If you thought Trump was bad, here comes Murdoch (TWEETS)
Rupert Murdoch has taken to Twitter to discuss Donald Trump’s call for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States”.
Has Trump gone too far? Regardless, public is obsessed on radical Muslim dangers, Complete refugee pause to fix vetting makes sense.
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) December 8, 2015
So, Murdoch wonders whether Trump has gone too far, but what’s “too far” for Murdoch? Following the Charlie Hebdo massacre in January, Murdoch tweeted the following:
Maybe most Moslems peaceful, but until they recognize and destroy their growing jihadist cancer they must be held responsible
Read on...
Support us and go ad-free
At the time, the tweet rightly caused a huge backlash, and sure enough, it was later retracted as it blamed all Muslims for a “jihadi cancer”. But is this not the same ideology that is propelling Trump to call for Islamophobic action? Maybe for Murdoch the step “too far” is actually acting on the racist impulse, rather than just spouting it.
Murdoch then ponders on the public’s obsession with “radical Muslim dangers”. Why on earth might that be? Could it be this Sun newspaper headline?
Or this Fox News interview?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w2ZS231BAQ
These are, of course, news outlets that are part of Murdoch’s media empire, where such base and misleading commentaries are commonplace.
In fact, Trump’s latest fascist folly seems to have been directly inspired by Fox News claims. Earlier this year, Fox commentator Steven Emerson declared that parts of Europe, like Birmingham for example, had become so Islamic that non-Muslims didn’t dare to venture there. This claim was immediately rebuked for the alarmist drivel it is, but it doesn’t seem Trump got the memo, as he made a near-identical claim to justify the necessity of his radical plan.
Finally, Murdoch comes to the point of his tweet, a refugee “pause” that “makes sense”. Channel 4 news editor Paul Mason here calls him out for his cloaked language:
@rupertmurdoch “pause” it sounds so nice until you are pausing in the sea with your kids, or with ISIS trying to kill you. Pause. Yeh. Pause
— Paul Mason (@paulmasonnews) December 8, 2015
In just 140 characters, Murdoch perfectly illustrates his slippery shyster ways. He feigns mild outrage at Trump’s suggestions. Then, he reasons with them by noting the public’s concern – which, incidentally, he is largely responsible for. Finally, he does what he surely intended to do in the first place – agrees with Trump on keeping Muslims out.
Thankfully, many on Twitter came out against him:
https://twitter.com/RachaelHasIdeas/status/674325576807669765
https://twitter.com/ROBERTLUIS/status/674375645665886209http://
Others treated his feigned deliberations with the ridicule it deserved:
Ironic question of the day…
“@rupertmurdoch: Has Trump gone too far?”
— Schloss Lulzville Schadenfreude (@GeorgeBludger) December 8, 2015
https://twitter.com/theharryshearer/status/674357740324724736http://
Now that’s a point. Murdoch is more of a danger than most. Petition, anyone?
Image via Kevin N. Murphy and David Shankbone
We know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support
The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.
The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.
So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.
