The Fall of Michelle Malkin

 

At an alt-right conference running counter to CPAC, called AFPAC, conservative commentator Michelle Malkin fell further down the rabbit-hole:

In this short clip Malkin engages in not just Holocaust denial, but also indiscriminately throws around charges of dual loyalty. It’s part of a trend for Malkin, who also endorsed anti-Semite Paul Nehlen in his contest against Rep. Paul Ryan.

In her opening remarks, Malkin referred to herself as the “Mommy” of the group and thanked the “Groypers,” the alt-right group hosting her, for pushing back against mainstream conservatives.

It’s hard to overstate Malkin’s influence in the conservative media ecosystem; she is the founder of HotAir, Twitchy, and was a mentor to many up-and-comers over the course of her time at the helm of both.

And because of Malkin’s influence, we (as a conservative movement) need to self-reflect about how reflective Malkin’s views are of our movement as a whole. Has Malkin always questioned the number of Jews who died in the Holocaust? Has Malkin always considered Jews to be agents of the Israeli government? How mainstream are the views she’s professing now in the conservative movement? They are uncomfortable questions, but ones we need to be asking as we continue to (rightly) call out the anti-Semitism on the Left with Omar, Tlaib, etc.

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  1. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Gary McVey (View Comment):
    It skillfully admits that perhaps it’s harder to defend Fuentes.

    Skillfully?

    • #301
  2. Ed G. Member
    Ed G.
    @EdG

    Gary McVey (View Comment):
    Endless legalistic attempts to cover up common sense with insisting that such-and-such Jew-hating statement does not quite meet a commenter’s own rather high tolerance for excessive Jew-blaming doesn’t cut it. 

    Gary, who are you talking about here? 

    • #302
  3. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    I think this is exactly what happens with the overuse if the charge or racism. Any use of it is now automatically suspect. For people used to seeing it get used to shut down debate, there is an automatic response of defense. 

    If we want to combat real racism, we need to stop calling everyone racist.

    But, even talking here, it happens. I wager I could discuss the Bell Curve and get called racist here. 

    • #303
  4. Ed G. Member
    Ed G.
    @EdG

    Basil Fawlty (View Comment):

    Gary McVey (View Comment):
    It skillfully admits that perhaps it’s harder to defend Fuentes.

    Skillfully?

    Basil, it’s all already written apparently. There’s nothing more to know or discuss. Fuentes definitely wasn’t joking and Malkin, despite the ridiculousness of the proposition, is antisemitic too because of the company she keeps. Any questioning is inherently disingenuous.

    • #304
  5. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    V.S. Blackford (View Comment):

    It is possible to have an identity without having to denigrate all others.

    It’s a matter of deciding what defines a group and makes it meaningfully different and unique.  It isn’t necessarily about denigrating anybody else.

    There is this imagined mythical past

    Aren’t they all?

    • #305
  6. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    Zafar (View Comment):

    V.S. Blackford (View Comment):

    It is possible to have an identity without having to denigrate all others.

    It’s a matter of deciding what defines a group and makes it meaningfully different and unique. It isn’t necessarily about denigrating anybody else.

    There is this imagined mythical past

    Aren’t they all?

    I think so. A matter of degree, to be sure. 

    • #306
  7. Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… Member
    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio…
    @ArizonaPatriot

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    I think this is exactly what happens with the overuse if the charge or racism. Any use of it is now automatically suspect. For people used to seeing it get used to shut down debate, there is an automatic response of defense.

    If we want to combat real racism, we need to stop calling everyone racist.

    But, even talking here, it happens. I wager I could discuss the Bell Curve and get called racist here.

    On the bright side, I have discussed The Bell Curve here, and have not been called racist.  But I know what you mean.

    • #307
  8. Instugator Thatcher
    Instugator
    @Instugator

    I was perusing my news feed today and I came across a defense of Michelle Malkin by Robert Stacy McCain. For one thing he points out that Michelle malkin’s stance on immigration issues goes all the way back to the time when Nick Fuentes was a toddler. The other part of his defense is from his personal knowledge of Michelle. I have a lot of respect for Robert Stacy McCain, I have never known him to be wrong on an issue certainly not that I can remember now. So read the whole thing.

    • #308
  9. Hoyacon Member
    Hoyacon
    @Hoyacon

    Instugator (View Comment):

    I was perusing my news feed today and I came across a defense of Michelle Malkin by Robert Stacy McCain. For one thing he points out that Michelle malkin’s stance on immigration issues goes all the way back to the time when Nick Fuentes was a toddler. The other part of his defense is from his personal knowledge of Michelle. I have a lot of respect for Robert Stacy McCain, I have never known him to be wrong on an issue certainly not that I can remember now. So read the whole thing.

    I read it, and I appreciate the link (see “like”).  But I’d say that there isn’t much substance to the defense, and McCain honestly makes clear that he’s in debt to Malkin.  I’m not going to accuse Malkin herself of being an anti-Semite, but I do think it’s time to judge, in a fair manner and on substance, whether those she mentions are worthy of her support.  This is a difficult task, but somebody needs to do it, not the least because IMO the NeverTrump movement is grounded significantly in the largely inarticulated belief that Trump makes common cause with anti-Semites and other supremacist types.  That’s not an endorsement of that view, BTW.

    • #309
  10. Instugator Thatcher
    Instugator
    @Instugator

    Hoyacon (View Comment):
    But I’d say that there isn’t much substance to the defense, and McCain honestly makes clear that he’s in debt to Malkin.

    I agree, which is why I mention his personal relationship.

    A while back Gen John Kelly was being accused of something or other and @bossmongo personally attested to Gen Kelly’s character. I accepted that, no questions asked.

    While I do not put Stacey McCain on the same level as  @bossmongo, I have been a long time reader and I am willing to take his word for it.

    Particularly since McCain has convinced me that truly crazy things happen for real

    E.g. Brett Kimberlin and Deborah Frisch.

    • #310
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