In closing out CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, host Jake Tapper unloaded on the Walt Disney Company and the NBA for “openly thanking” and “bowing” to Communist China while they’re herding ethnic Uighurs into concentration camps. A chyron also warned of “the slippery slope toward making ‘never again’ meaningless.” Amid that strong denunciation, Tapper used a claim from an anti-Trump book to lump President Trump in there as well.
After leading into his closing comments by taking a swipe at Trump and chiding his response to the coronavirus, Tapper set his sights on Disney. “So, then maybe you seek this respite and you subscribe to Disney+, Disney’s streaming service and you turn on their new live-action film Mulan, fun, nice, family-friendly. But maybe you stay for the credits,” he said while getting somber. “And you see Disney thank the propaganda authorities of the ruling Chinese Communist Party in Xinjiang.”
With the chyron calling Mulan “troubled territory,” Tapper processed to call out Disney for thanking the Chinese authorities responsible for running the Uighur concentration camps:
That’s right, not only did Disney film this movie, Mulan in the epicenter of the part of China where the U.S. State Department estimates the Chinese government has detained as many as 2 million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in internment camps, places China claims are for reeducation and job training, but the U.S. Government says that they are subjecting Uighurs to torture and cruel and inhumane treatment.
But not only did they film Mulan there, Disney also thanks a local police department in their credits, a police department that was sanctioned by the U.S. government for its role in running these concentration camps.
“Now, Disney's CFO [Christine M. McCarthy] says it's standard to, quote, ‘acknowledge in the film's credits the national and local governments that allowed you to film there,’ unquote. Really,” he admonished. “How standard is it to film in an area where the local government has concentration camps and is being accused of genocide?”
Adding this jab at a Disney animated film from 1940: “I guess we should be happy no parts of Fantasia needed to be filmed in occupied Poland.” He also pointed to a Mulan star who praised Hong Kong police for cracking down on pro-democracy demonstrators there.
“The big problem is Disney thanking people accused of committing genocide. Why? Money,” he declared before shifting to tearing into the NBA. “So, who cares about the concentration camps, right? It's an immoral position and one we've seen from the NBA, which was forced to cancel a training camp held in the same region of China.”
Tapper then cited claims made in former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s anti-Trump book, The Room Where It Happened, to put Trump into the mix:
And, of course, sadly, with President Trump who, John Bolton writes in his book, told Chinese President Xi Jinping that China should continue building these concentration camps for the mass detention of Uighur Muslims, because President Trump thought that, quote, “was exactly the right thing to do,” unquote.
After noting how China was formally reported to the International Criminal Court recently on charges which included genocide, Tapper concluded by lamenting: “After a horrible genocide, the holocaust, the world came together and pledged ‘never again, never again.’ The NBA, President Trump, and the Walt Disney Company, they're making those words meaningless.”
Here's Disney's contact information if you want to tell them what you think about their support for Communist China.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s State of the Union
September 13, 2020
9:52:28 a.m. EasternJAKE TAPPER: Perhaps, like so many Americans you've been trying to find a way to spend some time with your family, your children, safely, engaged in some form of recreation. Education in a time of pandemic can be tough. And nothing is more clear about our government's failure to protect us than the fact that for so many American kids it's considered unsafe to go into a classroom. The virus has not been contained. The widespread quick testing needed remains elusive. It's a huge failure by President Trump on down.
So, then maybe you seek this respite and you subscribe to Disney+, Disney’s streaming service and you turn on their new live-action film Mulan, fun, nice, family-friendly. But maybe you stay for the credits. And you see Disney thank the propaganda authorities of the ruling Chinese Communist Party in Xinjiang.
That’s right, not only did Disney film this movie, Mulan in the epicenter of the part of China where the U.S. State Department estimates the Chinese government has detained as many as 2 million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in internment camps, places China claims are for reeducation and job training, but the U.S. Government says that they are subjecting Uighurs to torture and cruel and inhumane treatment.
But not only did they film Mulan there, Disney also thanks a local police department in their credits, a police department that was sanctioned by the U.S. government for its role in running these concentration camps.
Now, Disney's CFO [Christine M. McCarthy] says it's standard to, quote, “acknowledge in the film's credits the national and local governments that allowed you to film there,” unquote. Really? How standard is it to film in an area where the local government has concentration camps and is being accused of genocide?
I guess we should be happy no parts of Fantasia needed to be filmed in occupied Poland.
And look, it’s not just Disney. The star of the film went on Chinese social media and shared a Chinese state media image expressing support for the police in Hong Kong cracking down on pro-democracy protesters.
Of course, that's just one person, a young actor. That’s not the big problem. The big problem is Disney thanking people accused of committing genocide. Why? Money. So, who cares about the concentration camps, right? It's an immoral position and one we've seen from the NBA, which was forced to cancel a training camp held in the same region of China.
And, of course, sadly, with President Trump who, John Bolton writes in his book, told Chinese President Xi Jinping that China should continue building these concentration camps for the mass detention of Uighur Muslims, because President Trump thought that, quote, “was exactly the right thing to do,” unquote.
This summer two Uighur organizations lodged a complaint against the government of China at the International Criminal Court, accusing the Chinese government of genocide, torture, and crimes against humanity. This is the government to whom the NBA is bowing and President Trump is giving approval, and Disney is openly thanking.
After a horrible genocide, the holocaust, the world came together and pledged “never again, never again.” The NBA, President Trump, and the Walt Disney Company, they're making those words meaningless.
