NewsBusters previously reported how a New York Times news story on July 8 gushed over “Auntie Maxie,” also known as Rep. Maxine Waters, the liberal U.S. Representative for California’s 43rd Congressional District.
Liberal journalist Ana Marie Cox’s obsequious interview in her slot at the back of the July 23 Times Sunday Magazine portrayed Waters as a hero to the young and hip, and proved the paper’s propaganda for liberal politicians can’t be limited to just one section of the paper. Waters is sufficiently left-wing for Cox, in a way that even CNN anchor Don Lemon failed to be: “Maxine Waters Is Learning From Millennials.” If being hip is being seen as engaging in some financial shenanigans with your husband, count me out (and most other millennials).
A truncated sampling of Cox’s super-soft treatment of Waters below. All of Cox’s questions are in bold, and some of Waters’ snide partisan responses are included in italics after the questions that triggered them.
Recently you’ve found internet fame after some of your public appearances went viral. Why do you think you’ve become so popular with young people?
How does it feel to be a meme?
I’ve seen a few references to your rhetoric, including the nickname Kerosene Maxine. Do you like-I don’t. I think it was born out of a right-wing group’s description of a person they didn’t like, and they try to tag you with something that would help others believe there’s something wrong with you. I like Auntie Maxine.
(So did the Times, in its headline on July 8.)
You’ve actually said that you have a right to your anger. There’s a history of enslaved African-Americans having to make their slave masters comfortable. This business of what we call skinning and grinning -- that is something African-Americans are very much cognizant of.
Cox turned even potential tough topics into softballs, and allowed Waters to play the race card without rebuttal:
Tucker Carlson went after you recently: He used some very loaded language about your home, which he implied you could not afford on a government salary. I own several properties. The way he talked about it is: What right does an African-American woman have to do well? He doesn’t know anything about my investments, about the house that I’ve lived in for 25, 30 years. This idea of ‘‘how could she afford that?’’ is racist, and I just dismiss it.
Do you think that the Democrats should have made a more compelling argument to black voters in the last election?
In 2010, the Republican-dominated House ethics committee investigated you for allegations that you tried to intervene on behalf of a bank that your husband had a financial stake in, but you were cleared in 2012. Do you think it’s odd that they did that to you but won’t go after President Trump?
Do you think you might be having a more relaxed life if Trump weren’t president?
Do you feel pessimistic about the future under this administration?
If you could have a private conversation with Trump, what would you say to him? I would not waste my time.
Very classy!
