On Thursday evening, the broadcast network evening news casts all ignored the current controversy over Democratic ties to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan sparked by his most recent spate of racist and anti-Semitic comments, as the Republican Jewish Coalition has called on seven congressional Democrats to resign, including DNC deputy chair Keith Ellison. Only FNC's Special Report with Bret Baier gave the story attention Thursday evening, following on from earlier in the morning when the other networks similarly ignored the controversy as FNC's Fox and Friends ran a full report.
In fact, with the exception of CNN's Jake Tapper on Monday, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, and PBS have all completely ignored the controversy -- which contrasts with their eagerness in late 2016 to hype a white nationalist meeting in Washington, D.C., which infamously featured Nazi salutes, as the media tried to tie it to President Donald Trump.
Also of note, the Daily Caller recalled last night that the number three Democrat in the House -- Jim Clyburn of South Carolina -- also has a history of appearing with Farrakhan.
On Thursday's Special Report show, Baier introduced a full report by recalling that "women's groups in the U.S. and some Democratic politicians are taking considerable heat for not being critical of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and his latest rant against Jews and white people." He added: "Correspondent Doug McElway looks at what the minister is saying and what many on the left are not."
FNC's Doug McKelway began by showing a clip of Farrakhan declaring that "the powerful Jews are my enemy" as the correspondent then recounted: "Minister Farrakhan continues to be an uncomfortable presence for the left," noting that on February 25, the Nation of Islam leader gave a speech "laced with a volley of anti-Semitic rantings."
Then came two additional clips from the February 25 speech:
FARRAKHAN CLIP #1: They are the mother and father of Apartheid -- Jews.
FARRAKHAN CLIP #2: The good Jews, you better separate from these satanic Jews, lest they take you down to Hell with them because that's where they're headed.
McKelway went on to inform viewers that the Republican Jewish Coalition called for seven congressional Democrats -- including Ellison and Maxine Waters -- to resign because of their links to Farrakhan. He then quoted Ellison from a recent Washington Post interview as saying "no one cares" about his ties to Farrakhan, and showed a clip of the Minnesota Democrat appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe in December and defending his history of praising the Nation of Islam leader.
CNN's New Day also deserves a special note because -- as CNN's flagship morning show has ignored the Farrakhan controversy -- just last month New Day host Alisyn Camerota actually interviewed a self-described Nazi who will be the Republican nominee for an Illinois congressional district because of the technicality that no other Republican candidate chose to run because the district is so safely Democratic.
