On Thursday, your tax dollars paid for PBS NewsHour to run a puff piece on radical Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush for the 57th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches. During the profile, Bush would be compared to previous civil rights activists and praised for her support for the Black Lives Matter movement and perpetual eviction moratoriums.
The piece was narrated by chief Washington correspondent Geoff Bennett, who reported: “The police killing of Michael Brown ignited nights of protests in Ferguson that Bush helped lead, sparking the Black Lives Matter movement and inspiring her and others to run for elected office.”
If this was a serious act of journalism and not just a puff piece, Bennett would have asked Bush about if the fact that the officer in the case acted in self-defense, as confirmed by Eric Holder’s Justice Department, disproves her narrative. Instead, he introduced his old MSNBC colleague and Princeton Professor Eddie Glaude Jr.: “...he says Bush follows a tradition dating back to the Civil Rights Movement.” He then asked Glaude, “Historically, this hyphenate, this activist-politician role, how has it shown up over time and how has it evolved?”
Glaude replied that, “You had activists from across the wide spectrum of black politics getting together to articulate a black agenda. And the result was this extraordinary increase in the election or, of what we call BEOs: black elected officials.”
Later, Bennett highlighted John Lewis leading House Democrats during a 2016 sit-in to demand a vote for gun control and noted: “Bush, currently serving her first term, says she shares Lewis' approach.”
Instead of gun control, the issue was rent: “This past August, some 11 million Americans were behind on rent and at risk of losing their homes, with the pandemic-related pause on evictions set to expire. Bush said she knew the feeling firsthand, as a single mom who had three times been evicted.”
Bennett recalled that, “Bush slept on the steps of the U.S. Capitol for four nights, until the White House stepped in with a temporary extension of the evictions pause. Returning to the steps now, she reflected on what it meant.”
Once again, Bennett did not challenge Bush on the fact that the Supreme Court axed the moratorium or challenge her on when, if ever, she would accept a return to normalcy. Instead, Bennett portrayed Bush’s stunt as a win: “So once the president decided to extend the eviction moratorium, did you feel vindicated?”
Bush also ignored her ultimate defeat, “I guess, you know, what we did, it was, the people have to win.”
Towards the end of the piece, Glaude dismissed the idea of any sort of progress in the fight against racism, “We often think of the country as kind of engaging in this kind of linear progression towards a more perfect union. And that's not quite true. It's always one step forward, two, three steps backwards.”
To that end, Bennett sought to downplay Bush’s unpopularity: “Responding to some criticism that protest tactics only distract from legislation, Bush said she knows her voters best…And says the failures of traditional politics are what brought her to Congress in the first place.”
While Democrats seek to run away from the Defund the Police movement pushed heavily by people Bush, Bennett seeks to drag them back into the spotlight under the guise of highlighting mainstream activism and fighting racism.
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Here is a transcript for the March 24 show:
PBS NewsHour
3/24/2022
7:44 PM ET
GEOFF BENNETT: The police killing of Michael Brown ignited nights of protests in Ferguson that Bush helped lead, sparking the Black Lives Matter movement and inspiring her and others to run for elected office.
EDDIE GLAUDE JR. They're moving not only from direct action in the streets, to actually trying to grab hold of the reins of power.
BENNETT [VOICEOVER]: Eddie Glaude Jr. is the chair of the African-American Studies department at Princeton University, he says Bush follows a tradition dating back to the Civil Rights Movement.
Historically, this hyphenate, this activist-politician role, how has it shown up over time and how has it evolved?
GLAUDE: You had activists from across the wide spectrum of black politics getting together to articulate a black agenda. And the result was this extraordinary increase in the election or, of what we call BEOs: black elected officials.
…
BENNETT: Bush, currently serving her first term, says she shares Lewis' approach.
CORI BUSH: I pull from my toolbox as an organizer. What do you do? You put yourself on the line first.
BENNETT: This past August, some 11 million Americans were behind on rent and at risk of losing their homes, with the pandemic-related pause on evictions set to expire. Bush said she knew the feeling firsthand, as a single mom who had three times been evicted.
BUSH: It was just like, okay, well, we didn't get it done, so it's time to go. I couldn't understand how human beings could allow that to—to-- happen.
BENNETT: She says she pulled from the toolbox a tactic of her role model, Shirley Chisholm, who was known for saying, quote "If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair."
BUSH: We need the moratorium on evictions to happen today.
BENNETT: Bush slept on the steps of the U.S. Capitol for four nights, until the White House stepped in with a temporary extension of the evictions pause. Returning to the steps now, she reflected on what it meant.
So once the president decided to extend the eviction moratorium, did you feel vindicated?
BUSH: Absolutely. Well, I don't know necessarily if "vindicated" is the word. I felt happy. I feel like my muscle grew a little, because it showed that even though people say that, you know, you can't do anything, you can't move anything, you have no power, you have no say, and it was unorthodox, I guess, you know, what we did, it was, the people have to win.
…
GLAUDE: We often think of the country as kind of engaging in this kind of linear progression towards a more perfect union. And that's not quite true. It's always one step forward, two, three steps backwards.
BUSH: If not enough people want to focus on it, you get to hear my mouth focus on it because I am those people. I am--
BENNETT: Responding to some criticism that protest tactics only distract from legislation, Bush said she knows her voters best.
BUSH: The people of St. Louis elected me, with a t-shirt on and with boots.
BENNETT: And says the failures of traditional politics are what brought her to Congress in the first place.
BUSH: There is a situation happening in St. Louis that needs to be addressed. That didn't happen overnight. But you have been here for a while and you didn't use your power, your pin, or the purse to be able to affect that. So, now I'm here. You built me. If you don't like how I'm doing it, you should have fixed it before Cori got here.
BENNETT: A new generation of activists in politics, taking lessons from leaders past and carving their own way towards change. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Geoff Bennett.
