It was bad enough that Fox News contributor Alveda King got her facts horribly wrong when she tried to tie a hideous photo of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam either in blackface or dressed as a KKK member with support for abortion rights. But host Laura Ingraham’s failure to challenge King’s whoppers may have been even worse.
Ingraham trotted out King for a double-barreled attack on Northam. Before the racist 1984 photo of Northam either in blackface or dressed as a KKK member came out Friday, Fox was attacking him as part of the networks recent anti-abortion hysteria.
So who better to call on Friday night than King? She’s the right-wing niece of Martin Luther King Jr. who is director of an organization called Civil Rights for the Unborn. You may recall that King criticized President Barack Obama’s 2015 Selma speech, commemorating the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” for not mentioning the 55 million “babies” who “have been denied the right to vote” because of abortion.
We’ve focused on Fox’s over-the-top attacks on New York’s new abortion law and its governor, Andrew Cuomo. But Fox has also gone after Virginia (and Rhode Island) for recent legislative efforts to protect abortion rights.
Indeed, while Northam is facing growing calls for his resignation over the unquestionably-offensive photo, King only seemed to care about his stance on abortion. Her opening response about the Northam controversies was, “There’s a serious question about the integrity of the governor who would say that if a child is born, there will be a conversation with the mother and the doctor to decide whether or not the child should live.” King went on to urge everyone to “rise up and challenge” Northam’s supposedly murderous mindset.
King had grossly distorted both the situation in Virginia and Northam’s remarks about his state’s bill. But host Ingraham did not correct King’s misrepresentation. Instead, she expanded on it by (falsely) suggesting that a Democratic “push for infanticide” is a trend about to start “sweeping the country.”
As for the photo. King claimed that Northam’s support for abortion rights is proof that his “heart has not changed” in the 34 years since. King’s “evidence?” “Margaret Sanger, who is the founder of Planned Parenthood … was a consultant to the Ku Klux Klan,” King said. This is another falsehood, as PolitiFact explained. The fact-checking site found that Sanger once spoke to the Women of the Ku Klux Klan to advocate birth control but was not a supporter. She was an opponent of segregation and almost certainly not a member, much less a consultant.
In fact, in 1966, Planned Parenthood bestowed the Margaret Sanger award on Martin Luther King Jr. who not only accepted it but noted “a striking kinship between our movement and Margaret Sanger’s early efforts.”
Again, Ingraham failed to correct King’s misinformation.
“It doesn’t really matter how old the photo is,” King continued. “Ku Klux Klan is still in league with Planned Parenthood and anybody that sanctions Planned Parenthood is in league with the Ku Klux Klan.”
Ingraham didn’t even have the decency to challenge that load of slander. Her response indicated she knew it wasn’t true. Ingraham said, “I can say this: I never thought we would get to this place so fast with today’s Democrat Party.” Then, as she closed the discussion, Ingraham said emphatically, “Thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate your witness tonight. Thank you so much, as always.”
Apparently, demonizing your political opponents far outweighs truth to Ingraham.
I’m not defending Northam but his racial sin is plain enough without making one up just for the sake of trying to take down Planned Parenthood with him.
Watch the disgusting smear of Planned Parenthood below, from the February 1, 2019 The Ingraham Angle.
Sadly, the King family is saddled with Alveda, career grifter trading on her uncle’s great name.
Thank you for your contribution. Sadly, this community is of rather more intelligent and thoughtful people than you are clearly used to corresponding with. Might I suggest that you would be infinitely more comfortable and at home commenting at Fox Insider, (NotVery)Breitbart or The Fundie Mentalist.
Now, time for your nap?