NBC Reporter Shares Vid of Gun Rally Pledge of Allegiance With Inflammatory Caption, Gets Shredded
NBC and MSNBC reporter Gabe Gutierrez started a Twitter firestorm on Monday while on scene at the Second Amendment rally in Virginia.
Gutierrez tweeted a video that showed rally-goers loudly reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, but his caption focused on something a bit different.
Chants of “we will not comply” from gun rights protesters in Richmond. pic.twitter.com/BjEfniwMKP
— Gabe Gutierrez (@gabegutierrez) January 20, 2020
Considering the disconnect, he was immediately called out.
Fake news
— Jessica Fletcher (@heckyessica) January 20, 2020
That’s the…Pledge of Allegiance…? https://t.co/ZjHqTIfdgM
— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) January 20, 2020
It’s the Pledge of Allegiance https://t.co/aWl9sb0bkg
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) January 20, 2020
Crowd recites the Pledge of Allegiance.
NBC reporter tweets: “Chants of “we will not comply” from gun rights protesters in Richmond.” https://t.co/1l70k83ug8
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) January 20, 2020
Honestly either this guy shared the wrong video or just doesn’t recognize the pledge of allegiance. Either way, not great.
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) January 20, 2020
You forgot to turn off the audio, fam. https://t.co/TOh8oPhdb2
— Tatjana Pasalic (@Tattytats) January 20, 2020
We all have ears, dude. That’s not what they’re chanting. https://t.co/xZssIlHnx7
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 20, 2020
Lol kinda funny because the “we will not comply” chants sound very much like the “Pledge of Allegiance” https://t.co/2ej4pvSliG
— Joe Bennie (@bennie_the_jet6) January 20, 2020
Hey @gabegutierrez – it’s called the “Pledge of Allegiance.” So you are either ignorant or you intentionally tried to deceive your audience. Which is it? https://t.co/H4lmg3qKnX
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) January 20, 2020
Unless they’ve changed it recently, this is definitely the “Pledge of Allegiance”. https://t.co/jOXLShbcdQ
— zellie (@zellieimani) January 20, 2020
They’re literally just saying the Pledge of Allegiance. NBC really is not good at this https://t.co/IvrZa4f9I4
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) January 20, 2020
At some point this starts to feel like a concerted effort by major media companies to smear.
Yesterday Ben Collins with a viral tweet calling this a “white nationalist rally.”
Today this guy tweets a video of the pledge of allegiance saying it’s a “we will not comply” chant. https://t.co/bJryQJdrmf
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) January 20, 2020
Gun rights protesters in Virginia respond to passing American flag by shouting, in unison: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic, for which it stands: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
And yet⬇️ https://t.co/mN3LQF3gHj
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) January 20, 2020
Shocking that an NBC journalist doesn’t recognize the Pledge of Allegiance when he hears it https://t.co/52vhtb0Ln7
— Jessica Fletcher (@heckyessica) January 20, 2020
Step one to lying: Don’t attach video https://t.co/9XcfvZL04B
— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) January 20, 2020
Hard to understand exactly why Trump says the press is the enemy of the American people. https://t.co/TltnJaBSWu
— Autumn Johnson (@AutumnDPJohnson) January 20, 2020
Some fellow journos gave him the benefit of the doubt on the clip.
It’s fun to dunk on reporters, but the simplest explanation is that the NBC reporter uploaded the Pledge of Allegiance video when he meant to upload the video of the crowd chanting “we will not comply.”
— Tim Carney (@TPCarney) January 20, 2020
However, after the lengthy dragging, Gutierrez responded by saying NOT that he’d uploaded the wrong clip, but merely that lots of people were saying a lot of things and he was pointing out one of those things.
Standing right here. They’re chanting many things, including Pledge of Allegiance, national anthem, “four more years!” USA!, and “we will not comply.” https://t.co/zJwthTjm2B
— Gabe Gutierrez (@gabegutierrez) January 20, 2020
Then, not long after that, he uploaded a different video, “taken seconds apart” from the first, for “those who’ve asked.”
Earlier posted video of Pledge of Allegiance. For those who’ve asked, here’s the video of “We will not comply,.” Taken seconds apart. pic.twitter.com/Egz4mqVhzo
— Gabe Gutierrez (@gabegutierrez) January 20, 2020
He never says that was an unintentional upload of the wrong clip, but he has a video of that specific chant. Weird. And a bit late.
It’s fun to dunk on reporters, but the simplest explanation is that the NBC reporter uploaded the Pledge of Allegiance video when he meant to upload the video of the crowd chanting “we will not comply.”
— Tim Carney (@TPCarney) January 20, 2020
Obviously, a tweet that said “Second Amendment supporters say Pledge of Allegiance” wouldn’t be nearly as inflammatory to the NBC/MSNBC audience as “we will not comply.” Whether Gutierrez meant to keep that clip to himself and accidentally uploaded it, or simply couldn’t wait to use the more inflammatory quote as he uploaded the clips, one can’t be sure.
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But either way, it was an embarrassing fail. And perhaps not unrelated, at least in spirit, to another thing involving Gutierrez that went down at the rally on Monday.
