Melissa Francis broke into tears on Outnumbered this week over Charlottesville. But not because of the victims. No, she was upset at the thought of being “judged” for defending Donald Trump’s racial comments. Yet she has a long record of judging those who disagree with her.
On Wednesday, Francis responded to the widespread criticism of Trump’s comments on Charlottesville with a tearful, “I know what’s in my heart” after she agreed with Trump that both sides were to blame for the violence at the white supremacist rally there last weekend. “I know I don’t think anyone is different, better or worse based on the color of their skin but I feel like there is nothing any of us can say right now without being judged.”
First of all, it’s hard to think of someone being as ardent a Trump supporter as she is without at least being tolerant of racism. Trump has a decades-long record of racial animosity. Secondly, while Francis may not judge based on skin color, she is certainly happy to judge and condemn people who happen to disagree with her.
Francis calls herself a “news anchor” but she celebrated Trump’s win on Election Day night with a bunch of sore-winner Tweets that swiped at non supporters of Trump. Here are two:
Who's feeling deplorable?
— Melissa Francis (@MelissaAFrancis) November 9, 2016
Maybe California needs to be broken up? Too big to fail? #Caleexit https://t.co/qR9HIZIL9q
— Melissa Francis (@MelissaAFrancis) November 9, 2016
More recently, Francis has been criticized (OK, judged) for her Outnumbered tears on behalf of white nationalism, not its victims. But her response looks more hostile and self-serving than like any kindness toward people of color or racists' opponents: She has offered to donate all the proceeds from the sale of her book today to Charlottesville – which is fine – but she’s using that self-promotion to drum up more hostility toward those who disagree with her:
cc: @HuffPost @Mediaite @mmfa @tvnewser and everyone else who made fun - MAKE ME PAY UP! Or you could ignore this (would be predictable) https://t.co/IneW8Bm2KA
— Melissa Francis (@MelissaAFrancis) August 18, 2017
MAKE ME! BUY MY BOOK AND BURN IT! TEACH ME A LESSON! MAKE ME DONATE THE MONEY I MAKE TODAY TO #Charlottesville https://t.co/bLpTmqHbMH https://t.co/MiUsMhnXsM
— Melissa Francis (@MelissaAFrancis) August 18, 2017
Cc: @seanhannity @MariaBartiromo I'm donating any $ I make today to #Charlottesville - make the haters put their $ where their big mouths r! https://t.co/zFR7aAC2js
— Melissa Francis (@MelissaAFrancis) August 18, 2017
This is how Francis responded to a suggestion that she reach out to the parents of Heather Heyer who was killed protesting the Charlottesville white supremacist rally:
her fund is closed... that was my first thought. but the haters aren't buying the book because all they do is hate not help https://t.co/61ba9o610S
— Melissa Francis (@MelissaAFrancis) August 18, 2017
Watch Francis play the victim below, from the August 16, 2017 Outnumbered.