann Coulter. The use of the terms “invasion” and “invaders” seem to be of particular note to the Times.
The piece continues,
There is a striking degree of overlap between the words of right-wing media personalities and the language used by the Texas man who confessed to killing 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso this month. In a 2,300-word screed posted on the website 8chan, the killer wrote that he was “simply defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by an invasion.”
It remains unclear what, or who, ultimately shaped the views of the white, 21-year-old gunman, or whether he was aware of the media commentary. But his post contains numerous references to “invasion” and cultural “replacement” — ideas that, until recently, were relegated to the fringes of the nationalist right.An extensive New York Times review of popular right-wing media platforms found hundreds of examples of language, ideas and ideologies that overlapped with the mass killer’s written statement — a shared vocabulary of intolerance that stokes fears centered on immigrants of color. The programs, on television and radio, reach an audience of millions.
It should be noted that there has been no concrete confirmation that the El Paso shooter posted a manifesto to 8chan, and such a claim is disputed by site owner Jim Watkins, who says that the alleged manifesto was posted to Instagram first before being copied to 8chan.
The Times editorial goes on to predictably lay the blame for supposed demonization of immigrants at the feet of President Donald Trump, saying his “signature phrases” are oft-repeated by talk show hosts and “the cumulative effect is a public dialogue in which denigrating sentiments about immigrants are common.:
Ultimately, there is no unfamiliar rhetoric contained within the piece, but simply a bolder proclamation that acts of mass murder are inextricably tied to conservative, America-first stances on immigration.
