On Monday's New Day program on CNN, as the show discussed and showed sympathy for one of its guests who recently received racist hate mail online, there was a conspicuous absence of detail about who sent the offensive mail and even what political issue it involved.
Toward the end of a segment that included Washington Post reporter Seung Min Kim, CNN co-host Alisyn Camerota vaguely brought up the issue of Kim -- who is also a CNN analyst -- recently being the target of racist insults: "Seung Min, while we have you, we just wanted to ask how you're doing, you know. We were concerned last week, because you and so many of our colleagues have been on the receiving end of hideous racist or sexist attacks just for being a journalist..."
Camerota then read part of a statement by the Washington Post as she continued:
...so much so with you that your newspaper, the Washington Post, put out this statement: "The racist and sexist attacks have been vicious and typical. She and other minority women endure vile baseless attacks on a daily basis no matter what story they're working on or tweeting about. She did her job. She did it well, like she always does."
Given that liberal outlets like CNN have a history of trying to tie racist hate mail and behavior -- including against public figures -- to Donald Trump and therefore right-leaning political activists, one might suspect this was the latest attempt to make such links, but it turns out that the venom seemed to be coming from liberal supporters of Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden's initial pick for OMB director who just withdrew this week.
Kim did not shed much detail on why she was being criticized so viciously, although she eventually suggested vaguely that she was being accused of trying to "take down a Biden nominee."
By contrast, on Friday's Morning Joe, MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski more forthrightly informed viewers that supporters of Tanden were angry that Kim had shown an old tweet by Tanden to moderate Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski which might have undermined the possibility that the centrist Republican would support confirming Tanden.
If the racist hate mail were believed to be coming from right-wingers, CNN no doubt would have made sure to clarify the source of the incendiary attacks.
This episode of CNN's New Day was sponsored in part by Australian Dream. Their contact information is linked.
Transcript is below. Click "expand" to read more.
CNN
New Day
March 1, 2021
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Seung Min, while we have you, we just wanted to ask how you're doing, you know. We were concerned last week, because you and so many of our colleagues have been on the receiving end of hideous racist or sexist attacks just for being a journalist, so much so with you that your newspaper, the Washington Post, put out this statement: "The racist and sexist attacks have been vicious and typical. She and other minority women endure vile baseless attacks on a daily basis no matter what story they're working on or tweeting about. She did her job. She did it well, like she always does." How was last week for you?
SEUNG MIN KIM, THE WASHINGTON POST: I'm doing fine -- thanks for asking -- very overwhelmed by the support from, you know, my employer, my colleagues, the public. I was flooded with very nice e-mails from readers of the Post, and very thankful for that. And just -- it is an unfortunate reality of just being a woman, being a woman of color journalist, doing, you know, our jobs every day that we are subjected to these kinds of comments and harassment online. But I think just also what my bosses touched on in this whole episode -- there was also kind of a fundamental misunderstanding of what our jobs are as journalists. I was told that I was, you know, making myself into the story -- that it wasn't my job to, you know, take down a Biden nominee or whatnot. And I think that, you know, as my boss --
[Technical difficulties end audio]
JOHN BERMAN: Seung Min was doing her job -- that goes without saying -- and the attacks on her were vile. They just were. They were repugnant. They don't have any place in our society. But she's going to keep on doing her job and doing it as well as she does every day. For that we're grateful.
