MAGA Twitter Looks To Cancel Washington Examiner After Op-Ed … Calls Out Deadly Capitol Insurrection?

SAUL LOEB/AFP

The editors of the Washington Examiner made what many likely feel to be a sound editorial decision in running an opinion piece calling out those who participated in the deadly Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6.

Unfortunately, the rather banal take of calling out evildoers for their evil doings is being narrowly viewed in the most hyperpartisan manner by many on the right, who are literally calling for a boycott of the title, despite the long-standing belief that “cancel culture” is a really bad thing.

The editorial was written by Kevin Carroll, who served as senior counselor to the secretary of homeland security and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and as a CIA and Army officer in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Yemen. It is titled “How to fix our domestic terrorist problem,” and lists five points to address the dangerous domestic insurgency fostered by QAnon and other radicalized extremist groups on the far right, many of who participated in the Capitol riots carrying Trump flags and wearing red MAGA hats.

It’s a thoughtful and, frankly, pretty anodyne piece that calls out the disinformation campaigns and craven politics behind those unwilling to call out members of their own party, even when they are part of an insurrection. But as is often the case in our disposable sociopolitical infotainment ecosystem, the promotional tweet of the article featured a teasing excerpt that appeared to outrage many on the right.

The Washington Examiner tweet compared al Qaeda to the Trump-supporting “fascist thugs who attacked our democracy last month” and argued for treating them in the same manner:

This did not go over well, with the MAGA set on Twitter. Former editor-in-chief of Breitbart News London Raheem Kassam called on his followers to unsubscribe, unfavorite, and unfollow The Washington Examiner. In other words, cancel them:

https://twitter.com/RaheemKassam/status/1356416627768721408?s=20

Other conservatives on Twitter have followed suit, many of whom saw the Examiner opinion piece that called for accountability as an attack on American citizens. To wit:

https://twitter.com/LegallyAutumn/status/1356600790236946439?s=20

——