Flagship CBS news program 60 Minutes on Friday tweeted a promo of the upcoming Lesley Stahl interview with polarizing Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and prompted a tidal wave of outrage in the process.
The extremely controversial Republican‘s sit-down with Stahl airs on Sunday, but the pushback and anger over the announcement from critics was immediate, accusing the show of platforming an extremist, of “both sides coverage”, and even being “complicit.”
The show tweeted several still photos along with the message: “Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, nicknamed MTG, isn’t afraid to share her opinions, no matter how intense and in-your-face they are. She sits down with this Sunday on 60 Minutes.”
Actor Bradley Whitford was among the most retweeted of the respondents with his oblique reference to Adolf Hitler.
“Reminds me of a guy we defeated in the 1940’s who wasn’t afraid to share his opinions, no matter how intense and in-your-face they were. Too bad you couldn’t interview him, @LesleyRStahl, you could have asked him about his vegetarianism and his love of dogs,” he wrote.
NBC News senior reporter Ben Collins on the other hand, who covers “disinformation”, criticized Greene for her Hitler references.
Also from the NBC world, pundit and frequent MSNBC guest Elie Mystal attacked the use of “MTG” for the congresswoman, writing, “The way you guys say her ‘nickname’ is MTG… as if it’s a cute moniker bestowed by her besties… when her initials are just MTG and her ‘nicknames’ are ‘Marjorie Three Names’ and ‘Unfrozen Caveman Congresswoman’ just shows that you’re here to launder her rep and complicit.”
Many of the criticisms centered on the tweet’s “framing” of the interview, while others simply attacked the very concept of putting the Republican on air at all. Former Republican Adam Kinzinger called the interview ‘insane,” and anti-gun activist David Hogg said he looks forward to Stahl asking Greene about “why she thinks school shootings are fake,” a reference to her embrace of conspiracy theories about Sandy Hook and other shootings.
