The Media Research Center’s comedy cop, Alex Christy, spent a March 8 post being mad that a comedy show called out how Republicans are exploiting border issues for political purposes:
Comedy Central sent Michael Kosta to Eagle Pass, Texas, to report on the border crisis for the Friday installment of The Daily Show, but according to him, the real crisis is about the reaction to the crisis as Texas is “attracting a flood of Republican governors, Congressional delegations, and even billionaire weirdos.”
Kosta began with a narration where he declared, “Eagle Pass, Texas, has become the epicenter of the national immigration debate, as over the last year, an unprecedented number of migrants crossed here to apply for asylum. And for many observers, this complex issue can only be summed up in one word.”
After playing five soundbites from an assortment of Republican politicians using the word “invasion” or “invaded,” Kosta interviewed the locals to see what they had to say. One man claimed, “They’ve come and taken over the town.”
Another woman, who would later be revealed to be a farmer named Magali Urbina, added, “It’s our land and there’s just people coming in.” A second man, later identified as river outfitter Jessie Fuentes, echoed the sentiment, “They’re causing, you know, havoc and craziness.”
Seemingly scolding another woman, Kosta wondered, “Shouldn’t you be welcoming? Don’t you have any empathy for the journey they have taken to get here?”
“They’re not welcome, get the hell out of our place,” she replied.
The first man then returned to add, “You can’t move around without seeing them. You can’t get a meal in a restaurant. Can’t get a hotel room unless you want to pay $400.”
Kosta then dropped the act, “Wait, who are you talking about, right now?” to which the man replied, “The state Guard from Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, Idaho.”
The woman who told people to “get the hell out” was then revealed to be Maverick County Democratic Chairwoman Juanita Martinez who claimed, “The invasion here is from Governor Abbott and the Trumpers and the MAGA people.”
Christy then declared that all this right-wing performative outrage was the fault of … President Biden and Democrats:
If there wasn’t a border crisis in the first place, Republicans wouldn’t be there in the second place, but that is not how Kosta saw it “Yes, Eagle Pass has been overrun since Governor Abbott declared a crisis at the border and sent in the Texas National Guard, attracting a flood of Republican governors, Congressional delegations, and even billionaire weirdos.”
The “billionaire weirdo” in question was Elon Musk in a cowboy hat. That aside, the entire point of Kosta’s segment was try to portray the border crisis as complicated, as evidenced by some people in Eagle Pass not wanting the GOP’s “help.” However, when it came to giving the other perspective, Kosta featured the most cartoonish voices he could find, including a guy with a Confederate battle flag, in order to portray those concerned about the original crisis as racists.
But isn’t depicting opposition voices as cartoonish the job of Christy and his employer? He seems to be mad that Kosta is emulating him. Further, Christy offered no evidence that there isn’t a racial component to right-wing border narratives — and he certainly wasn’t going to criticize his fellow ideologues for engaging in this performative outrage.