I’d like to buy some sanity, Pat.
On Saturday, a picture of “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak with a Republican politician emerged on social media. This was hardly a surprise; Sajak is openly conservative and is known to throw barbs at liberals online.
Under normal circumstances, the photo would likely have generated some controversy — and then it would have quickly disappeared.
But in this case, the politician in question is a Republican guaranteed to send Democrats into a tizzy: Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak with Marjorie Taylor Greene and RSBN reporter Bryan Glenn. pic.twitter.com/3dbUygSqDy
— PatriotTakes ?? (@patriottakes) September 18, 2022
According to TMZ, the man to the left is Bryan Glenn, a reporter with the Right Side Broadcasting Network, a media company best known for relentless promotion of now-former President Donald Trump.
According to Fox News, the picture was taken earlier this month, though no other context is being reported.
The furor started when it was tweeted by Patriot Takes, an account that describes itself thusly: “Dedicated researchers monitoring and exposing right-wing extremism and other threats to democracy.”
Do you think the left is going to try to cancel Pat Sajak?
And there’s no greater threat to democracy like the host of “Wheel of Fortune” posing with a duly elected congresswoman in a photo that provides little information beyond the image itself.
One comment reported by Fox News pretty much summed up the outrage: “Pictured: Pat Sajak and Vanna Whitesupremacist.”
At least that remark had a modicum of wit, despite being flippant and inflammatory (and unnecessarily dragging Sajak’s longtime letter-touching partner Vanna White into the picture for the sake of a bad pun).
Yes, Rep. Greene has accumulated her share of controversies — from a campaign ad that showed her posing in front of a photo of the members of the leftist “squad” in Congress while carrying a gun, to social media posts she wrote before her time as a politician indicating her support for problematic conspiracy theories.
The rest, alas, did not rise to that level. Most were like this response, also reported by Fox News: “Pat Sajak has always been a far-right lunatic I’m not surprised at all.”
Here’s Temple University professor Marc Lamont Hill: “First Chuck Woolery. Now Pat Sajak. Are all game show hosts trash?” Woolery, who originally hosted “Wheel of Fortune” and other game shows, has come under fire for his political views, particularly his support for Trump.
First Chuck Woolery. Now Pat Sajak. Are all game show hosts trash? https://t.co/Nc0mThlFap
— Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) September 18, 2022
It’s worth noting that out of Sajak, Woolery and Marc Lamont Hill, Hill is the only one to have lost a television job due to offensive remarks. In 2018, CNN let him go as an analyst after he called for “a free Palestine from the river to the sea” — a phrase with anti-Semitic undertones which implies the state of Israel should be wiped off the map.
He still has a job in academia, though, because — well, you know, academia.
Another Twitter user who goes by the name Mr. Newberger seemed unusually obsessed with the photo.
I’d like to solve the puzzle, Pat Sajak. pic.twitter.com/rP0lPmlBfi
— Mr. Newberger (@jeremynewberger) September 18, 2022
It’s only been 8 months since Marjorie Taylor Greene gave the keynote at a Nazi rally where the organizer praised Adolf Hitler. So by all means, Pat Sajak, take some selfies with her. Looks like the Wheel of Fortune is morally bankrupt.
— Mr. Newberger (@jeremynewberger) September 18, 2022
In that last tweet, Mr. Newberger is referring to Greene’s speech earlier this year at an event organized by alt-right carbon-waster Nick Fuentes. Greene told CBS News she was unfamiliar with Fuentes or his views; whether or not you buy this, there’s little evidence Sajak was even remotely familiar with the controversy, which hardly lasted an entire news cycle.
Nevertheless, the “Sajak is a Nazi” drum-beat continued apace on Twitter:
Wheel Of Fortune host Pat Sajak should’ve never posed with QAnon terrorist Marjorie Taylor Greene. He’s not a stupid man, he knows exactly who and what she is, so that tells me he is as disgusting as she is.
— Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) September 18, 2022
Pat Sajak is the Chairman of the Board at Hillsdale college. The same Hillsdale that’s been instrumental in conservative’s attacks on our public school system and teachers. He’s a MAGA fascist.
— ???? (@antifaoperative) September 18, 2022
— Crissy (@cdxllard) September 18, 2022
Apparently, if you don’t agree with the liberal line on our failed public school system, you are a fascist/Nazi/white Christian nationalist/QAnon terrorist.
As of Monday morning, Sajak hadn’t commented on his Twitter account, although he rarely uses it. And, while there are calls to fire him, the idea that ABC would get rid of a veritable American institution over a picture with a duly elected congressman seems unlikely.
Besides, Sajak has recently discussed retiring from the show anyway — meaning, for some liberals, they’d just be getting there too late.
— Crissy (@cdxllard) September 18, 2022
However, many — including media personality Kim Iversen — noted the reaction was indicative of how toxic our political culture has become in the Twitter age.
I woke up this morning to see Pat Sajak trending. He’s being called a Nazi and piece of garbage by virtuous liberals for being a Republican. Is Twitter just a cesspool of insanity or is it a reflection of how divided our country actually is?
— Kim Iversen (@KimIversenShow) September 18, 2022
“I woke up this morning to see Pat Sajak trending. He’s being called a Nazi and piece of garbage by virtuous liberals for being a Republican. Is Twitter just a cesspool of insanity or is it a reflection of how divided our country actually is?” Iversen wrote.
All of this outrage assumes that Sajak shares all of Greene’s views — or even most of them. Heck, it practically assumes he was either the one who sought out the photograph or had perfect knowledge of every controversy Greene has been involved in.
We know nothing about the circumstances surrounding the picture. Nothing about whether Sajak supports Greene. All we know is that the picture exists, Sajak is a conservative, Greene frequently gets labeled a “Nazi” by raging lunatic leftists and, ergo, Sajak is a Nazi.
Don’t follow that logic? Maybe you’re a Nazi, too.
Be the first to comment