Following the attack on Paul Pelosi’s house, MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell (The Bulwark’s Charlie Sykes) took the time to question “What the hell are these people?” “These people” refers to Republicans. They wanted to emphasize their “fetishizationof violence,” which is MSNBC’s way of expressing support for the Second Amendment through their campaign ads.
Mitchell began by citing Sykes for the observation. “And Charlie. I just want to shout out your piece What the Heck is Wrong with These People, your Morning Shot at thebulwark.com,” Mitchell said. I haven’t even brought up the topic of some of those political ads in which people are pulling out shotguns.
Although the article does not mention ads featuring gun-wielding politicians in it, Mitchell continued: “You know candidates, that Republican head of the Republican Campaign Committee pulled out guns and validated and exploited violence in their ad against their opponents in his re-election ad.”
Mitchell refers to a tweet, and not an ad that had less than 20,000 views as of Tuesday’s Andrea Mitchell Reports. It was sent by Rep. Tom Emmer in a four-second video captioned “Enjoyed exercising second amendment rights with @KellyCooperAZ&General @JackBergman_MI1. 13 days to make history. Let’s #FirePelosi.”
That’s it. He didn’t use Pelosi’s face or any piece of Democratic legislation as a target. The video didn’t contain any words. He tweeted “Fire Pelosi”, while highlighting his support of the Second Amendment.
Red state Democrats also use guns in their ads to claim that they are a different kind of Democrat. Business Insider published a whole article about the trend during the last midterm.
Sykes found space to condemn the “fetishization” of violence. Sykes will also have a picture of himself shooting a gun and saying, “Fire Nancy Pelosi!” This has serious consequences.
Sykes also condemned the “number of candidates who have decked their Christmas cards in AR-15s, as well as, just the increasing celebrations of people like Kyle Rittenhouse.”
Continuing, Sykes declared:
It doesn’t take many disturbed people to do this.
One can only hope, but not hold their breath that MSNBC will reduce the rhetoric that accuses even the most basic form of campaigning with a “fetishization” of violence.
Humana sponsored this segment.
Here’s a transcript from the November 1 broadcast:
MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports
11/1/2022
12:31 PM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL – Charlie, I also want to shout out your piece “What the Hell is Wrong with These People”, your Morning Shot on thebulwark.com
I haven’t even brought up the topic of some of those political ads in which people are pulling out shotguns. Candidates, you know that the Republican head for the Republican campaign, Congressional Campaign Committee pulled out guns in his re-election ad and validated and exploited violence in ads against his opponents.
CHARLIE SYSKES: It is the fetishization and display of violence. You have the congressman who will show a picture of him firing a gun and saying, “Fire Nancy Pelosi!” It has serious consequences. Not only are there more candidates decked out with AR-15s on their Christmas cards, but also the growing celebration of Kyle Rittenhouse.
I mean, how is Kyle Rittenhouse a hero among Republicans? He killed and shot two people. He also shot another person. Yet, it is clear that he was heroic. The conversion of the January 6th assault into a patriot uprising.
You heard it from the man who tried assassinating Nancy Pelosi. These ideas have real consequences. It doesn’t take many disturbed people to act on these ideas. This is why it’s assumed that there will be some restraint and responsibility in the rhetorical use. Because you never know if someone might act on what you’ve done.
