Media rush to knock Kanye
Say what you will about rapper and Kardashian in-law Kanye West, the treatment he has received from the media in the past week has been vicious. Pundits and media types who usually attempt to comport themselves as professional and civil cast off that veneer and maligned West with a venomous passion.
Last Tuesday, on his show “CNN Tonight,” host Don Lemon referred to West as a “prop to win over black people.”
CNN commentator Tara Setmayer suggested that “black folks are about to trade Kanye West in the racial draft, OK. They’ve had it with him … all of the sudden because he’s put on a MAGA hat and he’s an attention whore like the president, he’s all of the sudden the model spokesperson. He’s the token negro of the Trump administration.”
She went on to declare that Kanye “clearly has issues.”
After Kanye’s Oval Office visit in front of hordes of TV cameras, Lemon continued his harsh commentary, declaring, “What I saw was a minstrel show today. Him in front of all of these white people, mostly white people, embarrassing himself today.”
Progressives are gaslighting Kanye West, and it’s ugly to watch.
On MSNBC, New York Times columnist Michael Eric Dyson pounced on the MAGA hatwearing star, saying his Oval Office address was “white supremacy by ventriloquism.”
MSNBC host Ali Velshi reacted to the Kanye event as “bonkers” and “crazy” and his clearly shaken co-host Stephanie Ruhle advised viewers, “If you think that you’re going to get a thoughtful play-by-play and political analysis, you’re not. Because that was an assault on our White House.”
CNN’s Chris Cuomo explained that it was “not a given” that Kanye was of “sound mind and body,” while his colleague S.E. Cupp made a similar diagnosis. “All jokes aside,” she said, “I thought that was really sad. I think you had there a man who’s clearly not OK and a president who’s willing to exploit that.”
CNN correspondent April Ryan, in commenting on the Kanye West White House visit, inexplicably reached out to rapper Ray J for his thoughts as she explained on air. “I talked to someone who is very familiar with the Kardashians,” she said. “You know who Ray J is, he was once close with Kim Kardashian.” She added that Ray J was “a little concerned.”
Ray J is primarily known for starring in a 2003 sex tape with then, barely known Kim Kardashian — Kanye West’s current wife. What, apart from an attempt to humiliate West, was the possible justification for that?
Who is signing off on any of this vicious content as acceptable for broadcast? Why is such consternation seemingly reserved for a successful black man? Or men?
Gaslighting, intimidation and vindictiveness instantly became crafts of the trade last week, among journalists. All because a man wouldn’t conform to what progressives have deemed to be acceptable thought.
Many in the media are using their influence in a vindictive fashion, and it is contributing to a cultural divide in this country. Programmers should change their ways and resist the temptation to weaponize their platforms in the name of personal advocacy.
Media consumers must be sure to vet their news content and trust only the sources who’ve earned it.