Tommy Robinson’s fans scramble to defend Trump despite being so ‘pro-children’s rights’ just a few weeks ago

Detained children and Katie Hopkins


Support us and go ad-free

For the last few weeks, Tommy Robinson‘s fans have portrayed themselves as bastions of children’s rights. But the news that Donald Trump’s immigration policy is tearing children away from their parents has decidedly changed their tune.

It’s almost like it was never really about children’s rights after all.

Spot the difference

Judge Geoffrey Marson jailed Robinson – real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – for potentially prejudicing an active court case. Robinson’s acts could have stopped justice being served for the hideous crimes the defendants were being accused of.

Katie Hopkins – the aspiring queen of the ‘alt-right’ – took to Fox News to try and defend Robinson.

She also sent a warning to anyone who had the temerity to suggest that racism played a role in her actions:

But when responding to the news that children in Trump’s detention centres were wailing for their parents, Hopkins changed her tune. Apparently, children’s rights were not quite as important when those children were from Latin America.

Infowars host Alex Jones, meanwhile, followed the same trajectory:

Infowars editor Paul Joseph Watson also appeared to have little sympathy:

And Peter Sweden seemed to go from caring deeply about Robinson’s child being separated from his parent…

… to not giving a crap about the many hundreds of children separated from their parents by Trump:

Hypocrites

Thankfully, this hypocrisy was not lost on people:

Don’t come!

Unsurprisingly, the far right has a very simple solution to the detention of children in the US:

‘Don’t come to America!’ Why didn’t anyone else think of that? The children are saved!

But if people like Hopkins bothered to do an ounce of research, they’d see the answer isn’t actually that simple. Families don’t just try and get into the US because they feel like it. Many are fleeing poverty and violence. And America has played a strong role in creating the insecure conditions which lead to migration from Central America. HuffPost, for example, has described how:

Since the 1950s, the U.S. has sown violence and instability in Central America. Decades of Cold War gamesmanship, together with the relentless global war on drugs, have left a legacy of chaos and brutality in these countries.

And this is not just true in the Americas. A study by Left Voice found that:

the largest sources of immigration to Europe are precisely the countries that suffered imperialist oppression in recent decades.

On their own

Meanwhile, even right-wing news sites feel Trump has gone a step too far in detaining innocent children:

The alt-right brigade are really on their own this time. And the flexible principles they have displayed over the past few weeks show that they will do anything to further their agenda of racism and fear. But then, what else did we expect from them?

Get Involved!

– Join the protests when Trump visits the UK.

– Join The Canary so we can keep holding the powerful to account.

Featured image via tlcuk/YouTube & CBSNews/YouTube

Support us and go ad-free

Do your bit for independent journalism

Did you know that less than 1.5% of our readers contribute financially to The Canary? Imagine what we could do if just a few more people joined our movement to achieve a shared vision of a free and fair society where we nurture people and planet.

We need you to help out, if you can.

When you give a monthly amount to fund our work, you are supporting truly independent journalism. We hold power to account and have weathered many attempts to shut us down and silence the counterpoint to the mainstream.

You can count on us for rigorous journalism and fearless opposition to an increasingly fascist government and right wing mainstream media.

In return you get:

  • Advert free reading experience
  • Behind the scenes monthly e-newsletter
  • 20% discount from our shop

 

The Canary Fund us

Comments are closed

Related articles