CNN International's Zain Verjee on Monday's Newsroom highlighted The Guardian's left-wing talking point that the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabby Giffords "points to the rise of political extremism in the United States." Verjee also bizarrely played up a post from al-Jazeera's website which speculated whether the U.S. would blame Islam for the shootings in Arizona [audio available here].
Anchor Kyra Phillips brought on the CNN International anchor 53 minutes into the 9 am Eastern hour to report on international reactions to the violence, and asked, "So, what are the headlines there, starting in Great Britain, Zain?"
Verjee launched right into The Guardian's headline as she held up a copy of the newspaper:
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VERJEE: Kyra, this has really captured Britain and the rest of the world's attention. I want you to take a look at the headline in The Guardian newspaper that says, 'U.S. gripped in row over right wing rhetoric after Arizona killings.' It also went on to say that this really points to the rise of political extremism in the United States.
Before bringing up the Islamic issue, the journalist read an excerpt from Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's column on the attempted assassination: "Kyra, Fidel Castro weighed in, as well, and said this in his column: 'Even those [of us] who don't share at all the politics or philosophy, we sincerely wish that children do not die- judges, congressmen, or any citizen of the United States.'"
Verjee then moved on to the post from the al-Jazeera website. She actually didn't mention the Middle Eastern media outlet by name, only stating that the entry came from Egypt:
VERJEE: I want to share something from you, also Kyra, from Amr Mohammed from Egypt, who posted this, saying, 'Thank God the person who did the crime is not [named] Mohammed or a Muslim, but maybe America will conclude the person who stimulated him to do this kind of act was a Muslim.' So, a lot of different points of view there, Kyra, but many people really seeing this as part of- evidence of a charged U.S. political climate.
An on-screen graphic gave a fuller excerpt of the post and specified where it came from:
"World Reaction to Giffords Shooting: 'Thank god that the person who did the crime his name is not Mohammed or Muslim,' 'But maybe Mama America will yet conclude that the person who stimulated him to this kind of act was a Muslim.' Amr Mohammed, in posting from Egypt to al-Jazeera website"
One might conclude from Verjee's report that the only international reaction worth noting is the Left's and the Muslim world's.
