Cross posted to the MRC's NewsBusters blog
On Tuesday's Amanpour & Co., PBS put on display the liberal media's tendency to view nearly all elected Republicans as "extreme," but not so much with Democrats.
As NPR's Michel Martin spoke with The New Yorker's Susan Glasser about the recent intra-party Republican battle over who should be House Speaker, Glasser declared that Republicans on both sides are "extremely conservative," and warned that this is "not your grandfather's Republican party." But, in the same segment, Martin described Democrats as merely "progressives versus moderate" without acknowledging any extremism.
Martin listed several loaded labels liberals apply to Republicans as she posed:
What do the various groups that actually make up the Republican majority want right now? People have used various names to describe them -- like "bomb throwers," "fringe," "ultra-MAGA," etc. But at their core, who are the -- what are the different groups? And what does each of them want?
Glasser began by arguing that the debate over whether McCarthy should be elected Speaker was more over tactics than ideological differences:
So people could come away, I think, with a mistaken impression that it's a sort of, you know, Republican establishments and moderates versus, you know, a kind of hard core, far-right conservative extreme...
She soon labeled all House Republicans as extreme: "They are also all extremely conservative, again, by modern standards. It's not your grandfather's Republican party. "
After recalling that nearly all congressional Republicans supported President Donald Trump, Glass concluded: "And so it's really a feud between two very extreme Republican groups, I would say, at least by historical standards and what the Republican party was."
Turning attention to Democrats, Martin followed up:
Democrats have demonstrated -- at least over the last couple of days -- tremendous unity -- they continue to, you know, vote consistently for their candidate for Speaker who is now the Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Just a couple of years ago, the story was, you know, whether the so-called progressives versus the moderates within the Democratic -- Democratic party were at odds -- and that doesn't seem to be the story anymore. But what is the story with the Democrats? How do you see it?
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Transcript follows:
PBS's Amanpour & Co.
January 10, 2023
MICHEL MARTIN: What do the various groups that actually make up the Republican majority want right now? People have used various names to describe them -- like "bomb throwers," "fringe," "ultra-MAGA," etc. But at their core, who are the -- what are the different groups? And what does each of them want?
SUSAN GLASSER, THE NEW YORKER: Well, first of all, I do think that primarily it's not an ideological rift so much as a political and stylistic and tactical one. I do think that that's an important observation. The House Republican conference has transformed in recent years. Kevin McCarthy has transformed. So people could come away, I think, with a mistaken impression that it's a sort of, you know, Republican establishments and moderates versus, you know, a kind of hard core, far-right conservative extreme.
And I think that that overemphasizes the role of ideology considering that the vast majority of the House Republican conference even two years ago supported Donald Trump's attacks and efforts to overturn the 2020 election, right? So think of it that way, you know. It's not -- it's really split between two groups that all have supported Trump in his presidency and in his election denial and in his post-presidency. So that's one thing.
They are also all extremely conservative, again, by modern standards. It's not your grandfather's Republican party. So that's an important observation. You know, I do think it's also reflecting an interesting split in the House Freedom Caucus which has come, you know, in many ways, kind of the leading edge of far-right agitation and that the confrontational style of performative, you know, budget-cutting politics since the Tea Party movement really in 2010 that then the creation of the Freedom Caucus in 2015. Then, as you know, they became sort of the hard core cheering squad for Donald Trump's presidency. But they ended up on both sides of the Speaker fight.
So you had Matt Gaetz -- who came to fame as a kind of, you know, public defender of Donald Trump as a young Florida congressman. You had him and Lauren Boebert and some of the other Freedom Caucus members as the dissenters, but you also had some of the founders like Jim Jordan supporting Kevin McCarthy -- even someone who was once dismissed as way out there on the Republican fringe -- Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Q'Anon adherent.
She was by McCarthy's side on the floor through much of this -- has now been promised a seat on committees that Democrats threw her off of because of extreme statements. And so it's really a feud between two very extreme Republican groups, I would say, at least by historical standards and what the Republican party was.
MARTIN: At the core, though, what do they want? The overwhelming majority of the Republican caucus -- the Republicans voted for this rules package that people consider sort of extreme and that people complained about in preceding days, but they almost entirely voted for it. So what's the conclusion that we can draw from it? That they are comfortable with the government doing very little, I guess?
(GLASSER)
So what do Democrats do through all of this? I mean, the Democrats have demonstrated -- at least over the last couple of days -- tremendous unity -- they continue to, you know, vote consistently for their candidate for Speaker who is now the Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Just a couple of years ago, the story was, you know, whether the so-called progressives versus the moderates within the Democratic -- Democratic party were at odds -- and that doesn't seem to be the story anymore. But what is the story with the Democrats? How do you see it?