Cross posted to the MRC's NewsBusters blog
On Saturday night, MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin used his eponymously named show to paint Republican efforts to roll back the liberal agenda on transgenders and gays as a new "McCarthyism," and his guests pushed the conspiracy theory that recent actions are an "experiment" by Republicans to prepare to take rights away from a larger number of Americans later so they can stay in power.
The MSNBC host began setting up the segment:
For about a decade in the late 1940's and '50s, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy spread fear and paranoia about this country by persecuting those on the left that he deemed, quote, "un-American." Now, many of today's Republicans are McCarthy's ideological descendants. And one of their primary targets now appears to be the LGBTQ community.
He continued: "In fact, just yesterday, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a law removing gender identity as a protected class in that state. Now, trans and nonbinary Iowans are no longer shielded from discrimination in education, housing, employment and many other aspects of everyday life."
After recalling moves by Republicans in Michigan and several other states to try to challenge the Obergell vs. Hodges decision and try to ban same-sex marriage, he concluded his introduction: "And with that foundation in place, Republicans have brought modern McCarthyism back into American life and placed a target squarely on the backs of those in the LGBTQ community."
Mohyeldin brought on his liberal guests -- Imara Jones of Translash Media and podcaster Francesca Fiorentini -- for further discussion. Jones began by suggesting that Republican actions are more akin to Jim Crow than McCarthyism:
...what we saw during McCarthyism was a witchhunt based upon people's supposed political beliefs and associations. And I think what we're seeing here is fundamental denial of people's rights based upon who they are, which I think actually raises the level of concern here, right? We're looking at something that has more in common with the worst of America's past like Jim Crow, honestly, than McCarthyism...
Jones soon saw an ulterior motive by Republicans:
So I think what we're looking at is an experimentation here on the part of the Republican party and the administration for how you begin to remove people from public life and strip them of their rights, which is why this is not going to stop only with trans people. We now see it moving to gay people. And it's going to move to ever larger groups of Americans.
After Mohyeldin played a clip of State Rep. Josh Shriver (R-MI) announcing his push for a gay marriage ban in Michigan, he went to Fiorentini, who provocatively made an issue of the Michigan Republican being a white man. She also voiced agreement with Jones's conspiracy theory that Republicans have an ulterior motive in their policies toward transgenders, leading to Mohyeldin to voice agreement:
FRANCESCA FIORENTINI, AMERICA UNHINGED PODCAST: It's weird that he's a white guy. Weird. Weird one. I think Imara is absolutely right. Let's just underscore what she said, right? This is a trial balloon -- it always has been. We are in the top line of, "First they came for the," trans Americans.
MOHYELDIN: Right.
FIORENTINI: Right? And if we don't stop it there, it festers. We know they're also going after no-fault divorce. They want to trap women whether it's by rescinding their rights to their own bodies, when and how they can have a child ...
Transcript follows:
MSNBC's Ayman
March 1, 2025
8:32 p.m. Eastern
AYMAN MOHYELDIN: For about a decade in the late 1940's and '50s, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy spread fear and paranoia about this country by persecuting those on the left that he deemed, quote, "un-American." Now, many of today's Republicans are McCarthy's ideological descendants. And one of their primary targets now appears to be the LGBTQ community. In fact, just yesterday, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a law removing gender identity as a protected class in that state. Now, trans and nonbinary Iowans are no longer shielded from discrimination in education, housing, employment and many other aspects of everyday life.
But Iowa is not alone. In fact, lawmakers in at least nine states have instructed measures -- or, rather, introduced measures -- instructing the government to chip away some of the rights of same-sex couples' right to marry. More than half of them, including the one in Michigan, have urged the Supreme Court to overturn the Obergefell vs. Hodges decision -- the one they passed in 2015 that granted same-sex couples nationwide the right to marry. The Michigan resolution was introduced by State Representative Josh Shriver. It argues that the Obergefell ruling is, quote, "at odds with the sanctity of marriage, the Michigan constitution, and principles upon which this country was established."
Similar measures have now been introduced in Montana, Idaho and the Dakotas. The ones in North Dakota and Idaho already passed state houses dominated by Republicans. And, of course, this is not at all surprising. Justice Clarence Thomas argued in 2022, after all, that the court should reconsider the same-sex marriage ruling. And with that foundation in place, Republicans have brought modern McCarthyism back into American life and placed a target squarely on the backs of those in the LGBTQ community.
My panel is back with me now. Imara, your thoughts on this? Republicans -- they're not even pretending to hide their desire to overturn Obergefell anymore. When you see these lawmakers in nine states try to undermine it, it's clear they're trying to do. They got the green light -- they got the signal. We've seen this playbook before. A Supreme Court justice kind of signals out there, "Hey, you know, you can change this through lawfare," somebody goes out and starts to bring case after case after case through the pipeline of the judiciary with the hopes that one of them gets to this specific Supreme Court. And, as we saw with Roe vs. Wade being overturned, we see Obergefell and Hodges overturned.
IMARA JONES, TRANSLASH MEDIA: Yeah, I mean, I think that, you know, what we saw during McCarthyism was a witchhunt based upon people's supposed political beliefs and associations. And I think what we're seeing here is fundamental denial of people's rights based upon who they are, which I think actually raises the level of concern here, right? We're looking at something that has more in common with the worst of America's past like Jim Crow, honestly, than McCarthyism, because what we are seeing in Iowa, for example, is the removal of trans people from civil rights protections that the state granted, you know, just a little over a decade ago, for example, and the rolling back of rights through a Supreme Court ruling and through a series of state laws, for example, that people have gained.
So I think what we're looking at is an experimentation here on the part of the Republican party and the administration for how you begin to remove people from public life and strip them of their rights, which is why this is not going to stop only with trans people. We now see it moving to gay people. And it's going to move to ever larger groups of Americans. ...
(...)
(Mohyeldin informs viewers that State Rep. Josh Shriver (R-MI) did not take questions after announcing his bill and shows him on screen.)
(...)
FRANCESCA FIORENTINI, AMERICA UNHINGED PODCAST: It's weird that he's a white guy. Weird. Weird one. I think Imara is absolutely right. Let's just underscore what she said, right? This is a trial balloon -- it always has been. We are in the top line of, "First they came for the," trans Americans.
MOHYELDIN: Right.
FIORENTINI: Right? And if we don't stop it there, it festers. We know they're also going after no-fault divorce. They want to trap women whether it's by rescinding their rights to their own bodies, when and how they can have a child ...