PBS's Alcindor blasted for Cawthorn tweet

FPI / August 28, 2020

Madison Cawthorn, a Republican candidate vying for the North Carolina congressional seat of White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, is paralyzed from the waist down due to a car accident when he was 18.

In a speech to the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, Cawthorn spoke of overcoming adversity and said: "You can kneel before God, but stand for our flag."

Cawthorn punctuated his speech by rising from his wheelchair and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

The action by the 25-year-old candidate was too much for PBS NewsHour personality Yamiche Alcindor to handle.

The triggered Alcindor, who is an NBC News and MSNBC contributor, tweeted: "Madison Cawthorn made it a point to stand, suggesting that all Americans to [sic] should stand during the pledge of allegiance & national anthem. It was a direct rebuke of actions by ppl -- including black athletes who are currently sitting out games -- protesting police brutality."

Thousands responded by hammering Alcindor.

"How on earth could you possibly turn the rather moving act of a FREAKIN' PARAPLEGIC rising for the national anthem into some weird BLM trip?" National Review contributor Jeff Blehar tweeted. "When someone holds the door open for you, is that a rebuke of BLM too? My patience for takes like this has reached its limit."

"Madison Cawthorn may be paralyzed, but @Yamiche is the one who is a completely broken person," Sean Davis, co-founder of the Federalist, said. "Only a deranged lunatic who worships at the altar of politics could get angry at the sight of a paralyzed person standing up. What a sad, pathetic way to go through life."

Davis also tagged Alcindor with an image of disabled veterans from Soldier Strong, a group that serves injured veterans, standing up for the national anthem during Wednesday's RNC.

Alcindor "found a way to turn a paraplegic standing up in his wheelchair into an act of white supremacy," Daily Caller reporter Chuck Ross wrote.

"Nowhere did Cawthorn state his standing was a direct rebuke of actions by ppl — including black athletes who are currently sitting out games — protesting police brutality. And Yamiche Alcindor is not a journalist," conservative commentator Stephen Miller said.

Cawthorn will face Democrat candidate Moe Davis in the November election. An internal Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee poll conducted in July had Cawthorn leading Davis by five points (46-41).



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