Nation

Sara Carter: National Guard in DC ‘are not an enemy’

Published

2 years ago

January 18, 2021

Sara Carter spoke to Fox News host Martha MacCallum Monday about comments made by a Democratic congressman that casted doubt over the National Guard’s loyalty as they deploy to the Nation’s Capitol ahead of President-elect Joe Biden‘s Wednesday inauguration.

“The [National] Guard is 90 some-odd percent male, and only about 20% of white males voted for Biden,” Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) said in a CNN interview earlier on Monday. “You’ve got to figure that in the Guard, which is predominantly more conservative […] they’re probably not more than 25% of the people there protecting us that voted for Biden. The other 75% are in the large class of folks that might want to do something.”

.@RepCohen on his concerns w/ the National Guard securing the Inauguration: “The [National] Guard is 90 some-odd percent male; and only about 20 percent of white males voted for Biden … there are probably not more than 25% of the people there protecting us that voted for Biden” pic.twitter.com/ofQfLuCw8I
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 18, 2021

Cohen’s remarks come amid fears among U.S. defense officials that some in the National Guard might launch an insider attack. The FBI is now vetting all Guard troops who will be in Washington, D.C. for the event.

“It’s absolutely divisive and wrong, Martha,” Carter said in response to Cohen’s remarks. “My husband is a wounded war veteran. He pledged allegiance to the Constitution to protect our nation from enemies both foreign and domestic. He gave that pledge just like all the other men and women that fought alongside him in Afghanistan.”

“I also covered the war in Afghanistan,” Carter told host Martha MacCallum. “I saw young men of all colors, of all religions—and women—give their life up for this nation because they believe [in] and love this country.”

Carter’s attention then turned toward the thousands of National Guard troops currently stationed in the nation’s capital, where the number of troops is going to surge up to 25,000 on Inauguration Day from the previous 21,000, the National Guard Bureau said last week. This massive presence of troops in Washington is meant to combat any threats to Biden and his inauguration following a mob storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6 in a deadly siege.

“And as for the 21,000 National Guard members that are in Washington, D.C., it’s important to remember that they are doing their job as well. They are not an enemy,” Carter said. “Many of them can’t believe they’re there with their AR-15s guarding the Capitol before inauguration, and on Inauguration Day too, to protect President-elect and President Joe Biden from possible threats within the nation. To say that these men and women, who are there protecting our nation, that 75% of them ‘pose a threat’ to our country because they had a different political party affiliation is absolutely un-American and wrong.”

You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.

China

China Circles the Wagons Around TikTok

Published

28 mins ago

March 28, 2023

Steve Postal

In follow up to the recent Congressional hearing on TikTok, Chinese state-run media was swift to condemn any scrutiny of the platform. China is claiming through its state-run media that criticism of TikTok is rooted in anti-China prejudice, that TikTok is harmless and not different from any other social media platform, and that it is the US, not China, that is the bad actor.

CCP Claims Scrutiny of TikTok Based on Prejudice Against China

According to China’s state-run media, the US is attacking TikTok out of racial and political prejudice towards China. Criticisms of TikTok based on security concerns amount to “casual, racially-charged slander” and a “Sinophobic witch-hunt,” according to Global Times. That same article claimed that TikTok “has a large target on its back simply because it is Chinese-owned.” Another Global Times article portrayed the Congressional hearing on TikTok as “xenophobic political grandstanding.”

And Chinese media used statements from Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) to launder its claim that concerns about TikTok stem from racism. China Daily quoted Bowman as saying: “…Let’s not be racist toward China and express our xenophobia when it comes to TikTok because American companies have done tremendous harm to American people.”

Another Global Times article portrayed the hearing as an “anti-Communist witch hunt,” while the same article claimed that “[t]he ghost of McCarthyism is haunting the US again.” Another Global Times article featured a political cartoon with a similar caption: “Ghost of McCarthyism haunts TikTok Hearing.”

CCP Claims that TikTok is an Innovator, and Not Different from Other Social Media

TikTok is a strong innovator not worthy of scrutiny, according to Chinese state-run media. TikTok is “an innovative app that has enriched the digital life of American people and benefited a lot of micro businesses in the US,” according to Global Times. TikTok “…is a global high-tech company representing openness, innovation, and vitality…,” according to another Global Times article. It is “a leader in digital technology and advanced algorithms” and “a competition for technology and competition for markets,” according to a third Global Times piece. It is “a massively successful business,” according to yet another Global Times article.

CCP media also claims that TikTok doesn’t pose any threat different from other social media. One Global Times article laments that there is a “plethora of international experts highlighting the massive hypocrisy that non-Chinese apps such as Facebook and Google harvest much more data than their Beijing-based rival,” and that there is “nothing to prove [TikTok] is a greater risk than any other social media.” TikTok’s CEO testified that “We are committed to be very transparent with our users about what we collect,” and that “I don’t believe what we collect is more than most players in the industry,” according to another Global Times article.

CCP Claims that Focus on TikTok Reveals US (not China) is Bad Actor

Chinese state-run media also tries to capitalize on the attention on TikTok to issue propaganda criticizing the US. The “witch-hunting against TikTok” show that the “US’ technological innovation is going downhill and the political farce against a tiny app has seriously shattered the US values of fair competition and its credibility,” states Global Times.

And the CCP media accuses the US of doing what China has doing for years: intellectual property theft. According to China Daily, the Congressional hearing “is just the latest attempt by the US to steal the company.” The “US has turned from a cradle of innovation into a robber,” according to another Global Times article.

China’s state-run media is once again trying to deflect and redirect attention away from China’s malevolent actions. With TikTok, China alleges that viewing TikTok in a critical light is racist, that TikTok is an innovative application worthy of praise, and that any criticism of TikTok reviews flaws with the US, not China. Given the platform’s increased popularity in the United States, it unfortunately appears that these CCP talking points are convincing a significant segment of the American population.