Liberal journalists seemed unwilling to believe reports a Michigan teacher had been fired for saying "Trump is our president" and characterized conservatives as "gullible."
The story: Justin Kucera, 28, said Oakland County School officials brought him into a meeting on July 10 and demanded that he resign or be fired from his positions as a social studies teacher and varsity baseball coach at Walled Lake Western High School, the Washington Free Beacon reported on Tuesday.
- Kucera was pushed out after he tweeted vaguely pro-Trump sentiments, including, "I'm done being silent. @realDonaldTrump is our president ... Don't @ me," and retweeted Trump's declaration, "SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!"
- The Oakland County School District declined to comment on the specifics of Kucera's dismissal, but said "no disciplinary action was taken as a result of any support of President Trump," The Detroit News reported.
- Other Walled Lake teachers have not faced disciplinary action for making political statements, including calling Trump a "sociopath" and "narcissist," according to the Free Beacon.
The reaction: Joshua Holland, a contributor to The Nation, responded to the Free Beacon's report by averring that even though he hadn't read the story about Kucera, "I can say for sure that this obviously didn't happen."
"I'm always amazed by how gullible right-wingers are," Holland added.
Parker Molloy, a transgender rights activist and editor at large for Media Matters for America, weighed in by unearthing a supposedly damning tweet Kucera had posted on July 6.
Molloy said the tweet, in which Kucera declared "Liberals suck man," was "clearly the one that got him in trouble."
The additional tweet (that they just... don't mention) from him that he later deleted is clearly the one that got him in trouble. I'm sure there's more to the story than just the tweets, as well, but it's telling that they left this one out. pic.twitter.com/9TZnMviQ7n
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) July 21, 2020
Noam Blum, an editor at Tablet Magazine, mocked Molloy and Holland's skepticism, suggesting it was another example of progressives denying the existence of "cancel culture."
Cancel Culture isn't real. It's just rich famous people whining about Parker Molloy criticizing them on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/OzXD93vbtJ
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) July 21, 2020
Who's gullible? Whatever the precise motives behind Kucera's firing, liberals would be hard-pressed to prove their "side" is uniquely immune to confirmation bias.
Recent examples of left-leaning journalists and commentators mistaking stereotypes about the right for reality include:
- An uproar last month over a "noose" garage pull found in black NASCAR driver Bubba Watson's garage,
- Mass condemnation of Covington Catholic High School boys for being harassed during the March for Life in January 2019,
- And horror at a hateful attack actor Jussie Smollett apparently perpetrated against himself the same month.
Holland, for his part, has downplayed the political significance of the Smollett story.
What annoys me about the Smollett thing is that it's treated as a political story because he said the attackers were Trump supporters, but it's really a crazy show biz self-promotion story. I don't care much abt pop culture.
— Joshua Holland 🔥 (@JoshuaHol) March 27, 2019
Jacob Wohl filing false police reports is political.
Kucera did not immediately respond to an interview request.
