Historically, the Left invents rhetoric condemning the Right out of thin air—but when they don’t, it seems like our team is happy to provide enough unintelligent commentary to give them all the help they need to dominate the national conversation.
The most recent example of this occurred last week when Bethany Mandel failed to define “woke”’ when asked for clarification during an interview.
In an appearance on The Hill’s show “Rising,” Mandel attempted to discuss the case against wokeness while discussing a new book she coauthored. “Rising” host Briahna Joy Gray stopped her and asked what she meant by the term to ensure they were on the same page. This was when things started going downhill for Mandel—and by downhill, I mean immediately fell off a cliff. Mandel went completely silent and, after a few awkward seconds, said, “this is going to be one of those moments that goes viral.”
Well, 10 million views later, it did . . .
Dozens of corporate media articles and millions of YouTube video views mocking her inability to define the key talking point of her book, and not only did Mandel herself get dragged—the entire movement of which she is alleged to be representative, was mocked as a consequence of her stumble.
In the aftermath of the clip going viral, Mandel tried to blame the blunder on the hosts, tweeting: “Just before we went on air, Briahna Joy Gray was on a hot mic. I heard her demeaning parenting in general in colorful and nasty terms, stating parents only have kids in order to perpetuate their own narcissism. Robby responded, ‘There are some good ones and some bad ones.’”
Whether or not this actually happened is still not confirmed, but in the interview, Mandel had no trouble speaking clearly until she was asked this very specific question about the definition of “woke.” The entire interaction, as seen in the now-viral clip, as well as everything that transpired in her flailing attempts to fix the PR nightmare, highlight some key issues about commentary and journalism on the Right.
Television and social media on the Right have become what, historically, the Right has fought against—an echo chamber with empty talking points. Personalities, public figures, and “influencers” have become so used to interacting only with those who hold similar opinions that they falter as soon as they are forced to actually apply the critical thinking that they accuse the Left of not having. The Right and Left have just become content funnels for each other: The Right makes fun of the Left for something and then the Left makes fun of the Right’s response, rinse and repeat.
Right-wing commentators, authors, journalists, and elected officials need to understand this reality and the importance of doing adequate preparation and research to avoid being lost in this void of partisan idiocy. Writing a book on the current political climate, especially as it relates to the indoctrination of children, should be more than just a grift to obtain personal career recognition, profit, and growth on social media.
Being involved in political activism should require more than just sending out tweets to an audience that only wants to hear others say what they already believe. Holding public office—or even merely campaigning for one—should be treated as a serious means of public service and not just an opportunity to attend galas and cocktail parties or audition for a Fox News or Newsmax contributor job.
If people on the Right want to move the needle and make a serious cultural or political impact, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard and do the best we can to avoid facilitating the left’s talking points for them.
It’s time for new ideas and new, more intelligent and thoughtful representation on a national stage—not the same pattern of clickbait serving the “Idiocracy” to which too many of us have become accustomed.
We must be above the opposition, not do all their work for them.