The Legacy Media Goes Silent on the Most Recent Act of Political Violence

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was nearly assassinated in his own home and the left has nothing to say about it.

Brett Kavanaugh at his confirmation hearings in 2018

Political violence is nothing new. Ancient Rome experienced many bouts of political violence at the beginning, during, and end of its republic. For decades, it has torn apart less developed nations in Africa and the Americas. The United States has experienced quite a bit of political violence in its short history. Multiple presidents and leaders of various political groups have been assassinated by their political opponents.

Confirmation bias by legacy and independent media sources is also nothing new. Both sides of the political spectrum have always and probably will always cover stories that affirm their beliefs and turn a blind eye to the ones that counter them. Fox News, whose pundits have vocally opposed the January 6th hearings, decided not to air them while every other cable news channel covered them. When a Bernie Sanders supporter shot up a congressional baseball game the story disappeared after only a few days and never saw the front page of publications such as The New York Times, CNN, and The Washington Post. 

Last week, one man, who will remain unnamed, was indicted by a grand jury for the attempted assassination of Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He was arrested outside the justice’s home with a handgun and other tools to break into and kill the man while he slept. This was done because the man, who was from California, was upset about the leaked SCOTUS draft that overturns Roe v. Wade. 

This should have been the biggest story of the week, but instead, it was featured underneath 20 other articles on The New York Times’ website. CNN and MSNBC barely mentioned the story, with the latter only dedicating 15 minutes of airtime to the story the day it happened. The stark contrast between this and their coverage of other political violence is quite revealing. Kyle Rittenhouse was the number one story for weeks even though he was acquitted in a criminal trial. This man committed real crimes and yet there is barely even a whisper from organizations that claim “democracy dies in darkness.”  

The silence coming from the left is eerily similar to the Black Lives Matter riots that occurred in 2020. In that instance, we not only were told it was “mostly peaceful” as we watched buildings burn down and stores looted, but then presidential candidate Kamala Harris also promoted a bail fund for the rioters arrested while they were rioting. The fund set up for the Canadian trucker convoy was banned by GoFundMe for parking their trucks on the road and blocking traffic. There is a clear double standard that has been set. 

This is why you must get your news from a variety of sources. It is so easy to get stuck in an echo chamber online nowadays, and algorithms only make this worse by showing you what they know you like. Be intentional about what you are consuming. Make sure that you regularly challenge your prior convictions. It is the only way we grow. No matter what side of the argument you find yourself on, remember that almost everyone has their own motive.