Section II · SubversionExhibit S-007
Double Standard
MSNBC's Benen on two grieving parents at the conventions
■ The pieces
- MSNBC (Maddow blog): "RNC manipulates the pain of a grieving mother for partisan gain" — Steve Benen (2016-07-19)https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/rnc-manipulates-the-pain-grieving-mother-partisan-gain-msna878841
- MSNBC (Maddow blog): "Khizr Khan's words won't soon be forgotten" — Steve Benen (2016-07-29)https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/khizr-khans-words-wont-soon-be-forgotten-msna884046
■ What they show
On the Maddow Show blog, Steve Benen wrote that the Republican convention exploited the grief of Pat Smith, whose son died in the Benghazi attack, for political gain. Ten days later he wrote that Khizr Khan's Democratic convention speech about his son, a soldier killed in Iraq, would be remembered for a long time.
■ The other side
Benen is an opinion blogger; his defenders would say his objection was to the claims Smith made about Clinton, not to grieving parents speaking at all. Both posts now sit on MSNBC's renamed site, ms.now.
Who it helped: DemocratsCalled one party's grieving parent exploited and the other's unforgettable.
■ Why it's here
This exhibit is filed under Subversion, not graded as a lie. What subversion means →