Conservative commentator tells newspaper, “We’re coming for you”
By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 8-6-2017
The NRA’s attack on the New York Times in a video that’s gone viral is the latest conservative threat to the press. (Photo: Twitter/screenshot)
The National Rifle Association (NRA) drew attention this weekend after its newest ad went viral.
The New York Times was the focus of the video, which was released weeks after an ad that showed images of protesters and left-leaning cities including New York and Chicago, as the narrator warned viewers against liberal indoctrination by public school system, the news media, and other institutions.
Both videos have featured conservative talk radio hots Dana Loesch. In the most recent video, Loesch wages an attack on the Times, implying that the paper’s reporting does not reflect the views of most Americans.
.@DLoesch has a message for the @nytimes: “We’re coming for you.” One
non-#fakenews story is not enough. #NRA #ClenchedFistofTruth pic.twitter.com/Hm1QkJi5Tp— NRATV (@NRATV) August 3, 2017
The ad features the phrase “fake news,” popularized by President Donald Trump, but offers no information about why the NRA has singled out the Times. A number of journalists and viewers posted on Twitter about the video following its release, raising concerns about the NRA’s threat that its members are “coming for” the Times.
This is dangerous in so many ways: NRA spokesperson to New York Times: ‘We’re coming for you’ https://t.co/PugaqLd34e
— Bastian Obermayer (@b_obermayer) August 6, 2017
I wish the NRA was as vigorous in its threats against mass murderers as it is against the New York Times. #ClenchedFistOfTruth #Fisk
— Nunca Trump (@NeverTrumpTexan) August 4, 2017
The @NRA owes the New York Times an apology. It’s become an extremist organization. Threatening journalists is unacceptable.
— Thor Benson (@thor_benson) August 4, 2017
The video is the latest attack on the press in recent days, following an announcement from Attorney General Jeff Sessions that journalists could be prosecuted for reporting news based on leaked information. (Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein denied that the Justice Department would go after the press on Sunday.)
The NRA’s targeting of the Times comes days after a poll by YouGov/The Economist showing that a majority of Republicans trust President Donald Trump more than the newspaper. Republicans also reported widespread support of shutting down media outlets. However, most Democrats and independents who were polled answered that they found the Times, along with other media outlets, more trustworthy than the president.
