David Harsanyi Rejoins The Federalist As Senior Editor
Renowned conservative columnist and pundit David Harsanyi has rejoined The Federalist as senior editor, the company announced Tuesday.
MSNBC host Joy Reid, in an unhinged rant on social media, asserted without evidence that the long-term goal of Republican voters is to impose "unbreakable rule by far right Christian ideologues" on the country.
In a string of flaming hot takes fired off Tuesday, Reid claimed that Republicans are appealing to pro-rape and pro-child marriage voters to win elections.
"The greatest, and sickest irony of the @GOP's new political strategy is that they are appealing to the most prurient fears of white Christian parents, while passing bills and maintaining alliances that normalize child brides and rape as a legitimate means of procreation," Reid began.
The greatest, and sickest irony of the @GOP's new political strategy is that they are appealing to the most prurient fears of white Christian parents, while passing bills and maintaining alliances that normalize child brides and rape as a legitimate means of procreation.— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid \ud83d\ude37 (@Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid \ud83d\ude37) 1649204626
"If Democrats were anything like Republicans, they'd long ago have begun calling them the pro-rape, pro child marriage party," she continued, accusing Repubicans of "forcing women to be child-birthing slaves of the state" and "banning the teaching of what slavery is to keep the chattel docile."
The MSNBC host did not provide evidence that Republicans have passed bills that "normalize child brides" or make rape "a legitimate means of procreation." These claims are false.
In the past she's attacked abortion restrictions supported by Republicans, such as the Texas fetal heartbeat law that bans abortions after six weeks, as some kind of "American Taliban" and made comparisons between GOP laws and the dystopian Hulu series "The Handmaid's Tale." She has also claimed that Republican states attempting to ban critical race theory are teaching students "Confederate race theory" instead, as Fox News has reported.
It is unclear what prompted her latest rant, although she referred to an MSNBC segment with host Chris Hayes that discussed GOP attacks on Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson's record in child pornography cases. Republicans have accused Jackson of being soft on crime and child predators in particular, and Hayes tied their line of attack to Q-Anon conspiracy theories, accusing Republicans of hypocrisy because in his view they have not adequately condemned child predators in their own party, such as disgraced former Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert, former Rep. Mark Foley, and former Senate candidate Roy Moore.
Reid insisted she was not "exaggerating" by citing two 2017 articles from the Federalist encouraging Alabama voters to support Moore, who was accused of sexual misconduct. During the 2017 special election for Senate in Alabama, a woman came forward with allegations that Moore had pursued a sexual encounter with her four decades earlier, when she was just 14 and he was 32. Moore has denied the allegations.
And here's another, in which the @FDRLST gives away the game: all that matters is the SCOTUS. Because it is through the Supreme Court, that the white Christian right hopes to impose its Taliban code and procreation-centered ideology on us all. #underhiseyehttps://thefederalist.com/2017/11/28/justified-vote-morally-questionable-politician/\u00a0\u2026— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid \ud83d\ude37 (@Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid \ud83d\ude37) 1649206894
The first article she referred to is an op-ed by a philosophy professor at Ouachita Baptist University that downplayed the age difference between Moore and his accuser at the time of the alleged encounter as "not an uncommon occurrence during this time" and "not without some merit if one wants to raise a large family." The second is an op-ed by D.C. McAllister, who argued more broadly that a political candidate's character should not be the only concern for voters.
Armed with the opinions of two people from a single publication with numerous writers and diverse guest columnists, Reid denounced all conservative ideology as "Putinite fascism mixed with Talibanism."
"And it's what they hope to impose on us: unbreakable rule by far right Christian ideologues, coal & oil polluters, heeled corporations & the super rich. With all rights hoarded by white Christian men & everyone else under firm control," Reid tweeted.
Fascist America is not gonna be a great place to live, folks, at least not for women and people of color. It can still be prevented, but y'all have got to wake up. And yeah, Democrats are largely uninspiring and terrible fighters. But they're all that stands between us and them.— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid \ud83d\ude37 (@Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid \ud83d\ude37) 1649206896
"Fascist America is not gonna be a great place to live, folks, at least not for women and people of color. It can still be prevented, but y'all have got to wake up. And yeah, Democrats are largely uninspiring and terrible fighters. But they're all that stands between us and them," she concluded.
YouTube has banned Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson from uploading videos on the platform for seven days after he posted a clip wherein he criticizes Washington bureaucrats for "working against robust research" on early COVID-19 treatments, including hydroxychloroquine.
The Google-owned video platform said in a statement that Johnson had violated its "medical misinformation policies."
The Federalist's Molly Hemingway reported the ban Friday, explaining that Johnson had said in his now-pulled video that "Johnson took bureaucrats in the Trump and Biden administrations to task for 'not only ignoring but working against robust research [on] the use of cheap, generic drugs to be repurposed for early treatment of COVID.'
"It always baffled me that there was such a concerted effort to deny the American public the type of robust exploration research into early treatment early in this pandemic," Johnson said. He added that two drugs used for early treatment of COVID-19, hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, are "incredibly safe."
Johnson shared Hemingway's article on Twitter, writing, "YouTube's arrogant Covid censorship continues. How many lives will be lost as a result? How many lives could have been saved with a free exchange of medical ideas? This suppression of speech should concern every American. @FDRLST."
News of the GOP senator's ban comes the day after multiple outlets reported on a new study showing that hydroxychloroquine and zinc treatments to COVID-19 patients on ventilators improved survival rates nearly three-fold.
The revelation sparked fury from former Trump adviser Peter Navarro, who said the results show Dr. Anthony Fauci and CNN have "blood" on their hands for dismissing the potential benefits of HCQ to coronavirus patients.
Regardless, YouTube told Fox News that it removed Johnson's latest video because it violated the platform's COVID-19 "medical misinformation policies."
"We removed the video in accordance with our COVID-19 medical misinformation policies, which don't allow content that encourages people to use Hydroxychloroquine or Ivermectin to treat or prevent the virus," the spokesperson said.
The policy states that "YouTube doesn't allow content that spreads medical misinformation that contradicts local health authorities' or the World Health Organization's (WHO) medical information about COVID-19."
The ban comes months after YouTube pulled down two videos Johnson posted showing testimony at the Senate Committee on Homeland Security regarding promising research on early COVID-19 treatments.
Johnson wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in February after the videos were pulled, titled, "YouTube cancels the U.S. Senate: It censors testimony from physicians on early treatments for COVID-19 patients."
In reaction to his ban this week, Johnson told Fox News:
"Big Tech and mainstream media believe they are smarter than medical doctors who have devoted their lives to science and use their skills to save lives. They have decided there is only one medical viewpoint allowed, and it is the viewpoint dictated by government agencies. How many lives will be lost as a result? How many lives could have been saved with a free exchange of medical ideas?"
He added, "Government-sanctioned censorship of ideas and speech should concern us all."