
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 12: U.S. House Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters (D-CA) (C) talks with housing advocates and activists as they prepare for a news conference outside the Capitol ahead of a vote to extend the federal debt limit until December on October 12, 2021 in Washington, DC. In the face of potential cuts to the Build Back Better Act, the committee members pushed for the preservation of funding for housing in the legislation. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Just when it seems American politics couldn’t be more absurd, members of the activist media say, “hold my beer,” and remind the public why the Fourth Estate no longer holds the people’s trust. The press’ reaction to Rep. Maxine Waters’ (D-CA) recent comments on the Derek Chauvin case demonstrated once again that whenever a Democrat engages in controversial behavior, partisan news outlets will rush to run defense for them.
Media Activists Defend Waters
During a visit to Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, where riots broke out after the shooting of Daunte Wright, Waters made inflammatory remarks that slightly ventured into incitement territory. She told reporters that if the Minneapolis officer who killed George Floyd is acquitted, “we’ve got to stay on the street and we’ve got to get more active, we’ve got to get more confrontational. We’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business.”

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
FOX News reported that “many interpreted Waters’ comments as a call for further unrest in a city that has already been plagued by violent protests. However, liberal anchors and reporters were quick to defend the far-left icon known as ‘Auntie Maxine’ to her fans.”
On Monday’s episode of The View, co-host Joy Behar came to Waters’ rescue, claiming that she was not trying to encourage violence.
“I don’t think that Maxine meant anything by that except to say, ‘You have to stick with it, you have to be there,'” she said. “But Democrats have to be twice as smart and twice as thoughtful as Republicans. Because Republicans will say whatever they want, and they get away with it. Whereas Democrats, one little thing like this and they jump all over her.”
Either Behar is experiencing a profound memory lapse, or she believes her audience is too easily fooled. It was only a few months ago when the Democrats and their allies in the activist media were claiming that former President Donald Trump incited violence when he exhorted his followers to “peacefully” protest at the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6.
CNN published a piece claiming Waters’ comments “drew out the hypocrisy of pro-Donald Trump Republicans over incitement to violence,” further demonstrating why the dictionary should have a picture of the outlet’s logo next to the word “projection.” Media activist Stephen Collinson wrote, “Waters, from California, has gifted a narrative to conservative media that pundits can use to distract from the eventual verdict and avoid discussing crucial questions about race and policing in America.”
CBS media activist Norah O’Donnell attacked Judge Peter Cahill, who presided over the Chauvin trial, for criticizing Waters’ remarks. The judge indicated that the lawmaker might have given the defense “something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned.”
“Something extraordinary happened after the jury left to deliberate. The judge lashing out at a U.S. congresswoman. Even mentioning the possibility, a verdict could be overturned in the future,” O’Donnell.
Media activist Jamie Yuccas responded, calling Cahill’s comments “surprising.”
Yamiche Alcindor of PBS also donned her white cape and leaped into the fray to cover for Rep. Waters. “Eric Nelson is now using Rep Maxine Waters saying that protesters should get ‘more active’ & ‘more confrontational’ if Derek Chauvin isn’t convicted as a reason for a mistrial to be declared. He’s claiming she threatened violence. Fact check: Waters did not threaten violence,” Alcindor tweeted.
Journalism or Propaganda?
Members of the activist media are responding to this story by attempting to place the focus on conservatives. They are using their constantly recycled “Republicans pounce” narrative to deflect from the fact that they are the ones engaged in brazen hypocrisy.
After the Jan. 6 riots, tens of thousands of pearl necklaces were broken from aggressive clutching as members of the activist press feigned outrage while helping the Democrats weave a fake news narrative about Trump being responsible for the violence. But one of the ways to tell whether a person believes a claim is to look at how they apply it when it concerns someone they like.
Waters’ comments could easily be seen as an incitement to violence. But it is not difficult to see that her remarks were far more incendiary than Trump’s in the lead-up to the Jan. 6 riots. The word “peaceful” did not make its way into her remarks to reporters as it did with Trump. Yet, members of the activist media had no problem telling their audience that they should give her the benefit of the doubt even though she has made similar comments before.
At this point, it is impossible to deny that most left-leaning news outlets are not journalistic organizations. They have essentially become a pro bono PR firm for the Democratic Party, and they don’t seem to be hiding it any longer.
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Read more from Jeff Charles.