Hate is in the air
Alfred Lord Tennyson is remembered in part for a poem that declared “In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” It’s clear Tennyson isn’t living in the present day United States.
As Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu wage an aerial war on Iran’s Islamic Republic, the American right is waging a verbal assault on Muslims.
Some of it is, sadly, par for the course, like Tennessee Republican Representative Andy Ogles’ Xitter screed that “Muslims don't belong in American society,” a vile remark that has earned him criticism from what’s becoming a fading collection of honorable conservatives.
David Bernstein offers a more detailed list of MAGA’s assault on Muslims.
But far more offensive is the ongoing campaign by radio “personalities” and January 6 insurrectionists directed at one Muslim in particular. And the legacy media appearing to view all of it through the prism of what might be generously called a developing “vibe” beat.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been a target of conservative mouth-breathers from the day he became a viable candidate, let alone after he twice took down Andrew Cuomo to win the job.
But his unique campaign style and his shift to traditional governance has befuddled legacy outlets. As media critic Margaret Sullivan noted shortly after his election:
“Mamdani has presented some sort of existential threat to the media, both on the right (full-on panic mode) and in the establishment press (somewhere between hostility and puzzlement).”
Take for example a “social media firestorm” that greeted the recent discovery that Mamdani’s wife two years ago liked posts celebrating Hamas’ October 7th savage attack on Israel.
Posts made by a private citizen, a woman who identifies as Syrian-American, well before her husband ran for mayor.
The battle lines between Israel and Palestine — not to mention Jews and Muslims — is millenniums-old and is unlikely ever to be resolved, certainly not by media.
But that existential threat cited by Sullivan was best represented recently by WABC Radio host Sid Rosenberg, who blood libeled Mamdani as an “America hating, Jew hating, Radical Islam cockroach.”
It sparked a spitting contest when Mamdani, who initially chose to be silent, opted to respond to a legacy outlet question, that in turn prompted Rosenberg to unleash another volley of venom. That left some journalists scratching their heads over why the mayor hailed for his campaign communications talents didn’t escalate the rhetoric. His response:
“I want to be very clear that I have far more urgent work in front of me than indulging the provocations of a man who trades in outrage and frankly fears the city that we are looking to build, which is one where every single New Yorker who lives here can call it their home,” he said.
But the vibe beat really took off after pardoned January 6th insurrectionist Jake Lang staged a “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City, Stop New York City Public Muslim Prayer,” rally at Gracie Mansion, which drew roughly 20 people and about 120 counter-protesters outside the mayor’s official residence.
Among those in the crowd were two “outside agitators” from Philadelphia, who claimed to be inspired by ISIS and who heaved an improvised explosive device into the street.
I asked Google Gemini to analyze coverage. The chatbot broke it down into three categories. Feel free to disagree:
Legacy Outlets (The New York Times, CBS News, PBS): These organizations have largely adopted a “security and stability” frame. Coverage focuses on the technical details of the improvised explosive devices containing TATP and the federal charges unveiled by U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. In these reports, the anti-Muslim nature of the original protest is often relegated to a background “contextual” element, while the “ISIS-inspired” motivation of the counter-protesters is the lead headline.
Progressive and Local Media (The City, Hell Gate, City & State): These outlets have placed greater emphasis on the preceding provocation. They highlight that the protest, titled “Stop the Islamic Takeover of NYC,” was a targeted act of bigotry against the Mayor’s residence. Their analysis critiques the NYPD’s handling of the initial clash, focusing on the use of pepper spray by the far-right group before the IED incident occurred.
Conservative Media (The New York Post, Washington Examiner): The narrative here focuses on the “radicalization” of counter-protesters. Headlines have framed the event as a security failure of the Mamdani administration, frequently using the suspects’ alleged “ISIS” affiliation to pivot toward broader critiques of the Mayor’s progressive policies on policing and public safety.
What really jumped out to me was a New York Times account, that glossed over Rosenberg’s incendiary behavior and sought to portray Mamdani as, horror of horrors, a traditional leader:
“Mr. Mamdani may have risen to power on the strength of his strong communication skills, but in moments that cut close to some of the city’s deepest fault lines and his own religious identity as the city’s first Muslim mayor, he has come to favor a more cautious and stiffer approach.”
Perhaps the answer can be found in the words of the late Mario Cuomo, Andrew’s father, who elegantly summed it up:
“You campaign in poetry; you govern in prose”
But it’s as if legacy outlets are simply throwing up their hands, declining to hold Trump and the MAGA extremist right to account for their bile and instead questioning whether normal behavior is “stiffer” and somehow inappropriate for our political times.