MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle hypocritically weaponized the case of a 10-year old girl who traveled from Ohio to Indiana to seek an abortion by declaring that it was actually conservatives who were “weaponizing this story” by not initially believing its veracity.
During a panel discussion, Ruhle expressed to former colleague and current Washington Post Live anchor Leigh Ann Caldwell, “the truth matters but only if you hear it. We say it all the time and I want our audience to understand this week, many, many people heard this awful, awful story in Ohio, a ten year old girl was raped and she had to flee to another state to seek abortion services. Why did she do that? Well, we all know, because Roe v. Wade was overturned.”
Ruhle then teed up a montage of various Fox’s Jesse Watters, Bill Hemmer, and Republican politicians casting doubt on the story before shifting to focus on the perpetrator’s status as an illegal immigrant.
This was all very confusing to Ruhle, “I don't even understand this. They are denying the story, they're weaponizing this story. This girl had to flee the state because Roe v. Wade was overturned. That's what the right wanted to happen. So, what exactly are they doing here?”
Caldwell didn’t have an answer and ended up just recapping the montage, “I don't know what they’re doing. What I do know is that they thought first at this -- they were blaming the media, as telling lies, as being fake news when it was actually the truth. And then when they found out it was the truth and then they transitioned their argument, to saying, blaming, or saying the perpetrator, saying that he shouldn't have been in the country because he is illegally here.”
Continuing, Caldwell declared this case proves that the GOP is extreme on the issue:
So, you know, the problem is, though, is that this is exactly what conservatives wanted. And they don't really have an answer for it. But what they do have is, there's a huge debate happening right now, in Congress and in states along the country and on the campaign trail, what to do in instances of rape and incest and Republicans more and more likely to say that rape, incest should not be an exception and so is just, you know, Democrats are continuing to highlight that hypocrisy and extremism, of course. But also, it raises real life questions for women and girls around the country.
To help Ruhle and Caldwell, it was the left and the media that originally weaponized this story by asking Republicans to comment on the case even though they would still be called extremists even if they embraced rape and incest exceptions. It should also not be considered right-wing hackery to except journalists to do a better job confirming single-source stories before turning them into high-profile national narrative drivers, even if they ultimately end up being true.
This segment was sponsored by UPS.
Here is a transcript for the July 15 show:
MSNBC The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle
7/15/2022
11:15 PM ET
STEPHANIE RUHLE: Leigh Ann, the truth matters but only if you hear it. We say it all the time and I want our audience to understand this week, many, many people heard this awful, awful story in Ohio, a ten year old girl was raped and she had to flee to another state to seek abortion services. Why did she do that? Well, we all know, because Roe v. Wade was overturned. But how did the right respond? How did they talk about the story? How did they cover it? Watch this.
JESSE WATTERS: Primetime decided to investigate this alleged child rape. No one reported this child rape to law enforcement?
DAVE YOST: Not a whisper anywhere.
BILL HEMMER: We don't know if this story is even true.
TODD ROKITA: We have this abortion activist acting as a doctor with a history of failing to report. We’re going to fight this to the end. Including looking at her licensure.
JIM JORDAN: We learned that an illegal alien did this heinous crime.
WATTERS: Don’t you think this immigration status is relevant? I do. He shouldn't have been in the country.
RUHLE: I don't even understand this. They are denying the story, they're weaponizing this story. This girl had to flee the state because Roe v. Wade was overturned. That's what the right wanted to happen. So, what exactly are they doing here?
LEIGN ANN CALDWELL: That’s an excellent question, Steph. I don't know what they’re doing. What I do know is that they thought first at this -- they were blaming the media, as telling lies, as being fake news when it was actually the truth. And then when they found out it was the truth and then they transitioned their argument, to saying, blaming, or saying the perpetrator, saying that he shouldn't have been in the country because he is illegally here.
So, you know, the problem is, though, is that this is exactly what conservatives wanted. And they don't really have an answer for it. But what they do have is, there's a huge debate happening right now, in Congress and in states along the country and on the campaign trail, what to do in instances of rape and incest and Republicans more and more likely to say that rape, incest should not be an exception and so is just, you know, Democrats are continuing to highlight that hypocrisy and extremism, of course. But also, it raises real life questions for women and girls around the country.
RUHLE: It's just extraordinary. You can have a discussion about the potential attacker and why he was in the country and that has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that a ten-year-old in the state of Ohio was unable to get safe abortion services. Those are two different and very important topics.
