In a healthy media environment, you'd learn from the mainstream media about a repugnant new ad in support of Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan’s dangerous, far-left Democratic Senate candidate. But here in the real world, there’s a good chance you’ll learn about it from this newsletter.
The ad, from El-Sayed’s big supporter Cenk Uygur, tries to blame the tiny Jewish state for the cost of bananas in America. (Yes, the entire idea is bananas, and the puns basically write themselves.)
It argues that Americans can’t afford food because the country has to help Israel kill Palestinians. It’s classically antisemitic, incendiary propaganda.
The same news organizations that pilloried Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy for a terrible ad against his opponent are running cover for El-Sayed on this one. When they even acknowledge its existence, they do so in a way that simultaneously helps El-Sayed and hides the truth.
Take the New York Times’ headline “El-Sayed Campaign Distances Itself From Group’s Ad Critical of Israel.” A lot is wrong with this. First, in AZHM, the antizionist hate movement, any amount of bigotry can be written off as simply “critical.”
And second, El-Sayed has refused to reject the ad’s substance. If he did, it would be hypocritical, since the candidate himself makes these false arguments all the time — with help from the media. News giants have spent so many years lying about Israel that people don’t know basic facts:
The United States has spent incomparably more money helping Ukraine fight Russia than helping Israel fight Islamist terrorists in this war.
Virtually all (soon to be all) the money spent helping Israel defend itself is spent here in the United States, not overseas.
The U.S. saves huge sums of money by helping fight Islamist terrorists in the Middle East, reducing the extent to which they spread their tentacles here.
Meanwhile, Uygur, the man behind the far-left propaganda outlet The Young Turks, will surely continue to be invited onto major news networks as an “analyst” with valuable opinions to offer. The same agencies that have evicted people for bigotry against other groups will keep presenting him as a reasonable voice.
Uygur is also the uncle of the media’s favorite streamer, the far-left radical Hasan Piker. He gave Piker his big break in the media. Uygur routinely blames Israel for everything bad, including the U.S. attack on Venezuela.
A Prominent Democrat Defects
In one piece of good news, some voters seem to be waking up to the dangers of El-Sayed. JI reports that “proud Democrat” David Kramer will vote for El-Sayed’s opponent Mike Rogers.
Kramer served as campaign chair for Rep. Haley Stevens, who raced against El-Sayed for the Democratic Party’s Senate nomination. (See my column about this race in the Wall Street Journal.)
JL
P.S. A new episode comes out tomorrow. Catch up on episodes now, wherever you listen to podcasts.
As the ad included a reference to eggs, the pun-sphere expands accordingly.
Just as the media accepts at face value the excuse given for any number of vile comments as having been “taken out of context” - never asking the obvious follow-up “in what context would such a statement be acceptable?” - so too comments based on antisemitic tropes are laundered through the “critique of Israel” deflection - never asking what specifically is being criticized.
What strikes me as a rather basic journalistic obligation would be to explain to the audience how the price of bananas and eggs in this case are linked specifically to US aid.
That this ad also opens the door to a (long overdue) journalistic examination into the accuracy of the charges of “genocide”, “ethnic cleansing” - you would think these would be mutually exclusive - and the all-purpose “IDF targets kids” canard.
But as the media does not seem up to an honest report on this despicable ad, it’s clearly a bridge too far for it to debunk the other libels.
Meanwhile, keep fighting the good fight on behalf of quality journalism. Democracies can only survive when the people have solid information.
For what it’s worth, I found this book illuminating.
https://journalism.columbia.edu/content/not-exactly-lying