The American Conservative Union would like you to believe that it took a stand when it bounced Milo Yiannopoulos from this coming weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference. After all, a number of board members were prepared to resign unless ACU board chairman Matt Schlapp reversed his decision to invite Milo in the wake of the discovery that Breitbart News’ troll-in-chief was caught on tape condoning pedophilia.
But at closer glance, this doesn’t look anywhere near as courageous as the ACU would like you to believe. After all, the man who made Yiannopoulos what he was is still on the schedule. Namely, former Breitbart chairman and current chief White House political operative Steve Bannon.
According to CPAC’s schedule, Bannon is slated to host a conversation with Bannon and White House chief of staff Reince Priebus on Thursday afternoon. But if Schlapp and the ACU board really had any decency, Bannon should have been sent packing at the same time as Milo. After all, at the very least, it is clear that Bannon, editor-in-chief Alex Marlow, and CEO Larry Solov didn’t have even minimal safeguards in place to prevent it from being put into disrepute. That is, the minimal safeguards that would be in place at any news organization worth its salt.
To hear Marlow talk on Tuesday’s edition of “Breitbart News Daily,’ the first anyone at Breitbart heard about those interviews was when the Reagan Battalion flagged them on Sunday. In case you missed it, listen here.
One problem–the interview with Joe Rogan was uploaded to YouTube in April 2016. Which means that no one at Breitbart–including Bannon–did a search for Milo comments between then and Sunday. Unbelievable. This was supposedly Breitbart’s biggest star, and no one thought to at least make sure he wasn’t making a total idiot of himself? Even allowing for this being Breitbart, this is staggering.
As a further indictment of the culture at Breitbart, there was actually a debate within the organization about whether to get rid of Milo. If they really were as “indefensible” and “appalling” as Marlow claimed, then why in the world was Milo still on the payroll on Monday? Even worse, Marlow claimed that the tapes were a “coordinated hit” by liberals and the Republican establishment who were out to get Milo and Breitbart. Hours later, when Milo resigned from Breitbart, he claimed that he was being pushed out by “a cynical media witch hunt.” The only way this mental and moral contortion and distortion would be even remotely possible is if Bannon created an environment that made it possible.
Breitbart’s newsroom was reportedly on the verge of open revolt when these tapes came out. So where was the outrage after Milo’s disgraceful trolling of Leslie Jones? Or when he fobbed off the rape culture on Harvard’s men’s soccer team as “locker room talk”? The answer is obvious–those outrages were perfectly fine because Bannon created a world where it was fine. By allowing him to stay on the schedule in the face of this, the ACU is saying the same thing that Trump did when he named Bannon to his campaign–that kind of environment is perfectly acceptable.
Moreover, when you put this next to Bannon’s myriad sins, it’s even harder to understand his continued presence. Pedophilia bad, witness intimidation good? Pedophilia bad, misogyny good? Pedophilia bad, racist dog whistles good? Pedophilia bad, bullying the media good? And on, and on, and on.
More and more, there is no way you can describe the ACU’s ixnaying of Milo as a profile in courage. Quite the opposite, actually. From where I’m sitting, the ACU boad was merely doing the bare minimum to keep from being run out of the Gaylord National Resort on a rail.
To be sure, there are a lot of other cringeworthy speakers on the CPAC roster. For instance, apparently the ACU board finds it acceptable for a law enforcement officer to declare that he only wants to reach out to Democrats so he can “grab one of them by the throat.” And of course, it doesn’t seem to mind having someone there who openly gloried in degrading women–even if he is supposedly the president.
But in light of recent events, Bannon’s continued presence stands out. Seen in this light, if dumping Milo was an act of courage, I don’t want to see cowardice.
(featured image: screenshot via YouTube)
