Beto O'Rourke Campaign Ejects Breitbart Reporter from Campus Event

[highplainsdem]

https://www.mediaite.com/election-2020/beto-orourke-campaign-ejects-breitbart-reporter-from-campus-event/

Beto O’Rourke ‘s campaign ejected a Breitbart News reporter from a historically black college Tuesday as O’Rourke was giving an address.

A Benedict College campus police officer asked Breitbart reporter Joel Pollak to leave the event on behalf of O’Rourke’s team. Pollak said an O’Rourke staffer informed him he was being asked to leave because he had been “disruptive” at past events.

Pollak claimed he had covered two previous O’Rourke events and never caused a disturbance. During a press spray Monday, the reporter said he had accused O’Rourke of misrepresenting President Donald Trump’s comments in Charlottesville and asked this “was consistent with O’Rourke’s pledge to ‘heal’ and not ‘inflame’ divisions in this country.”

“Whether it’s dedicating an entire section of their website to “black crime,” inferring that immigrants are terrorists, or using derogatory terms to refer to LGBTQ people, Breitbart News walks the line between being news and being perpetrators of hate speech,” said O’Rourke’s press secretary Aleigha Cavalier. “Given this particular Breitbart employee’s previous hateful reporting and the sensitivity of the topics being discussed with students at an HBCU, a campaign staffer made the call to ask him to leave to ensure that the students attending the event felt comfortable and safe while sharing their experiences as young people of color.”

-snip-

Agree completely about Breitbart perpetrating hate speech.

[liskddksil]

1. Beto's campaign doesn't just talk the talk on racism, but walks the walk nt

[Thekaspervote]

2. Good for Beto throw em all out

[sharedvalues]

3. Also more here: thread in Media forum

https://www.democraticunderground.com/11743212

[highplainsdem]

6. Thanks!

[lunasun]

4. Good on Beto. I know many will disagree but he wasn't at a black college to report real facts

and could be intimidating to the people who came for a serious event
A known troublemaker

[world wide wally]

5. I, personally, would find his mere presence offensive.

[NBachers]

15. I, personally, would find his mere existence revolting.

[Wounded Bear]

7. When Brietbart starts reporting real news, give them real credentials...

for now, issue them CT creds and make them wait in an antechamber while the real news people report.

Only bad thing is I'm sure they'll be screaming how they were "forcibly ejected" from the event because Beto was afraid of them.

[The Liberal Lion]

8. There is absolutely no reason to entertain or suffer a nazi.

Good on Beto.

[Skittles]

9. GOOD

[Blue Owl]

10. Down with Blightfart

[MustLoveBeagles]

11. Good

He doesn't have to suffer this fool gladly.

[TomSlick]

12. To be consistent,

To be consistent, if we get upset when Trump takes press credentials from "fake news" reporters, we should not applaud when a Breitbart reporter is ejected from a newsworthy event. I have every confidence that Beto could handle the guy.

I note the story (the headline notwithstanding) says the campus police - and not the campaign - ejected the Brietbart "reporter.

[rockfordfile]

16. Brietbart doesn't doesn't have reporters. They're just hacks.

[TomSlick]

21. Understood.

However, bear in mind that Trump says the same thing about NBC, CNN, etc.

If we're going to be upset about Trump barring reporters he thinks are hacks, we cannot applaud Democrats barring reporters that really are hacks.

The difference is that the Democratic candidates can handle hacks while Trump cannot handle legitimate reporters.

[Hekate]

24. Don't be fooled. Nothing Trump does is normal, honest, or right. Never use ...

...what he does or says as a guide for what you and we should do or say. We need to listen to our own internal ethical guides, and never fall for false equivalency.

100% serious here.

[TomSlick]

25. Again, understood - but -

Freedom of the press is vital. The subject of a news story does not get to decide who is and who is not a real reporter.

The difference between Trump barring NBC and a Democrat barring Brietbart is lost on most Americans. Beto would spank the yahoo from Brietbart. There was no reason to bar him and it just looks bad.

[Hekate]

28. No ifs, ands, or buts. Sorry.

[TomSlick]

34. I think that neither of us will convince the other.

[wildflower]

30. I guess it depends on what qualifies as press

How is press defined? Can anyone walk up and say they are press?

[TomSlick]

35. No, but as much as we despise Breitbart here,

there is little question that it is a media outlet. A truly bizarre one from our perspective but a media outlet.

All I am arguing for is a little consistency. If we are going to be upset when Trump bans NBC and CNN because he doesn't like them, then Democrats ought not want to see Fox and Breitbart banned from Democratic events.

Democrats don't need to protect themselves from unfriendly media. Our candidates can handle themselves. If our candidates effectively deal with Fox and Breitbart it makes it clear that Trump cannot handle the real media.

[Eliot Rosewater]

27. That is a "both sides" argument.

Those days are done.

One side tells the truth, doesnt torture children, etc

and one side does torture children and lies routinely

NOTHING is the same now, nothing.

[Bradical79]

33. Breitbart is basically a propaganda arm for Nazis

They aren't press. They promote and employ verifiable neo-Nazis and praise their message. They're as much a press outlet as the Daily Stormer. Having a fake news website doesn't make a white supremecist org press.

[TomSlick]

36. Nazi press is nevertheless press.

There is nothing to fear. Our ideas will beat their ideas.

All political thought - no matter how bizarre - (so long as it does not advocate crime) is entitled to its place in the marketplace of ideas. The marketplace of ideas is a venerable principle of liberal democratic thought (the lower case "d" is intentional). See, On Liberty, John Stuart Mill (1859).

[Bradical79]

37. No, they're not press.

Engaging with them is a waste of time at best, counter productive at worst. Their place in the marketplace of ideas is not effected by not giving them the time of day, or recognizing their endorsement of a violent white nationalist movement. Treating them like legitimate news media benefits nobody. The strength of our ideas is completely irrelevent when dealing with Breitbart and their audience. Treating all ideas as equally deserving of platforms is a big part of what has gotten us into this mess.

[TomSlick]

38. We will not convince each other.

I am both a Democrat and a democrat and will continue to insist that I am correct in both positions.

[Bradical79]

39. That's something we agree on -nt

[Eliot Rosewater]

26. Exactly, and now that the WH pursues hacks and runs away from journalists...

[Hekate]

17. Breitbart does "news reporting" the way O'Keefe does "documentaries" ...

They have no place in decent society. It isn't exercising free speech to spread lies, hate, and generally act as provacateurs.

[TomSlick]

22. See my response #21 above.

[samir.g]

13. Pollak is a neocon zionist operative

good ejection

[tritsofme]

19. Zionist is not a dirty word. I am proud to be a Zionist.

I don’t know who the hell this guy is, but very often this sort of phrasing is a dog whistle for calling someone a “dirty JOOOOOOOOOOO”

[roody]

20. Zionist does not mean Jew.

Zionist means supporter of a Jewish homeland. I'm sure they intersect in many cases, but you can be one without being the other.

[samir.g]

29. you are hearing your own whistle

[tritsofme]

32. I highly doubt it.

[Turin_C3PO]

31. There are many anti-Zionist Jewish people.

[Renew Deal]

14. Nobody that works for Brietbart is a "reporter"

They write fan fiction and propaganda.

[TomSlick]

23. See my response #21 above.

[brer cat]

18. Good. nt