National Public Radio (NPR), a taxpayer-supported and supposedly nonpartisan news network, falsely accused National Review editor-in-chief of using the “n-word” during a podcast interview with Megyn Kelly this week.
Under the headline, “Conservative editor-in-chief appears to use racial slur to refer to Haitian migrants,” NPR asserted — as if likely true — the claim that Lowry said a word that he did not, in fact, say, and which there is no evidence that he intended to say.
Lowry was discussing claims that were referred to by former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), that Haitian migrants were eating pets or geese in Springfield, Ohio. Lowry mispronounced the beginning of the word “migrants” with a short “i” before correcting himself.
Random critics on social media began claiming that Lowry had used a racial slur, which the host of the show immediately refuted.
Lowry, an establishment Republican, has no history of racial or incendiary language.
NPR hinted at banning live interviews of conservatives in late 2016 after this author appeared on Morning Edition and criticized the network for a program, “Code Switch,” that arguably perpetuates racial divisions in America.
Irate liberal listeners, angry that this author had the better of the argument, complained to the network.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.