Wednesday afternoon’s CNN Newsroom ended with host Brooke Baldwin and correspondent Jason Carroll serving as chief fear mongers on behalf of “Governor Blackface” Ralph Northam (D-VA), parroting fears that Monday’s Lobby Day in support of the Second Amendment could bring violence a la Charlottesville.
Baldwin also repeatedly fixated on the event and the possibility of violence falling on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so there was that angle that one could assume was a hint at a charge of racism.
She teased the segment twice, stating in the first:
Just in to CNN, the governor of Virginia just declared a temporary state of emergency at the state house ahead of a massive gun rally citing threats similar to the ones in Charlottesville. We have those details ahead.
Ah, yes. In other words, Baldwin sounded much like the Virginia head of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, who told The Washington Post last week that those dissenting from the legislature’s gun control plans are “very, very, very ugly right now” sparking “real” “threats.”
Before going to Carroll, Baldwin hyped that “[t]his massive guns right rally coming to the statehouse has ignited a temporary state of emergency” and was supposedly “all about MLK Day and this rally at the statehouse.”
Again, how bizarre is this allusion to MLK Day? Lobby Days are annual affairs in Richmond for any number of interest groups seeing as how Virginia has a part-time legislature that meets for only 60 days a year.
Guess that point was too much for CNN to include.
Carroll then explained the ban was due to “what [Northam] called credible serious threats coming from, in many cases, from the hate groups from outside of the state, coming from militia groups.”
After a soundbite from Northam, Carroll painted this event as consisting of the same times of ugly individuals who triggered anti-Semitic, racist, and other forms of ugly rhetoric that escalated into acts of deadly violence (click “expand”):
CARROLL: He wants this to be as safe as possible, and look, all of this is in the backdrop of what happened back in, you know, Charlottesville back in 2017. You remember that Unite the Right rally. A lot of the protesters who showed up there were armed. You remember law enforcement was, in some ways, criticized for their response. You remember a young woman died when a
BALDWIN: Heather Heyer.
CARROLL: — white supremacist ran over her with a car. They don’t want to see a repeat of any violence and so what they’re trying to do is trying to get ahead of this by enacting this temporary ban. Of course, this temporary ban is also upsetting a number of gun rights advocates
BALDWIN: Sure.
CARROLL: — who feel as though they are being punished there in the state by this Democratically-controlled statehouse and so — but again, the governor is saying that we are dealing with credible threats here, and this is the best response.
“Okay, this is all for Monday, MLK Day and this big rally. Alright, I’m sure we will be covering it there in Richmond,” Baldwin concluded in yet another allusion to this being related to MLK Day.
So there you have it, Second Amendment supporters. To CNN, you belong in the same breath as neo-Nazis and white supremacists for wanting to publicly organize to voice your displeasure with a radical gun control agenda.
Instead of offering a sober perspective on why this rally would reportedly be drawing tens of thousands of people or seek comment from outlets like Bearing Arms or experts like Cam Edwards and Gabriella Hoffman, CNN decided to take Northam’s warnings at face value.
To see the relevant transcript from January 15's CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin, click “expand.”
CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin
January 15, 2020
3:44 p.m. Eastern [TEASE][ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; Threats for Gun Rights Rally Similar to Charlottesville in 2017; Virginia Governor declares “emergency” firearms ban at state capitol for rally]
BROOKE BALDWIN: Just in to CNN, the governor of Virginia just declared a temporary state of emergency at the state house ahead of a massive gun rally citing threats similar to the ones in Charlottesville. We have those details ahead.
(....)
3:52 p.m. Eastern [TEASE]
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; Threats for Gun Rights Rally Similar to Charlottesville in 2017; Virginia Governor declares “emergency” firearms ban at state capitol for rally]
BALDWIN: Just into CNN, moments ago, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam declared a temporary emergency, banning all guns and other weapons at the state capitol. A live report is next.
(....)
3:57 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; Threats for Gun Rights Rally Similar to Charlottesville in 2017; Virginia Governor declares “emergency” firearms ban at state capitol for rally]
BALDWIN: Some breaking news. This massive guns right rally coming to the statehouse has ignited a temporary state of emergency. Democratic Governor Ralph Northam just announced a temporary ban on firearms on the grounds of the state capitol. Jason Carroll is our CNN national correspondent and so this is all about MLK Day and this rally at the state house.
JASON CARROLL: Right and you remember they had already banned guns inside the Capitol. That just happened as well. But look, the governor is saying that this is based on what he called credible serious threats coming from, in many cases, from the hate groups from outside of the state, coming from militia groups. He also says what these groups were planning to do or according to this intelligence was to disrupt this gun rights rally that’s going to taking place on Monday. So what did he do? As a result, he is declaring a it is the of emergency, goes into effect Friday. It’ll end on Tuesday. He says not only does it include guns, but he says that it is also going to includes sticks as well as chains and he basically laid this all out in a press briefing that just wrapped up just a little while ago.
GOVERNOR RALPH NORTHAM (D-VA): What we have seen and heard in recent weeks has the potential to go far beyond the constitutionally protected rights. We are seeing threats of violence. We are seeing threats of armed confrontation and assault on our Capitol.
CARROLL: So again, this temporary ban, Brooke, goes into a place — goes into place on Friday evening. It will end on Tuesday evening. The governor is also asking for all nonessential personnel to stay home. He wants this to be as safe as possible, and look, all of this is in the backdrop of what happened back in, you know, Charlottesville back in 2017. You remember that Unite the Right rally. A lot of the protesters who showed up there were armed. You remember law enforcement was, in some ways, criticized for their response. You remember a young woman died when a
BALDWIN: Heather Heyer.
CARROLL: — white supremacist ran over her with a car. They don’t want to see a repeat of any violence and so what they’re trying to do is trying to get ahead of this by enacting this temporary ban. Of course, this temporary ban is also upsetting a number of gun rights advocates
BALDWIN: Sure.
CARROLL: — who feel as though they are being punished there in the state by this Democratically-controlled statehouse and so — but again, the governor is saying that we are dealing with credible threats here, and this is the best response.
BADLWIN; Okay, this is all for Monday, MLK Day and this big rally. Alright, I’m sure we will be covering it there in Richmond. Jason, thank you very much.
