Jake Tapper’s Monday night off wound up being less than relaxing. While on vacation, he was alarmed to see a neo-Nazi quote splashed across the bottom of the screen in a chyron during his own show.
Jake Tapper: ‘I’m Furious’
Tapper learned of the chyron via Twitter, when a screenshot of the show was sent to him.
yes, I'm off this week and I'm furious about that chyron and my staff has heard from me. Unacceptable.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 22, 2016
Several other Twitter users sent Tapper messages about what they’d seen.
The guest host for the show, Jim Sciutto, was discussing the alt-right neo-Nazi rally that took place this weekend in Washington, D.C. As he spoke to the panel, a chyron showed up on-screen, reading:
“Alt-right founder questions whether Jews are people.”
Sciutto also weighed in on the controversy on Twitter:
I agree with @jaketapper fully however that the banner – which we don't write from the chair – was out of line https://t.co/M4aV4W330S
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) November 22, 2016
Of course, several users attempted to say that the “alt-right founder” to whom CNN was referring — Richard Spencer — never said that.
However, the New York Times reported:
“‘One wonders if these people are people at all, or instead soulless golem,’ [Spencer] said, referring to a Jewish fable about the golem, a clay giant that a rabbi brings to life to protect the Jews.”
One could argue that CNN was simply reporting on a rally that actually occurred, and that the chyron was simply reporting what Spencer actually said. And both of those things are true.
However, the problem here is more the normalization of such things. The neo-Nazis love that their own term — “alt-right” — is being used by the mainstream media. It makes them sound a lot less scary than they actually are.
On the other hand, perhaps using their term next to such anti-Semitic language will get people to realize that the “alt-right” really is just a group of neo-Nazis.
Watch the video of the discussion here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JSTEE9MmXs
Featured Image via screenshot from YouTube video
