Campaign Action
The gun-hugging far right has been rocked back by the powerful moral voice of the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, so it’s falling back on what it knows best: vicious attacks. On the teenage survivors of a mass shooting. Right-wing pundits have gotten an assist from Donald Trump Jr., and now CNN has put former Republican Rep. Jack Kingston on the air to be just this vile:
Kingston attacked the students as mere stooges for “left-wing groups who have an agenda” during an appearance on CNN Tuesday morning. Kingston added he believed George Soros was actually orchestrating the students’ activism.
Kingston’s claims were met with disbelief by Alisyn Camerota. “Jack, I’m sorry. I have to correct you. I was down there. I talked to these kids. These kids were wildly motivated,” Camerota said.
Kingston never should have been given the platform to spew his nastiness, but three cheers for Alisyn Camerota for throwing it back in his face. Kingston took the same line on Twitter:
These high school students were speaking out immediately on social media and in interviews and they have been steadfast. Even George Soros does not have the superpower of getting them all media and message training (and, presumably, brainwashing them) that quickly. And even if they end up getting some logistical help on permits and crowd control from established organizations as they plan large-scale events, you know what? It’s pretty clear they have the wherewithal to push back if they feel the message is being “hijacked,” as Kingston would have it.
Few politicians with decades of experience can offer the clarity and eloquence these teenagers have displayed—and there can be no doubt it’s coming from the heart. No wonder the right is so desperate to smear them, even if that means trying to spread some smears that are as improbable—that the students are "crisis actors," FFS—as they are vicious.