When one sees good journalism on mainstream media in real-time, it gives hope. @FareedZakaria did just that as he checked Niall Ferguson (@nfergus), making a false equivalence.
Fareed Zakaria responds to hack’s false equivalence
Fareed Zakaria had a panel of historians to discuss the election. He rightfully pointed out the polarization that is occurring in America.
Niall Ferguson, a pompous Right-Winger, decided to take exception with Zakaria’s take. How he did, it was with classic British (Scottish) snobbish disrespect. He first disagreed with Zakaria about polarization.
Ferguson sarcastically called out the media for stating there could be a constitutional crisis or more. The reality is that Trump has been trying to create that constitutional crisis, and he continues as I write this post. Asking states to overturn the vote results would create one if some state decided to do so.
The president lying about a rigged election and the silence of most Republicans is a constitutional crisis as it is an attempt to delegitimize a constitutional tenet, free and fair elections.
Fareed Zakaria went back and forth with the panel. When he commented that many Republicans, 75% to 80%, believe the election was rigged, Niall Ferguson took exception. After all, it really makes Republicans seem like a Party that believes in false conspiracy theories.
“Let’s remember Fareed that many Democrats felt that way not only about the 2016 election but about the 2000 election. Ferguson said. “It’s not like the first time that the losers have said that the election was stolen. Democrats spent 4 years trying to find evidence that Vladimir Putin was responsible for Trump’s election and failed to find it.”
Zakaria, as he should, allowed Ferguson to continue making his point. And the segment moved on as it should. But Ferguson had left an unanswered false equivalence that bothered Zakaria.
“I just want to make a factual point,” Fareed came back at the beginning of the next segment to clarify. “Neil mentioned that Democrats also after 2016 thought the elections were rigged. I just checked it. About 30% of Democrats thought the election was rigged or fraudulent. It is now, as I said, about 75 to 80% of Republicans who believe that. So I do think that is a difference.