Lawless on Covington Catholic Students, MAGA Hats, and Whether BuzzFeed will be Vindicated
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
University of Virginia Professor of Political Science Jennifer Lawless joined GoLocal News Editor Kate Nagle on GoLocal LIVE, where she spoke to media recently being in the media -- and more.
SEE VIDEO ABOVE
Lawless discussed BuzzFeed’s story claiming Michael Cohen was instructed by President Donald Trump to lie to Congress — which she said was only partially refuted by special counsel Robert Mueller — and how the media was quick to malign students from Covington Catholic High School at the “March for Life” rally in Washington, D.C. before more of the story came out.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“The BuzzFeed story was obviously insane,” said Lawless. “If it was true, It was explicit grounds for impeachment. It’s hard to imagine a more obvious case for obstruction of justice that instructing someone to lie to Congress."
“When the special counsel came out and said there are at least some pieces of this that are not accurate, then the news media had basically no choice but to start telling stories about themselves and how this can happen,” said Lawless. “I think that BuzzFeed might be in the end vindicated but it doesn’t matter — it’s going to be too late [and] it plays into Donald Trump’s narrative of ‘fake news’.”
Lawless also spoke to the coverage of the Covington High School students at the recent March for Life rally, some of whom were wearing “Make America Great Again” hats — and recent comments by former Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders calling Trump racist as well as those in Rhode Island calling MAGA hat wearers racist.
“I think it’s a perception [that is] being driven by the President himself — it’s not that all Republicans are racist, it’s not the case all conservatives are racist, but we’ve gotten to the point where many Democratic members of Congress and presidential candidates [Bernie Sanders] just literally said yesterday the President is racist,” said Lawless. “So when you’re associating yourself with his slogan — which is “Make America Great Again” and not necessarily the Republican Party or conservative movement — those two things become synonymous in a lot of people’s minds.”
Related Slideshow: PHOTOS: Inauguration Day - January 1, 2019
Related Articles
- SCOTUS Travel Ban Ruling is “Why Campaigns Matter” - Lawless on LIVE
- “Rodman Will Go Down in History,” Says Prof. Lawless of U.S.-North Korea Relations on LIVE
- Why Both Dems & GOP Saw Trump’s Comments as Treasonous: Lawless on LIVE
- Lawless on North Korea, Rudy Giuliani, and Bob Woodward’s New Book, on LIVE
- Lawless on “Scary Development” in Trump’s War on Media on LIVE
- Lawless on Roseanne’s “Career Suicide,” Countdown to Trump North Korean Summit
- LIVE: Lawless on Melania Trump’s Health, Gaza Unrest, Tuesday’s Elections
- EPA’s Pruitt Should be Packing His Bags, Says Lawless on LIVE
- Tuesday on LIVE: Comedian Champlin, Carita’s Smile & Professor Lawless
- Mueller’s Chances of Being Fired, & Zuckerberg’s Facebook Testimony: Lawless on LIVE
- UVA’s Lawless on Why Debates Matter, on LIVE
- MA Democratic Primary Upset: “Nobody Should Be Not Running Scared,” Says Lawless
- UVA’s Lawless on Ivanka Trump’s Email Problem, Pelosi’s Power Play, and More, on LIVE
- Timing of Trump’s Birthright Comments “Very Deliberate,” Says UVA’s Lawless on LIVE
- “It’s Going to Be All Mueller, All the Time Now”—UVA’s Lawless on LIVE
- Trump Jr. & Kushner Should Be “Very Unsettled” by Flynn’s Lack of Jail Time, Says Lawless on LIVE
- Lawless on “Immediate Backlash” to Judge’s Harsh Rebuke of Flynn; Prospects for Sanders and Warren
- Will Trump Shut Down Border to Migrant Caravan - UVA’s Lawless on LIVE
- Hannity’s Cohen-Ties “More Than Real Estate,” Predicts Lawless on LIVE
- Fung’s Trillo Problem — and Trump’s Saudi Problem: Lawless on LIVE
- Lawless on LIVE: “My Bet is Kavanaugh Will Drop Out”
- “Distraction Politics” Mean Important Issues Facing Kavanaugh Not Being Addressed, Says Lawless
- Lawless on LIVE: Whitehouse “Damned If He Did, Damned If He Didn’t” Report Kavanaugh Allegations
- Lawless: Shutdown Will End When Enough GOP Lawmakers Can’t Back It Anymore