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Journalist and documentary film director Christopher Rufo called attention to the shift by the media to begin labeling conservatives as “seditionists and domestic terrorists.”
Rufo, a research fellow at Discovery Institute’s Center on Wealth, Poverty, & Morality who last year reported on how federal agencies were using critical race theory for trainings, pointed out Monday how the mainstream media is now using blanket terms like “domestic terrorists” to define conservatives in the wake of last week’s violence at the U.S. Capitol.
“Five years ago, the media launched a campaign to define conservatives as racists and white supremacists,” Rufo tweeted Monday.
“Five days ago, they changed the terms to ‘seditionists and domestic terrorists,'” he wrote, referring to the events in Washington, D.C. last week. “The first is to dehumanize the opposition; the second is to justify their repression.”
Five years ago, the media launched a campaign to define conservatives as “racists and white supremacists.”
Five days ago, they changed the terms to “seditionists and domestic terrorists.”
The first is to dehumanize the opposition; the second is to justify their repression.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) January 11, 2021
He noted the more recent “language overload” as some argued that the shift is not new for the left.
That’s true, but the language overload has been relatively recent. pic.twitter.com/wWawXFr31l
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) January 11, 2021
In the charts Rufo presented, a marked surge in the use of the word “whiteness” can be seen in the New York Times and the Washington Post. The same outlets also showed a noticeable spike in using terms like “white privilege,” “white supremacy,” and “racial hierarchies.”
The policy researcher acknowledged in another tweet that he “condemned the Capitol rioters” and President Donald Trump and others who “enabled them.” However, he reiterated that “what’s happening now is that the left is trying to extend the labels to the entire conservative electorate.”
“This is dangerous. Both can be true simultaneously,” he wrote.
He also pushed back against the use of the words “sedition or coup” which he felt is not “accurate language.”
But what we’re seeing with the destruction of Parler, for example, is the extension of the “domestic terrorism” framework to millions of conservatives and their institutions. This is deliberate and pernicious.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) January 12, 2021
Rufo repeatedly asserted his condemnation of the protesters who broke into the Capitol building and their violent behavior.
I condemned the Capitol attack and those involved in the violence should be held accountable. But the attempt right now is to expand the definition to cover many or all Trump voters, not just those directly responsible.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) January 11, 2021
We all condemn the violence at the Capitol, but right now there is an attempt to extend the labels (racist, terrorist) and penalties (social bans, network destruction) to millions of conservatives. These are my friends and neighbors and I’m going to stand up for them.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) January 12, 2021
“The definition is important. Right now, the left is trying to make the “coup/domestic terrorism” label stick in order to justify repression of speech more broadly,” Rufo contended in another response to a Twitter user.
His comments generated plenty of reaction on Twitter where others agreed about the “authoritarian tactics” but seemed to think the shift has been in progress for a lot longer.
Studies have found that when partisans dehumanize their opponents it makes it easier for them to later justify using violence against them.
— A New Radical Centrism (@a_centrism) January 11, 2021
Which is why they use “fascists” all the time, it awakens hatred in most people
— Milan Gerjo (@milangerjo) January 11, 2021
Spot on. Classic authoritarian tactics.
— Tom Malone (@americanideals) January 11, 2021
Which makes affiliating with certain issues (Free speech, common sense immigration reform, pro-life, capitalism, etc) problematic: Do you want to be against those things (A Democrat) or for them (A white supremacist Nazi inurrectionist uneducated redneck).
— Reno Nevada (@RedlectoidReno) January 11, 2021
Only five years ago? I remember this going on for much longer.
— Gitaarfreak (@gitaarfreak) January 11, 2021
Five years ago?
Ah, youth!— Baroness Munchausen On The Bayou (@redandright) January 11, 2021
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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