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As conservative lawmakers and members of the media baselessly label LGBTQ people and their allies as “groomers,” they have invited scrutiny of some of their own behavior toward children — and their embrace of people found to have sexually abused kids.
Unfortunately for right-wingers, the internet is widely accessible. On Monday, progressive media watchdog Media Matters released a thorough timeline highlighting conservative media personalities defending child molesters and promoting the sexualization of children — and, in many cases, audio and video footage is included as evidence.
The report features several figures you’re likely to know if you’ve been following coverage of right-wing extremism in recent years. For example, Media Matters shared audio of fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson on a shock-jock radio show defending statutory rape and making perverted comments about girls sexually experimenting at boarding school.
Avowed white nationalist Nick Fuentes made the list for claiming he’s “not against grooming” children as long as they’re being groomed for marriage. And podcaster Matt Walsh made the list after downplaying sexual abuse in the Catholic Church as “not a pedophile scandal.”
The Media Matters report also includes Ian Miles Cheong, a popular Twitter user on the right who has been known to attack LGBTQ people with “groomer” claims. In since-deleted tweets, Cheong repeatedly said the age of consent is too high.
And Media Matters also noted that Turning Point USA, a right-wing organization run by Charlie Kirk, has collaborated with multiple convicted sex offenders for some of its events. I recently covered one of those collaborations for The ReidOut Blog.
If your least-favorite conservative commentator isn’t on my abridged list here, don’t fret: Head over to Media Matters for the complete roundup.
You may even want to print out a copy to keep in your wallet, so that the next time a conservative begins to rail against groomers, you can tell them to save their breath and look inward. Because you brought receipts.