Update: The RNC released a statement saying that two “attendees,” not just one, were expelled from the convention. The statement reads, “Yesterday two attendees exhibited deplorable behavior. Their conduct was inexcusable and unacceptable. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated.” No information has been released about the identity of the two attendees, including whether they were delegates and, if so, from which state or states.
Original post:
Um, GOP, your sheets are showing:
An attendee at the Republican National Convention in Tampa on Tuesday allegedly threw nuts at a black camerawoman working for CNN and said “This is how we feed animals” before being removed from the convention, a network official confirmed to TPM.
The CNN official declined to confirm specific details of the incident to TPM but generally confirmed an account posted on Twitter by former MSNBC and Current anchor David Shuster: “GOP attendee ejected for throwing nuts at African American CNN camera woman + saying ‘This is how we feed animals.’”
It is not clear whether the alleged culprit was a delegate or attending the convention in some other capacity.
In a written statement, CNN addressed the matter but divulged few details: “CNN can confirm there was an incident directed at an employee inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum earlier this afternoon. CNN worked with convention officials to address this matter and will have no further comment.”
The crazies on the right are already saying this person was a plant by the left to make them look bad. They reject any suggestion they are racist, no matter how blatantly you show them the truth.
As the son of a newspaper reporter and ex-reporter myself, I am appalled at the laxity and unprofessionalism that exists in the media today. First of all, the media expects the GOP or CNN to give them all the information on an incident that makes them look bad. If you’re a reporter, it’s your job to ferret out the facts. You should get the name of the woman who had the nuts thrown at her and then get her account. Then you find out the names of the two attendees who threw the nuts. Were they delegates or simply attendees? What state were they from? You don’t just report what everybody else is reporting. Secondly, the incident itself, while it may have been unprofessional, was not as bad as if there was a brawl on the floor i.e. the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968. If you readers recall, Chicago mayor Richard Daily was a Democrat, but he acted like a redneck bigot.
Wonder if they throw nuts at Condoleeza Rice, she was on TV saying how great a Pres Romney would be on foreign policy, the lady who dismissed the memo telling her about the 9/11 attack.
Mike Newton, are you kidding me? You have to go all the way back 44 years to make your false equivalency — or excuse me — your “it’s not as bad as” argument about Democrats? What does a Vietnam-era convention where police were rioting have to do with racism in opposition to Obama?
Condi Rice, do ytou see this, you idiot?
Note the difference between “attendee” and “delegate” and correct your headline and story accordingly.
Mike Newton, for all of that you could only spare 6 words on the nut throwing incident? And you’re not even completely sure if it was “unprofessional” or not?! Amazing.
I’m with Hal, if the author of this article had bothered to check his facts before he put the headline up, it wouldn’t say delegates. And HE’S complaining about journalism?
I believe that once you find out who the “attendees” were, you’ll find why no one wants to report on it. Just amazing to me that such a racially charged incident didn’t warrant at least a detainment and identification of the “attendees”. Something’s fishy, no matter which side it is that smells.
Trish, while I’m not one of the “crazies” on the right, I do lean right of center and I refuse to be sterotyped by your comments. The use of racial sterotyping is what you’re so upset about, yet you (and the cameraperson for that matter) characterize all conservatives from the south as being racists. Yet you probably don’t see the hypocrisy in that, do you?
Kip Light, I would be the last person to make an argument you are attempting to put in my mouth. I didn’t mention the south in my comment, nor did I even mention conservatives. I did talk about “racism in opposition to Obama.”
It seems that when there are blatant cases of racism on display on the Republican and tea party side, the answer is to, a) claim it’s not really a conservative or a Republican or a tea partier who did it, b) say whoever wants to address it is “playing the race card,” or c) as you are doing, make some kind of ad hominem argument against the person who noted it and try to come out looking like a victim.
Do you really claim that NONE of the opposition to Obama is based in racism? Seriously? Not even a little?