After Wednesday’s congressional hearings on the Colorado Springs Club Q shooting and violence and threats of violence against LGBT people, MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports and CNN’s Inside Politics with John King came to the same conclusion: it’s conservatives’ fault.
Mitchell set the table for Politico White House correspondent Eugene Daniels, “So, this is reaching a real crisis stage, correct?”
Daniels agreed, “Yeah, I think that's right” and relied on the “advocates say” genre of reporting for most of the rest of his reporting, “You know, when you talk to advocates on the ground, you know, they, like Ali was saying, they celebrated yesterday with President Biden on the South Lawn on that bill. But then said at the exact same time you see this rise in not just actual physical violence but physical threats.”
As for the rhetoric around accusations of grooming, Daniels declared, “those are the places in which, you know, this is a free country, people can say whatever they want, but then those things they say have consequences and that’s why you see things like what happened at Club Q because you dehumanize people when you do those kinds of things.”
After arguing that if you do not like children at drag queen story hour, don’t you’re your kid to such an event and that despite the signing of the same-sex marriage bill, Daniels claimed that the country has “arrived at violence against specifically, especially black trans women in this country and those are the kinds of things that there is a big concern about, in addition to the actual shootings and all of that.”
Concluding, Daniels got in an addition lament over the lack of gun control, “gun control and gun safety is already so complicated. And you add in how people feel about LGBTQ+ folks and that makes it even that much harder for our leaders to figure out what to do.”
What about if you’re opposed to the rewriting of the English language or integrity of women’s sports? Daniels didn’t address those topics, but over at CNN, King touched on the latter as he introduced a clip of Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson at the hearing, "You mentioned the Florida Don't Say Gay law, as it is known in shorthand, there’s also a number Republican governors or Republican legislatures moving whether athletics, you know, trans Americans, and how can they compete in athletics and other laws as well. The president of the Human Rights Campaign saying today when the legislatures do that, the haters react."
It isn’t shorthand, it’s misrepresentation. As for the actual clip, Robinson was shown declaring that, “These narratives have been weaponized many times in the past against our community to enact discriminatory laws, to encourage extremist rhetoric and enable violence.”
After the clip, King declared to AP White House reporter Seung Min King, “This is, I think, the next 10 or 15 years of American life in the sense that whether you pick abortion, the Supreme Court says it's up to the states and you’re seeing red states and blue states doing very different thing, gay rights, transgender rights, same issues coming ahead to us.”
Kim agreed and accepting Robinson’s premise added:
Certainly what sort of the rights and access and protections that you have may really depend on what state you are in… We saw thousands of people on the South Lawn. I think the biggest crowd the White House has had during President Biden's term in office celebrating the signing of the same-sex marriage bill and it was really a joyous moment, people were dancing and today's hearing is really a sobering reminder of what so many people in the LGBTQ community still face every day.
Why? Because parents don’t want their athlete daughters competing against males or are opposed to the politicization of language? If MSNBC and CNN think blaming conservatives for violence is going to get people to intimidate people into shutting up, they are badly mistaken.
Andrea Mitchell Reports was sponsored by Wayfair and Inside Politics was sponsored by ADT.
Here are transcripts of the December 14 shows:
MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports
12/14/2022
12:05 PM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: Eugene, there were 12 times as many incidents against the LGBTQ community this year alone, according to one estimate. GLAAD also notes 124 protests against drag events this year. So, this is reaching a real crisis stage, correct?
EUGENE DANIELS: Yeah, I think that's right. You know, when you talk to advocates on the ground, you know, they, like Ali was saying, they celebrated yesterday with President Biden on the South Lawn on that bill. But then said at the exact same time you see this rise in not just actual physical violence but physical threats.
The, you know, people standing outside with guns and tactical gear otuside of drag shows, calling queer people groomers and saying they're coming to get your kids and this rise of political speech that is anti-LGBTQ+ and I think that is where there’s such a focus when I talk to advocates, that’s scary, right?
Because those are the places in which, you know, this is a free country, people can say whatever they want, but then those things they say have consequences and that’s why you see things like what happened at Club Q because you dehumanize people when you do those kinds of things.
I think, you know, the concept that people are going out and grooming children, that it-- it is just also a conspiracy theory, conspiracy theories work because they—there’s, you know, you have a drag show or a drag queen reading to kids, you know, that is something some people are uncomfortable with.
But then, you know, advocates will say don't bring your child to a drag show or to a place where drag queen is reading. But is this-- it feels like an inflection point for this country, because while there have been what some advocates have described as the low hanging fruit at this point, an acceptance of same-sex marriage or at least a tolerance of that, that we've kind of moved on from that conversation, but then arrived at violence against specifically, especially black trans women in this country and those are the kinds of things that there is a big concern about, in addition to the actual shootings and all of that.
Which is so complicated, gun control and gun safety is already so complicated. And you add in how people feel about LGBTQ+ folks and that makes it even that much harder for our leaders to figure out what to do.
…
CNN Inside Politics with John King
12/14/2022
12:19 PM ET
JOHN KING: And then out in the states and you're watching this play out now if you just look at red state versus blue state, you mentioned the Florida Don't Say Gay law, as it is known in shorthand, there’s also a number Republican governors or Republican legislatures moving whether athletics, you know, trans Americans, and how can they compete in athletics and other laws as well.
The president of the Human Rights Campaign saying today when the legislatures do that, the haters react.
KELLEY ROBINSON: These unrelenting efforts by extremist lawmakers help reinforce inflammatory narratives about our community regardless of whether or not the underlying bills are enacted. These narratives have been weaponized many times in the past against our community to enact discriminatory laws, to encourage extremist rhetoric and enable violence.
KING: This is, I think, the next 10 or 15 years of American life in the sense that whether you pick abortion, the Supreme Court says it's up to the states and you’re seeing red states and blue states doing very different thing, gay rights, transgender rights, same issues coming ahead to us.
SEUNG MIN KIM: Right. Certainly what sort of the rights and access and protections that you have may really depend on what state you are in and another point, what I'm struck by today listening to these stories coming from the hearing this morning is a contrast that -- that there is with what we saw actually at the White House yesterday.
We saw thousands of people on the South Lawn. I think the biggest crowd the White House has had during President Biden's term in office celebrating the signing of the same-sex marriage bill and it was really a joyous moment, people were dancing and today's hearing is really a sobering reminder of what so many people in the LGBTQ community still face every day.
