Editor’s Note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of the daily SiriusXM radio show “The Dean Obeidallah Show.” Follow him @DeanObeidallah@masto.ai. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. more reviews on CNN.
CNN
—
Last year, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia spoke at a white nationalist event hosted by Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, prompting Republican leaders to denounce her.
Last week, Greene’s Twitter account was temporarily suspended by the Elon Musk-run platform over a tweet containing a graphic referring to a “Trans Vengeance Day” as she denounced a planned transgender rights rally.
And next Tuesday, Greene announced plans to protest in New York as former President Donald Trump is expected to be indicted on more than 30 counts, calling the prosecution against him “WITCH HUNT unconstitutional!”
But on Sunday, Greene was featured on CBS’s “60 Minutes” in an interview that the long-running show promoted on Twitter. with teasing: “Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, known as MTG, isn’t afraid to share her opinions, no matter how intense and direct they may be. She sits down with Lesley Stahl this Sunday on 60 Minutes.” The images attached to this tweet by “60 Minutes” include Greene and Stahl walking through the U.S. Capitol, walking outside, and Greene showing Stahl something on her phone.
In the segment that aired Sunday night, Stahl noted that the congresswoman had gone from the fringe to the front row of the GOP in two years despite having a “sharp tongue” and “pretty radical views” as well as “over-the-top” comments like “Democrats are a party of pedophiles.” Stahl also referenced a video of Greene chasing a survivor of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting, still claiming the 2020 election was stolen and failing to criticize Trump over his spending. (The interview was conducted before her indictment was announced.)
But Stahl did not mention that Greene spoke at a white nationalist event a year ago while she was a member of Congress, nor her extreme anti-Muslim views nor her defense of the January 6 rioters.
Criticism of CBS for amplifying Greene was swift and well-deserved, even before the show aired. Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois tweeted beforehand: “Wow. It’s crazy that 60 Minutes can do that.” (Kinzinger is a senior political commentator for CNN.)
Journalist Molly Jong-Fast also criticized “60 Minutes” with the tweet: “Attention is currency and 60 Minutes spends that currency on the Jewish woman with space lasers.” (Jong-Fast was apparently referring to Greene’s past claim that a massive California wildfire was started by “a laser” emitted from space and controlled by a prominent Jewish banking family.)
David Hogg, who survived the horrific 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and has since become an activist against gun violence, answered“I look forward to your questions about why she thinks school shootings are fake and why she supported QAnon.”
Two years before her election to Congress, Greene amplified the conspiracy theory that the Parkland shooting that killed 17 people was a set-up. In 2019, Greene appeared on video confronting Hogg outside the Capitol as he advocated for laws aimed at saving lives from gun violence, shouting that the then-teenager was a “coward.” She also called Hogg a “little Hitler” on social media.
Greene’s own tweet The promo for Sunday’s segment wasn’t filled with her usual “fake news” smears when she doesn’t like the coverage. Instead, Greene urged people to tune in by praising “60 Minutes” host Stahl (and misspelling her first name): “It was an honor to spend a few days with legendary icon Leslie Stahl and the talented team at @60Minutes.” Greene added, “Leslie is a trailblazer for women in journalism. And while we may disagree on some issues, I respect her immensely.”
It is true that “60 Minutes” has, over its 50-year history, hosted guests the show has called “controversial.” Among them was a 2000 interview with Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City terrorist whose 1995 bombing killed 168 people, including 19 children. And the show also interviewed Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979.
Perhaps “60 Minutes” is considering Greene — who has repeatedly downplayed and even defended the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and called for the GOP to become the party of “Christian nationalism” — in line with its long list of controversial guests. (CBS did not respond to a request for comment from CNN as of press time.)
Receive our weekly newsletter for free
However, the choice of Greene as a guest instantly recalls comments by then-CBS CEO Les Moonves during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, when he admitted that Trump’s candidacy “may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS.” Moonves added, “The money is coming in and it’s fun. … This is going to be a very good year for us,” concluding, “Sorry. That’s a terrible thing to say. But go ahead, Donald. Keep going.”
Moonves may have left CBS, but it seems his spirit lives on at “60 Minutes.” And that may be a good thing for “60 Minutes,” but it’s certainly not a good thing for America.
cnn
