The Buffalo mass shooter was radicalized by Fox, Trump, and the GOP, but the right is blaming Rachel Maddow for mass shootings.
Not wanting to talk about 2022, the right is looking at the congressional softball game shooting in 2017:
Also in 2017, a Rachel Maddow superfan and Bernie Sanders supporter shot a Congressman, a cop, a congressional aide, and a lobbyist, inspired by anti-Republican rhetoric. Are they responsible? https://t.co/jImttoReIg
— Tom Swiss #EndPoliceBrutality (@tom_swiss) May 17, 2022
No. They are not because Rachel Maddow doesn’t use racist rhetoric or push replacement theory on her show as Tucker Carlson does.
The right has been running with this because retreating to 2017 is so much easier to deal with than facing up to their racism being called out in 2022:
Anyone that loves Rachel Maddow is definitely not a conservative republican! A white supremacist liberal doesn’t fit the MSM or Dems narrative! Where they gonna go with this I wonder? https://t.co/mWVzopWziQ
— Paul Miller (@pb_miller) May 17, 2022
Republicans and Fox News Viewers Have Been Had Their Racist Ideology Exposed
Republicans really believed that they could use racist replacement theory as an election platform, and there would be no consequences. The shooting in Buffalo is what happens when racist rhetoric goes mainstream and the individuals who become radicalized take action.
Rachel Maddow Is Not To Blame For Mass Shootings
Rachel Maddow is not to blame for mass shootings because she is not pushing the rhetoric of political violence. The right is using a sad deflection tactic to try to create a both sides argument on mass shootings.
Only one side is radicalizing young white boys to kill, and that is also the same side that watches Tucker Carlson spread replacement theory racism on Fox News.
The Buffalo shooter did not have to mention Tucker Carlson. He used Carlson’s rhetoric.
The party that tried to overthrow the government with a violent insurrection is trying to convince themselves and everyone else that Rachel Maddow is the problem when the real issue is Fox News and the GOP’s use of racism for political gain.
Mr. Easley is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association