How humor-impaired is the Media Research Center? It decided that a Stephen Colbert joke was a statement of fact that needed to be fed into the right-wing outrage machine. When Colbert made a joke about being willing to pay $15 a gallon for gas because he drives a Tesla, Joseph Vazquez fired up the ol’ outrage machine, completely missing the joke to embrace a right-wing narrative, tarring Colbert as a rich, out-of-touch elitist:
Was it part of multimillionaire CBS comedian Stephen Colbert’s routine to look like a complete hypocrite by lecturing people about the morals of paying higher gas prices?
The Late Show host praised that the U.S. and European allies are finally considering banning imports of Russian oil. Of course, the consideration comes after President Joe Biden slapped more sanctions on American oil than Russian oil. Under Biden, the U.S. has reportedly imported “more than half a million barrels per day (BPD) of oil from Russia,” making Russia the U.S.’s third largest oil supplier.
Colbert conceded that gas prices have hit $4 a gallon, but then claimed: “A clean conscience is worth a buck or two.” He continued his nonsense with a facetious twist: “I’m willing to pay $4 a gallon. Hell, I’ll pay $15 a gallon because I drive a Tesla.”
Pontificating about the virtue of paying high gas prices while driving an electric vehicle is blatant hypocrisy, and so is the fact that the show host also enjoys a $75 millionnet worth.
Colbert definitely put his foot in his mouth.
Vazquez apparently thought his humor-devoid take was so hot that the MRC made up a meme card about it — which also missed the fact that it was a joke.
Vazquez also repeated the right-wing talking point that “canceling the Keystone XL pipeline was a “bad policy decision” because it could have given the U.S. a strategic advantage over Russia,” even though most of the products of the pipeline would likely be exported, not saved for U.S. consumption.
But who cares about humor or facts when there are right-wing narratives to be advanced and people to be demonized and deliberately misinterpreted?