As War Rages, Jake Tapper Reminds Us Zohran Mamdani Is Muslim And Muslims Are Scary
"But what about October 7th!" the media screams as US-Israel bombs a school.
There are many styles of propaganda. Two of the most effective, which are common in the United States, are deceptive agenda setting and framing. By limiting which topics are discussed in the public debate, how important they are, and the manner in which they are talked about, propaganda outlets give their audiences a distorted view of reality, while maintaing the appearance of impartiality. This is how the American media shapes public perception in accordance with the government's wishes, avoiding the heavy-handed messaging typically seen in more sycophantic outlets such as Fox News and Newsmax.
While these tactics are not new, corporate media is using them to their fullest extent to distract the public from the unimaginable horrors American and Israeli militaries are inflicting on the Iranian, Palestinian, and Lebanese people. As no serious news anchor or reporter can deny the devastation of Tehran without forfeiting all credibility, the media is attempting to draw the public eye away from the American and Israeli crimes. To do so, they’re setting news agendas on other topics of far less importance than an illegal Middle Eastern war and framing them as if they are as important to the viewer as the United States bombing an elementary school. Instead of defending American-Israeli aggression, they are tapping into post-9/11 bigotries and reminding their audiences that, no matter what they hear about the American-Israeli massacres, we’re still the Good Guys, fighting the evil Bad Guys — in this case, Muslims. Unsurprisingly, the focal point of the media’s obsession has been on Zohran Mamdani, the most well-known Muslim politician in the country and a staunch opponent of Israel.
On Sunday, pardoned January 6th insurrectionist Jake Lang hosted a racist protest outside Mamdani’s residence, Gracie Mansion. Two men threw improvised explosives into Lang’s protest, but neither detonated. Shortly after, the men told the cops they were inspired by ISIS and were charged with terrorism-related crimes. One would think that after being the target of an open White nationalist hate rally and the severity of the developments, the Muslim mayor would be the last person the media would look to blame. But, alas, I am wrong. My naivety is why my application to The New York Times’ President of Serious Journalism role has gone unanswered.
In a very bizarre hit piece, NYT reporter Dana Rubinstein heavily implies that Mamdani has something to be ashamed of after the attempted bombing. This is where we see the media’s deceptive framing. Nothing Rubinstein says is false. But the way she presents the information implies the Muslim mayor is somehow adjacent to Islamic terrorism. Here are a few stunning paragraphs.
“Mr. Mamdani’s rise was fueled, in part, by his uncommon aptitude for communicating to New Yorkers on social media, as well as his full-throated condemnation of Israel in its treatment of Palestinians. But he also governs the largest Jewish population outside Israel, in a city that has been targeted over the course of two decades by Islamic extremists.
Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, whose supporters suggested Mr. Mamdani was a jihadist during the mayor’s race, chided Mr. Mamdani for drawing what he said was a false equivalency between terrorists and those promoting hatred of Muslims.”
There is absolutely no reason to ask for Andrew Cuomo’s opinion on Mamdani, nor is there any reason to position Mamdani governing a large Jewish population as a challenge, given his support for Palestinian liberation. The only way support for the Palestinian cause could be seen as oppositional to good governance is if you believe the state of Israel is representative of all Jews. Which, it’s not. Duh. Rubinstein continues:
“Mr. Mamdani came of age in the pro-Palestinian movement and has spoken over the years about young Muslim men being stereotyped as terrorists or terrorist sympathizers. The mayor has himself been called a jihadist, with some right-wing figures calling for his deportation.”
Writing “the mayor has been called a jihadist” in an article about a hate protest outside his house is so, so gross. Framing Islamophobic standards against Mamdani as worthy of honest consideration is the equivalent of Trump saying, “many people are saying we should deport Ilhan Omar.” This is absolute trash from Rubenstein, whose own bigotry is revealed in implying that because the two young men who claimed ISIS links, the Mayor has something to answer for. And she’s not the only one. Fox News dusted off the Obama-era playbook and criticized the Mayor for not saying “radical Islamic terror,” as if that magical phrase would vanquish ISIS once and for all. Later, at a childcare press conference, one reporter asked the Mayor what advice he would give a young man considering joining ISIS — an implicit suggestion that, because he is a Muslim, he must have some shared connection to aspiring terrorists.
From there, things only got worse. What started as a political smear campaign quickly transformed into a useful distraction for the media to turn heads away from the American-Israeli massacre of Iran.
