A New York state taxpayer-funded NPR affiliate falsely claimed Saturday that Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) was responsible for the Friday attack against Paul Pelosi.
David Sommerstein, the news director of NCPR, a member-supported public radio station serving northern New York, claimed that Stefanik opposes political violence but her “day-to-day rhetoric may contribute to it.”
“@RepStefanik denounces violent political acts. But her day-to-day rhetoric may contribute to it. An important thread from @zdhirsch who’s reported on Stefanik all year for @ncpr,” Sommerstein tweeted.
Sommerstein’s tweet echoed NCPR freelance reporter Zach Hirsch’s claims that Stefanik’s denunciation of the attack on Pelosi needed some “context,” and he suggested Stefanik somehow incited the attack.
Retweeting Stefanik’s Friday condemnation of the attack, Hirsch, who writes about “democracy & misinformation,” said “Stefanik regularly blasts Nancy Pelosi with increasingly harsh and personal attacks.”
Some context is needed here () https://t.co/HIBF5MvAKI
— Zach Hirsch (@zdhirsch) October 28, 2022
Stefanik’s campaign spokesperson told Breitbart News that NCPR has contrived false claims against Stefanik, all the while refusing to condemn the “violent” rhetoric that fueled the assassination attempt on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The spokesperson said:
Taxpayer funded NCPR – without a shred of evidence – disgracefully claims that Congresswoman Stefanik is responsible for the attack on Paul Pelosi just because she opposes Pelosi’s policies. They refuse to cover the violent leftist rhetoric which led to an assassination attempt on a Supreme Court Justice. This is deranged and dangerous, they should and will be defunded.
Stefanik’s campaign also noted that NCPR has never mentioned how Democrat rhetoric could have influenced the shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), along with never reporting on Rep. Maxine Water’s (D-CA) comments about how citizens should get in the face of Trump administration officials.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
