Over the weekend, the radical leftist group known as Antifa descended on a right-wing rally in Berkeley, California to violently shut down the free speech rights of any who didn’t agree with their twisted worldview. And after turning a blind eye to their tactics, or in some cases promoting it, the liberal media appeared to have finally caught on to Antifa’s extremism. On HLN’s S.E. Cupp Unfiltered, a show that has denounced Antifa previously, the panel was glad that their colleagues seemed to have finally joined them.
“I wanted to talk about the Antifa violence out at Berkeley, which I think is finally, finally being covered in the mainstream media now,” exclaimed Dave Smith, host of the “Part of the Problem” podcast. “If you had been relying on the mainstream media for the last six months you’d have no idea. But if you watched the internet, that news, you do find out about this stuff.”
Smith described Antifa as a “borderline terrorist group” which violently pushed communism wherever they went, with no accountability being placed on the left to denounce them. “They come out with hammer and sickle flags all the time, and while everyone on the left is demanding that the right-wing, you know, repudiate Nazism, as if that's actually in fashion,” he argued.
The podcaster chastised the left-wing professors who supported Antifa’s attacks. “They're anti-free speech and the nerve of them to call themselves ‘anti-fascists’ as they violently shut down free speech,” he added.
Cupp went to Krystal Ball, the panel’s liberal and who’s an MSNBC regular, to see how and if the left would denounce the Antifa movement. Ball gave the standard canned line of ‘no violence is expectable,’ but she down played Antifa as just a group standing up to Nazis. “Let me just say in the wake of Charlottesville there is no equivalency between being a Nazi and marching through the streets and opposing Nazis,” she asserted.
“What’s the difference between holding a hammer and sickle and attacking people, and holding a swastika and attacking people,” Smith quickly asked Ball, which she didn’t answer.
TV’s Andy Levy expertly pointed out that Antifa’s definition of a “fascist” included almost anyone who was not them directly. “Also, one of the problems here is that Antifa they pretty much think anyone to the right of— I don’t know—like maybe Bernie Sanders is a Nazi,” he noted. “So when they talk about violence against Nazis, they're really talking about violence against anyone who doesn't share their views.”
“The other pernicious part of this is the masks. The masks are a way to avoid any sort of responsibility for what they're doing,” added Weekly Standard writer Mike Warren. “And just what a coward move,” Smith concluded.
It’s refreshing to see a group in the media actually denounce and cast aside Antifa’s “borderline terrorist” tactics, especially since NBC/MSNBC had been promoting them for weeks. Meet the Press Moderator Chuck Todd had given Antifa a generous megaphone not once, but twice. And during MTP Daily, fill-in host Katy Tur questioned the so-called “pitfalls” of allowing free speech. CNN even claimed Antifa was “seeking peace through violence.”
Transcript below:
HLN
S.E. Cupp Unfiltered
August 28, 2017
7:47:51 PM EasternS.E. CUPP: All right, Dave, what do you got?
DAVE SMITH: Well, I have not as funny of a story. But I wanted to talk about the --
CUPP: I sense a hard turn.
SMITH: Antifa violence out at Berkeley, which I think is finally, finally being covered in the mainstream media now. If you had been relying on the mainstream media for the last six months you’d have no idea. But if you watched the internet, that news, you do find out about this stuff.
There is a border line terrorist group, they come out with hammer and sickle flags all the time, and while everyone on the left is demanding that the right-wing, you know, repudiate Nazism, as if that's actually in fashion. These guys are taking this -- why don't we demand that the college professors who are really supporting what these guys stand for, it's disgusting. They're anti-free speech and the nerve of them to call themselves “anti-fascists” as they violently shut down free speech. I’d love to hear one left wing person—
CUPP: Well Crystal, you have to hope—and I’m sure you do— that Democrats do not want to be aligned with this any longer.
CRYSTAL BALL: Absolutely. Let me just say in the wake of Charlottesville there is no equivalency between being a Nazi and marching through the streets and opposing Nazis. But we've got to be totally clear that violence is not acceptable.
SMITH: Can I? What’s the difference between holding a hammer and sickle and attacking people, and holding a swastika and attacking people?
CUPP: Violence is violence.
ANDY LEVY: Also, one of the problems here is that Antifa they pretty much think anyone to the right of- I don’t know—like maybe Bernie Sanders is a Nazi. So when they talk about violence against Nazis, they're really talking about violence against anyone who doesn't share their views. And as you-- There's a name for that ideology.
MIKE WARREN: The other pernicious part of this is the masks. The masks are a way to avoid any sort of responsibility for what they're doing.
SMITH: And just what a coward move.
LEVY: Yeah.
