The Media Research Center’s Alex Christy cheered a right-winger’s temper tantrum in a Nov. 1 post:
Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt stormed off Friday’s edition of Washington Post Live and resigned his columnist position shortly afterwards after liberal associate editor Jonathan Capehart claimed he didn’t “appreciate being lectured” after Hewitt called out fellow panelist Ruth Marcus’s fake news about Donald Trump. Hewitt gave Capehart his wish, “I won’t come back, Jonathan. I’m done. This is the most unfair election ad I have ever been a part of.”
Capehart began by asking Marcus, “Is it me or does it seem like this week Donald Trump is laying the groundwork for contesting the election by complaining that “cheating” was taking place in Pennsylvania by suing Bucks County for alleged irregularities, and this is on top of his continual assertion that if he loses, it’s because of cheating?”
Marcus replied, “Uh, yeah, that’s what he’s been laying the groundwork for just not in the last week, but in the last umptyump months. No election can be fair unless Donald, in Donald Trump’s mind, unless Donald Trump wins it, and I think we are going to see him both rev up his supporters to contest elections outside of courtrooms and go to every courtroom he can in America, where it’s relevant to make whatever arguments he can, no matter how far-fetched. We saw—”
Hewitt then tried to interject, “Jonathan, I’ve got to speak up,” but Capehart told him to wait and “let her finish.”
Marcus then did just that, adding, “It may not work, it may not, that may not happen this time, and now I’ll let you go, Hugh.”
Hewitt then sought to bring some badly needed context to the conversation, “Well, I’ve just got to say we’re news people even though we’re at the opinion section. It’s got to be reported. Bucks County was reversed by the court and instructed to open up extra days because they violated the law and told people to go home.”
He added, “So, that lawsuit was brought by the Republican National Committee, and it was successful. The Supreme Court ruled that Glenn Youngkin was successful. We are news people, even though we have opinions, and we have to report the whole story if we bring up part of the story. So, yes, he’s upset about Bucks County, but he was right and he won in court. That’s the story.”
But Trump did, in fact, lay the groundwork for challenging the election if he lost (and right-wing outlets like WorldNetDaily helped), and it’s not “fake news” to point that out. Also, there were no “irregularities” in Bucks County — local officials were following established deadlines and the Trump campaign sued to extend the deadline due to a high volume of people wanting to vote early. By contrast, Democrats in Kentucky lost in court to extend voting hours there when technical issues caused huge delays — something local Republicans opposed.
But rather than point out Republicans’ hypocrisy in championing election interventions only when they think it’s advantageous for them, Christy put the blame on Democrats, then cheered Hewitt’s performative quitting move:
You would think Republicans suing to extend early voting would make liberals like Capehart and Marcus happy, but instead, Capehart showed a stunning lack of professionalism, “Um, no, I’m just, I don’t appreciate being lectured about reporting when, Hugh, you many times you come here saying lots of things that are—”
Hewitt then got out of his chair and left, “I won’t come back, Jonathan. I’m done. This is the most unfair election ad I have ever been a part of. You guys are working, that’s fine. I’m done.”
Christy is not going to admit that Hewitt’s performative snit got him much more attention than anything he ever wrote for the Post as an outside columnist. (We presume that Hewitt has taken part in “unfair election ads” for Republicans, and neither he nor Christy has complained about that.) Christy then bizarrely called Capehart an “indecent host,” whatever that means, as if there isn’t a certain amount of indecency in Hewitt loudly and petulantly quitting his Post job in the middle of a podcast because he pretended to be offended by what was happening. It’s as if he staged that resignation stunt all along — not that Christy will raise the issue, of course.