CNN’s Roland Martin Challenges MRC’s Brent Bozell For Calling Herman Cain Scandal A ‘Lynching’
Many conservatives have taken to defending Herman Cain with strong words for those that have reported the story, harkening back to the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings and using the Justice’s term, “high-tech lynching,” to describe the sexual harassment charges that have come to light. On John King USA tonight, the Media Research Center’s Brent Bozell tried to explain the acceptability of the use of the term to Roland Martin, who found it profoundly offensive to the victims of actual lynchings over the past century.
Bozell began the segment arguing that what was happening to Cain was kafkaesque, repeatedly asking King, “what’s the accusation?” He concluded that having the story in the news is “a lynching” and Cain “has been on trial for 36 hours.”
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The note he concluded on offended Martin, who had previously brought up the topic on Twitter, tweeting a graphic reminder of what lynchings actually look like. Martin told host John King that CNN should show the photo for a comparison, and made that comparison himself in words: “when you saw black men hanging from trees, their bodies burned– that’s a lynching. A lynching is not when you have Herman Cain standing in front of the National Press Club singing ‘Amazing Grace.'” To Martin, the use of the word highlighted an attempt by conservatives to “shift the conversation away from Herman Cain and make it a race discussion– it’s not.” It was not a lynching, Martin concluded, but “big boy politics;” when one runs for president, one’s past becomes a factor.
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Bozell countered that “there is a special disdain that the left has for black conservatives” that is manifest in this story, and that he did not see a problem with the term lynching. “If it’s acceptable for Clarence Thomas, it’s acceptable for me.” The conversation got heated enough to turn into pure crosstalk until King stepped in, giving each their turn. While Bozell stuck to his point that black conservatives were “attacked much more harshly” than liberals, Martin insisted that “lynching” was an inappropriate term, and Bozell’s point didn’t really address that truth.
The segment via CNN below:
