Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y) took a National Journal editor to the woodshed this weekend for comparing her criticism of the media to President Donald Trump’s attacks.
Trump’s attacks on the media just this past week alone is a disgusting assault on the First Amendment as he once again called the press “fake news” and the “enemy of the people” on Twitter.
No politician has unleashed attacks on the media like Trump has over these last two years, but that’s exactly what National Journal editor Josh Kraushaar accused Ocasio-Cortez of doing on Saturday after she urged CBS to assign a black reporter to help cover the 2020 Election:
This WH admin has made having a functional understanding of race in America one of the most important core competencies for a political journalist to have, yet @CBSNews hasn’t assigned a *single* black journalist to cover the 2020 election.
Unacceptable in 2019. Try again. https://t.co/h7tmiBr9Fi
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 13, 2019
The post certainly looks and sounds like legitimate constructive criticism. After all, Trump’s racism helped propel him to the White House, and it’s an important issue that should be responded to with diversity.
But Kraushaar responded to Ocasio-Cortez by unfairly comparing her criticism to Trump’s attacks, and she had no problem replying in defense of her remarks:
Or: maybe having powerful editorial positions awash in people from one race, class, or gender isn’t a good idea; since we get 1000% more takes on “brown lady says a curse word” than an actual white supremacist in Congress.
If you won’t look the mirror, people will do it for you. https://t.co/P0PVfsTE4t
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 13, 2019
She has a point. Republicans threw a temper tantrum because Rep. Rashida Tlaib referred to Trump as a “motherf***er,” but have hardly condemned Rep. Steve King for defending white nationalism and white supremacy. And the media certainly didn’t cover his remarks with near the same ferocity and outrage.
The New York freshmen lawmaker then continued to educate Kraushaar:
Do you understand how fundamental the black experience is to American politics? And to American history?
One race isn’t substitutable for another. It doesn’t work like that.
It’s not about “quotas.” It’s about understanding the country you’re living in. https://t.co/sttXLoD4J3
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 13, 2019
Now I am tempted to change my Twitter name to:
“Alexandria ‘looked racially diverse (at least based on last names)’ Ocasio-Cortez” https://t.co/sttXLoD4J3
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 13, 2019
That could have been the end of it, but Ocasio-Cortez could not stop thinking about Krausharr’s remarks and proceeded to continue schooling him on Twitter the next day, this time directly addressing the earlier comparison to Trump’s attacks on the media.
I keep thinking about this exchange bc there are many aspects that are concerning to hear from an *editor.*
This is what false equivalence looks like: diminishing Trump‘s “enemy of the people” talk as “scolding” & describing my call to hire a black journalist as the same thing. https://t.co/P0PVfsTE4t
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 13, 2019
Also I never called anyone racist, just inadequate.
Also never called for strict quotas, just having representation of one of the most fundamental voting blocs in the American electorate. https://t.co/sa3qgi8BLu
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 13, 2019
Like, imagine if the world was flipped & CBS hired an all-poc team to cover 2020, & someone said “hey, white voters are really influential in presidential elections, especially in the Midwest. You should have some white journos who get that” & someone said “I found a Serbian guy”
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 13, 2019
You’d say “that’s cool, but not the same thing as this very crucial electorate, maybe hire someone from the Midwest w/ intimate understanding” and they just throw their hands up and say “now you’re calling me racist?”
It’s like that ??? meme but reading the newspaper every day
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 13, 2019
Mic. Dropped.
Ocasio-Cortez is standing up for diversity in every facet of our society, especially in the government and media where it has been sorely lacking. And Krausharr, like a lot of Republicans, just brutally learned that it’s a very bad idea to attack her for it.
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