I write a lot about the threat of violence that hangs over our politics these days and I think some people believe I’m being hyperbolic. Honestly, I don’t think so.
Check out the rhetoric at this huge gathering of MAGA faithful in Phoenix this week, AmericaFest:
The incendiary, dangerous, violent rhetoric against Dr. Fauci continues at AmericaFest. Fox News host Jesse Watters tells them how to go after him to harass him in public: “Now you go in with the kill shot – deadly. Because, with an ambush, he doesn’t see it coming.”
He was talking about ambushing Fauci in public and recording it, so explicitly endorsing harassment rather than murder. I’m not sure the people listening to him all see the difference.
And keep in mind that Watters was deeply involved with Bill O’Reilly’s harassment of Dr. Tiller, the doctor who performed abortions in Kansas who was assassinated by a right wing zealot.
This is sick.
Meanwhile:
Anti-Fauci email from Ron Desantis today.
They are trying to get him killed. And he knows it:
Dr. Fauci responds to what Jesse Watters said in this clip.
Originally tweeted by Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) on December 20, 2021.
Update —
Following publication, a Fox News spokesperson defended Watters’ remarks in a statement to the Daily Beast, claiming he was taken out of context and merely using rhetorical devices to give advice to the audience.
“Based on watching the full clip and reading the entire transcript, it’s more than clear that Jesse Watters was using a metaphor for asking hard-hitting questions to Dr. Fauci about gain-of-function research and his words have been twisted completely out of context,” the spokesperson said.
Whyn use such a violent metaphor? What’s the purpose? Well, as Media Matters points out, Fauci has been the subject of threatening rhetoric on Fox for months now.
Watters’ comments come as Fox News has led an unprecedented wave of attacks against a leading public health figure. Fox News personalities have attacked Fauci over 400 times just since February 22, according to a Media Matters analysis of Fox’s weekday programming. These attacks can often feature violent rhetoric, as Fox personalities have likened Fauci to historical dictators and Nazis, fearmongered about a “medical deep state,” suggested Fauci should be subject to criminal investigation, and falsely accused him of creating the coronavirus.
If you think this is just blowing smoke, I think you should think again. This threat of violence is everywhere in our politics right now. It’s not the first time but this sort of thing doesn’t usually end well.
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