The Media Research Center’s Clay Waters whined in a May 9 post:
Saturday’s edition of PBS News Weekend led with a story on the coronation of King Charles in England, but the story was dominated by anti-monarchy protesters. This was not the BBC. Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant insisted “Charles isn’t as popular as his late mother the Queen. Several anti-monarchists were arrested before the main event got underway.”
Brabant heavily featured anti-monarchy activist Graham Smith and his group Republic. Smith trashed the royal family: ” They misuse public money all the time for private use, they misuse public office to advance their own interests. I think that if Charles were to stand in an election against other candidates in a free and fair election that he would lose and lose badly. And yet here he is, as a head of state.”
When anti-monarchy protesters were arrested, Smith blamed King Charles himself, and then Brabant touted Human Rights Watch saying the protester arrests somehow turned King Charles into Putin:
Waters didn’t explain why it was a bad thing that Human Rights Watch criticized the arrests, but he left in a blockquote a statement from the protest group statement that the protest was peaceful and that organizers were arrested for no apparent reason. Indeed, the same day Waters’ post was published, London’s Metropolitan Police apologized for arresting and detaining six protest leaders despite having no proof of a crime or planned crime, even though protest leaders had been working with police in preparation for the protest.
Waters also complained that “Smith also appeared in a PBS NewsHour segment on Friday night before the coronation.” He didn’t explain why Smith’s viewpoint should be censored.