Newsweek: Backlash against Keith Ellison supporting Antifa comes from racist, Islamophobic bigots

Joe NewbyJanuary 5, 2018

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As we and others reported Thursday, Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., publicly expressed his support for the violent, communist movement Antifa when he posted a photo holding a copy of “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook.” The tweet sparked condemnation from many, but Newsweek — the liberal outlet that once dubbed Barack Obama “god of all things” — said that backlash against Ellison was the result of racism, bigotry and Islamophobia.

Their proof? Comments made by readers at Infowars and the Gateway Pundit.

This is the tweet that sparked the controversy:

https://twitter.com/keithellison/status/948657342308147202

Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?

Yes

According to Newsweek:

Opponents jumped on the tweet, with Fox News and other conservative outlets like Gateway Pundit and Alex Jones’s InfoWars covering it, and running anti-Muslim comments underneath the articles.

“A Muslim promoting terrorism is not news,” commenter Supah Cisgender wrote on Gateway Pundit.

Other comments labeled the representative a “terrorist.” Pundits on the far-right also recycled talking points about “antifa,” a catch-all word for leftist protesters that has been associated with dozens of fake news stories since the start of Trump’s presidency.

Given this article, it’s rather rich to see Newsweek complaining about “fake news.”

But Newsweek wasn’t finished with its propaganda, attacking Infowars’ Paul Joseph Watson without commenting on or responding to anything he actually wrote.

The post added:

Paul Joseph Watson, an anti-Muslim performer on the conspiracy website InfoWars, posted a story under the headline, “DNC Deputy Chair Keith Ellison Endorses ‘Antifa’ (A Terrorist Group).”

The comments below Watson’s story were racially and politically motivated.

“He’s muslim and of course the only thing he knows is striking fear and drawing blood for his demon god!” wrote an InfoWars poster named “Savour4truth.” “No suprise [sic], not news, not a revelation,” an InfoWars poster named ClassicGamer1968 wrote. “Just another Black Muslim terrorist (like Obama) out for blood, the destruction of Freedom, America, and the West.”

“Antifa” is not a group; it is a word used to describe a means of protesting. The protesters involved in the movement have not been even “formally classified” as a domestic terror organization by the federal government. FBI Director Christopher Wray said in late November that some men and women who are inspired by “kind of an antifa ideology” were being investigated by the FBI to the House Homeland Security Committee, but that remark was embedded in a larger discussion about investigating white supremacists—the very people “antifa” protesters are setting out to disrupt.

It’s amazing to think that Newsweek wants us to think that Antifa — an organization classified as domestic terrorists by the state of New Jersey — isn’t really a group, but merely a “means of protesting” — in an article decrying “fake news” no less.

Newsweek got hammered from both sides of the political aisle.

This Newsweek article is literally citing the comment section on Gateway Pundit and Infowars as its source https://t.co/g0RCsMClP0 pic.twitter.com/MPzq33e93L

— Harry Khachatrian (@Harry1T6) January 4, 2018

https://twitter.com/HashtagGriswold/status/949019393165492224

“For a publication with ‘News’ in the name, they sure do suck at journalism,” Twitchy said.

Indeed. By sourcing and focusing on the comment section of these sites, Newsweek showed that it could not find anything in the actual articles they could take issue with.

One person noted:

https://twitter.com/Sam_5thEstate/status/949019961191817221

Commenters at Newsweek also took the liberal rag to task (After all, if Newsweek can do it, so can we).

“This entire piece is an abject embarrassment to real journalism,” one person said.

“The Obama admistration (sic) FBI classified AntiFa as domestic terrorists. So did New Jersey homeland security,” added a reader from Oregon. “Why would Rep Ellison or Newsweek embarass (sic) themselves by promoting domestic terrorism?”

Another person asked: “From the writing in this article, Newsweek is either ignorant of Antifa’s violence, or they condone it and are trying to cover it up. Which is it, Newsweek?”

Good question.

“Sooooo, this article does a good job of making Congressman Ellison look like a victim for endorsing a book that calls for violence against Americans. Ever heard of ‘non-biased’ reporting Newsweek? Didn’t think so,” another reader said.

“You’re quickly morphing into a 2nd tier Salon, but not as clever,” one person said.

“As usual, if you don’t agree with the socialist agenda of the left, you must be racist,” added another reader.

As for Ellison, his ties to radical organizations are pretty well-known, as Adina Kutnicki noted here. But don’t expect Newsweek to cover any of that…

Exit question: