Although Fox News never hesitated to blame President Barack Obama for all sorts of violence, now that we know the El Paso shooter has echoed Trump’s (and Fox’s) inflammatory rhetoric, suddenly it’s how dare we talk about politics at a time like this?
It’s worth pointing out that Fox host Neil Cavuto began his interview with Congressman and presidential candidate Tim Ryan (D-OH) with a political question: “Do you think there is a possibility of some bipartisan work” that can be done in the wake of the massacres this weekend in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.
Ryan sad he thought it would be difficult but that “we are going to apply as much pressure as humanly possible on both the president and on Mitch McConnell to start with the two bills that are on his doorstep.”
Cavuto responded by suggesting Democrats should be “reining in video game manufacturers.”
“That is a distraction, Neil,” Ryan said, sounding shocked. “Other kids in other countries play video games and they play ‘em at the rates we play ‘em here in the United States but they don’t have these shootings like we saw in El Paso and in Dayton because they don’t have access to the weapons that these people have.”
“And, look, your audience in particular, Neil, can be a real game changer in this discussion here. This isn’t about left or right. This is about doing what’s right for the American people,” Ryan said. “This is happening everywhere and it’s gotta stop, Neil, we’ve gotta stop this.”
But on Fox, it’s always about scoring partisan political points, not the good of America. So rather than debate Ryan’s preferred legislation, Cavuto fired up the right-wing talking points – and dug deeper into politics - by going after Trump critics.
Cavuto asked whether it’s “a constructive idea to all but say it's the president inciting this type of behavior. Do you think that's fair?"
"I believe that the president is most certainly creating an environment here where people like this kid in El Paso drive 10 hours to go 'kill Mexicans,' kill people of color,” Ryan said. He cited Trump’s comments about Charlottesville, his “go back” attacks on four Congresswomen of color, people cheering at his rally “send her back” about Rep. Ilhan Omar and his race baiting. “That is creating an environment where maybe not the average person is going to do something stupid, but the lowest common denominator most certainly is," Ryan added.
Unable or unwilling to defend that Trump behavior, Cavuto tried to suggest liberals do the same thing. “But, Congressman, is that really fair when we had this guy who attacked Republicans on a baseball field who was a big loyalist to Bernie Sanders.
Ryan replied that he has disagreements with Sanders but "Bernie Sanders isn't creating an environment of intolerance, he’s not othering people, he’s not dismissing people because of the color of their skin."
But Cavuto stuck to his demonizing of Democrats. "But doesn't intolerance work two ways? If you're saying the president's intolerant, Congressman, then you being intolerant of almost anything he says or does kind of fits the same bill doesn't it?"
“Neil come on, like let’s be honest here,” Ryan said. “You hear the president. You know what he says. He race baits, this guy alienates people and tries to separate us based on color, and ... he uses words like invasion, and then this kid writes in his manifest ‘invasion.’”
If Cavuto really cared about constructive conversation, he would have brought the discussion back to what Ryan thinks can and should be done to stop the epidemic of gun violence. Instead, Cavuto kept stoking the partisanship. "Even Nancy Pelosi … doesn't think he's a racist, you’re proclaiming he is," Cavuto accused.
"I don't think there's any question he is, and I don't say that lightly, I’m not proud of it," Ryan said. Yet Cavuto kept pushing until finally Ryan said, “I’m telling you exactly how I see it and I’m sorry it’s the case and I’m sorry it may cut against somebody’s political beliefs and they may agree with Trump’s political philosophy, which is fine. If there is one, it’s fine. I’m talking about him creating an environment of intolerance in the United States. Instead of out of many, one, he divides us. And you know it and everybody else who pays a little bit of attention understands that this is his M.O. This is what he does.
Cavuto insisted “M.O.s work two ways.” Then after accusing Ryan of going “one step too far,” Cavuto said, “Enough with the politics, Congressman. No one is interested in the politics.”
Ryan was cut off while he was still speaking.
Watch Cavuto politicize the conversation and then blame Ryan for doing so below, from the August 5, 2019 Your World.
Cavuto is making false equivalencies to deliberately distort Ryan’s point and defend his overseer Trump.
Neil mentions Columbine to create a false equivalency between Trump and Obama. School shootings are a different animal regarding motivation. Kids aren’t motivated by national politics.
In the sole example of a liberal political mass shooting mentioned by Cavuto politicians were targeted, no people of color or non-Christians or ordinary white people in MAGA hats. Sure, he might have been stirred up by the current divisive political environment but, as Ryan says, Sanders isn’t encouraging violence (e.g., like Trump does at his rallies) or dividing America other than his rich versus everyone else demagoguery.
Ryan does a great job considering I doubt he was prepared for Neil’s ambush. The topic, bi-partisan solutions, got sidelined by Cavuto almost immediately. So I can’t be too hard on Ryan to miss an opportunity to emphasize the rise of white nationalism and related hate crimes under Trump. The spectacle of alt-right 8chan being shut down because of the disturbing violent right-wing violent posts, the cheering of Trump on white supremacist/neo-Nazi web sites, etc. all indicate disturbing trends in the era of race-baiting Trump.