If the Era of Trump is known for nothing it else, it will be forever remembered as a time of bitter division and hate. In just the past week there have been a couple of widely reported incidents of politically inspired right-wing violence. First there was the “body-slamming” congressman in Montana, Greg Gianforte. He brutally assaulted a reporter who was just doing his job. Then there was the horrifying murder of two men in Portland. They were killed for trying to help a couple of Muslim women who were being harassed by a white supremacist.
In light of these and other recent atrocities, the commentary by Fox News contributor Wayne Allyn Root is painfully nauseating. On his radio show (listen below), Root approached the subject of the debunked Seth Rich conspiracy theory. This is a concoction so fatally flawed that even Fox News removed it from their website (albeit without apologizing). Root went berserk because conservative liars like WorldNetDaily and Sean Hannity were being held to account for propagating fake news.
Root’s unhinged response to this was that the right had to “fight like animals.” He charged that responsible media outlets were engaging in censorship for declining to report falsehoods. Then he ranted that “We’ve got to fight back viciously” before “our lives are erased.” He related his unsupported belief that there are boiler rooms full of Soros-paid lefties all over the world. They’re allegedly writing emails and making phone calls (oh my) in an effort to destroy the right. And then he displayed his utter idiocy by complaining that there are no such operations funded by wealthy conservatives.
Root also went after Republicans. He castigated them as “lazy, cheap, wussy, country club, RINO a-holes.” Well, okay. I can’t argue with that. However, what he said next was deeply troubling:
“We need to hire an attack dog. We need to hire former CIA or NSA or FBI or Navy Seals that have been involved in counter-insurgency operations all over the world. That have killed people. That understand how to fight. That don’t bring a knife to a gunfight. That bring a gun to a gunfight. Preferably a shoulder-fired missile to a gunfight. Preferably a nuclear weapon to a gunfight.”
Given the tensions that are currently roiling the public discourse, these remarks are beyond irresponsible. They are an overt declaration of war. He even said explicitly that “it’s a war out there and they’re coming for your women and children.” If Root is worried about conservative voices like his being removed from the airwaves, it is with good reason. He is inciting the sort of violence that we’ve just seen in Portland and Montana. Even worse, Root is calling for a brigade of trained killers to launch a campaign of mayhem. And if Fox News continues to supply Root with a platform for this hate-speech, any blood shed will be on their hands as well.
How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.
