Ross Douthat, a New York Times opinion columnist, stated that the liberal media had misrepresented its message on the January 6th riot by downplaying the recent assassination attempt against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The columnist discussed how Americans feel that everyone is guilty of condoning violence against others, based on how left-wing violence was covered by the media.
He pointed out that suspect Nicholas Roske was not an isolated act of violence from left. He cited protests outside the homes of conservative Supreme Court Justices and alleged arsons against prolife pregnancy centers after the Supreme Court draft abortion opinion leak.
Douthat said that media coverage was “limited” to “perfunctory,” despite the seriousness of the incident, and its implications.
“Kavanaugh’s assassin did appear in this newspaper and The Washington Post. He said that neither the specific threat, which is a constitutionally significant one since an assassination could tip the balance of court’s favor, nor the general intimidation campaign have been considered big news.
Douthat noted that this story would have received “undoubtedly” extensive coverage from the media if right-leaning individuals had attempted to kill a liberal justice and threatened justices in their own homes.
The New York Times didn’t cover the assassination attempt. It was instead relegated the next day to page A20.
He also took to Twitter to criticize the media for yawning at Democrats who “slow-walk” a bill that would have protected Supreme Court justices.
Although President Biden did not condemn the attack against Justice Kavanaugh last week through a spokesperson for the White House, he did speak out publicly.
Douthat also stated that the media’s pre-existing ideological bias made it difficult for them to accurately cover the looting and rioting occurring during the George Floyd protests of 2020. There were 18 deaths and nearly $2 billion of property damage due to those riots.
He claimed that the media were complicit in encouraging radicalization by the left.
Despite the media hype, many Democrats and Republicans admit that the January 6 hearings won’t have any impact on the November midterm election. According to polls and political strategists, the economy is a major concern.
