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PBS’s Capehart on Horrors of ‘USA’ Chants at GOP Rallies: ‘It Felt Menacing’
Reporter Laura Barron-Lopez set the scene for Night Three of the Democratic National Convention on the preceding episode of the PBS News Hour Wednesday evening, looking back with joy at Barack and Michelle Obama’s speeches from Night Two.
Barron-Lopez boasted that the couple “delivered a political one-two punch” and that “The former president and first lady captivated Democrats with a message of hope.” PBS's White House reporter did her own biased fact-checking while approving of Michelle Obama’s attack on Trump, portraying the former first lady as “firing back at Trump's remarks falsely claiming that undocumented immigrants are taking, quote ‘black jobs.’”
News Hour co-anchor Amna Nawaz opened PBS’s official Night Three convention coverage by also finding “a message of hope” in Barack Obama’s speech, crowing over a soundbite from the former president: “A message of hope….Tonight Democrats vowed to protect what they call crucial American freedoms.”
No panelist had the heart during the night to note that the only major “freedom” praised by Democrats at this convention is the freedom to have abortions (or protecting “reproductive rights” as the euphemism goes).
Meanwhile, New York Times columnist David Brooks revealed once again that he’s a poor choice to hold down the conservative end of political debate, identifying as a “former Republican,” explaining, “And I was sort of driven away, slowly by Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay, and quickly by Donald Trump.” He’s also “high on Biden,” though not enamored with Kamala. Welcome to tax-funded PBS’s idea of a conservative perspective.
The anchors also invited controversial Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan into the studio without asking her a single negative question, even though she’s provided lots of far-left (to continue the Walz-as-champion-football-coach motif) “bulletin-board material,” including her support of the mob tearing down statues during the George Floyd riots. Instead anchor Bennett issued, ahem, weird praise for Flanagan’s boss, Gov. Tim Walz, for finding the mot juste to insult Republicans.
Geoff Bennett: It was Gov. Walz who settled on that approach of calling Donald Trump “weird,” a way of diminishing him, making him small. That critique, I think, took on added resonance, in large part, because of where it was coming from, a Midwestern governor, older white man. It speaks to his ability as Democrats see it to speak to different voters in different ways.
So much for Democrats “going high” and avoiding Trump-style personal attacks.
But perhaps the most liberal moment came after the Tim Walz speech, when the Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart (who serves as a genuinely liberal foil in contrast to Brooks’ weak-tea “conservative” perspective) said that hearing the “USA! USA!” chant at Republican rallies felt “menacing,” but it was wonderful to hear from an arena of Democrats. No charge of hypocrisy for these suddenly patriotic Democrats who a month ago were condemning America’s irredeemable racism.
Jonathan Capehart: [Maryland] Governor Wes Moore did not mention it in his speech, but in his run for governor, he made his mission to reclaim the word patriotism for Democrats. Because for too long, Republicans had owned it, treated it as their own property. We’ve been, I’ve been looking at “USA” signs, people holding them up, and I will tell you, for years, when I would hear “USA, USA” chanted, particularly at Republican rallies, it felt menacing. Because those folks made it clear that “USA,” I was not meant to be a part of it. And I think with Democrats holding up the signs, they are saying no, no, no, “USA” applies to us. Freedom applies to us. Service to the country applies to us. Patriotism applies to us. This is our country, too.
Capehart joins a long list of journalists who find displays of patriotism scary, at least when committed by Republicans at rallies.
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