Multiple corporate media broadcasters advanced an identical narrative following the FBI raid on former President Donald Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago, attempting to use guilt by association to tarnish criticism of the raid as conspiracy theorists calling for violence.
Numerous media outlets, many of which were ABC affiliates, repeated a similar talking point following the raid, saying, “sources say there’s been a strong reaction to the raid on extremist and Q-Anon-related forums.”
The outlets claimed that most of these “forums” were active before the January 6 Capitol riot and alleged there were calls for “violence” and “civil war” on them after the raid.
A commentator for Canada’s CTV News even claimed that “this is the kind of violence that led to the January 6 attack.”
The term “civil war” was also repeated multiple times by reporters on MSNBC, including by Joe Scarborough, and on CTV News.
While these alleged calls to violence and civil war were reportedly written online, it has been well documented by Breitbart News that various leftist groups regularly engage in actual violence.
Groups such as Janes Revenge, Black Lives Matter, and ANTIFA have not only openly called for violence but have committed acts of violence ranging from arson, vandalism, assault, and rioting, among other actions.
Breitbart News has also reported that corporate media outlets have a record of ignoring or making excuses for leftist extremism.
In this photo released by the Longmont Police Department the Life Choices building in Longmont, Colo., is seen vandalized on Saturday, June 25, 2022, following a fire at the Christian pregnancy center. (Longmont Police Department via AP)
As various corporate media outlets attempt to conflate criticizing the FBI raid with calls to violence, Breitbart News has documented that prominent conservative figures have not made agitated calls to violence since Monday’s raid.
Much of the conservative response following the raid has been focused on the “weaponization” of the FBI against political opponents of the Democrat party.
Other responses, such as from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), slammed Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray, calling for them to either resign, be impeached, or be removed.
The FBI raid on Trump’s home on Monday was reportedly over allegations that Trump brought classified documents from the White House to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the Oval Office in January 2021.
However, in an interview with Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong in May, former top Trump administration official Kash Patel countered those allegations, saying, “Trump declassified whole sets of materials in anticipation of leaving government that he thought the American public should have the right to read themselves.”
You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.