The New York Times’ former editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal weighed in on the Lincoln Memorial controversy on Facebook January 22. Keep in mind that Rosenthal served nine years as Editorial Page editor and became an op-ed columnist for the Times in 2016. He edited a political book for the Times, released in October.
And yet with all that experience, he is incapable of objectively interpreting video evidence right before his eyes, piling on his hateful assumptions about the Covington High school kids because of their MAGA hats, "a clear symbol of white supremacy," while making a historically ridiculous statement blaming Trump and his "racist followers" for conflict between the Black Israelites and the Native American protesters.
Ultra-liberal Rosenthal shrugs off the vile racist and homophobic rantings of the Black Israelites and fights the real enemy: High school kids:
I watched the new video. What it shows is two groups -- the Native Americans and the Black Hebrew Israelites having a heated argument. The students imported from Kentucky wearing their MAGA outfits -- a clear symbol of white supremacy to the Lincoln memorial on MLK day -- insert themselves into the situation for no apparent reason. The Hebrew Israelites insult them, yes. But so what? Their presentation was either a deliberate provocation or the students are too blinded by their ideology to have any sensitivity toward the situation....
How did the students on the trip “Insert themselves into the situation”? They were waiting for their bus at an appointed spot in an unfamiliar city. Where exactly were they supposed to go?
Rosenthal then showed off his historical ignorance about the Black Israelites, who are not a new phenomenon – they regularly rant just blocks from the New York Times headquarters in Manhattan:
The white students then gather in a large mass behind the Black Israelites and the Native Americans come between them and stand there with their drums and start singing indigenous songs. At that point the students start chanting and jumping and shouting and dancing around in unquestioned mockery of the Native Americans. The idea that the white crowd was a victim in this situation is just obviously false. It’s tragic that Trump and his racist followers have so inflamed hatred in our country that oppressed people are fighting with each other. The smirk on this teen’s face says it all. The idea that the new video sheds some new light on the confrontation between the teens and the Native Americans is just nonsense.
“Nonsense” is the idea that the offensively racist, sexist, homophobic Black Israelites, who have pulled their street corner spiels for decades, only got that way after Trump.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, one of the Times’ favorite left-wing pressure groups, called them a hate group back in 2008, long before Trump. If you can stomach them, some of the group’s disgusting and R-rated remarks to the kids were compiled by Joy Pullmann at The Federalist.
It’s striking that the comments on the post from Rosenthal’s Facebook followers, which are almost always 100% supportive, in this case run almost 100% against his position.
Rosenthal, who started the pernicious myth about President George H.W. Bush being amazed at a supermarket scanner, has previously revealed his blind anti-conservatism in hysterical statements like his 2012 blog post accusing House Speaker John Boehner of racism for asking President Obama to delay for one night an address to Congress, then doubling down after ridicule.
