‘In the age of Trump’: Ex-right-winger flags Republicans’ ‘much bigger problem’

In a recent incident that sparked widespread discussion, CNN removed far-right activist Ryan Girdusky from a panel during a commercial break following his violently bigoted remark aimed at progressive Arab-American commentator Mehdi Hasan. The comment, which implied Hasan’s affiliation with the Gaza militant group Hamas, has triggered a significant response from the media community.
While racism is not new to the Republican extremism, it should be noted that a range of speakers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday disparaged Latinos, Black people, Palestinians and Jews, and made vulgar references to Kamala Harris.
The Trump campaign has distanced itself from only one of these statements, a line from the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe: “There’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
Matthew Sheffield, a podcaster and former Republican ‘operative’, took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his thoughts on the situation, stating, “CNN just removed a far-right panelist for a racist remark against progressive commentator @mehdirhasan. This was the right decision. But as a former TV booker, what happened is part of a much bigger problem.”
He elaborated on the challenges faced by mainstream media in finding balanced panellists. “Before going independent, I used to be a producer at @thehill on its ‘Rising’ program. Like all mainstream media shows, we were constantly trying to have balanced panel discussions. But we always had a problem: It was very difficult to find Republicans who weren’t crazy.”
Sheffield recounted his experiences booking right-wing commentators, revealing that he often had to vet potential guests before they appeared on air. “The sheer difficulty in identifying qualified, respectful conservative voices without ties to extremism was astonishing,” the podcaster wrote in a blog post on Flux.
“More than a few times, people who were white nationalist “alt-right” ideology activists were booked before I removed them,” he noted. “We had people offered who had made racist remarks, people who had stalked women, etc.”
He pointed out that while mainstream media attempts to include conservative voices, the Republican media landscape does not reciprocate these efforts.
Highlighting the Republican insistence on maintaining the ‘crazy’, Sheffield noted that they were offered panellists ‘who espoused Christian supremacist views, rendering them incapable of engaging objectively on topics like Israel or Islam.’
Sheffield argued that “the biggest beneficiaries of affirmative action in media are Republican commentators.” He highlighted that mainstream media’s desperation for civil dialogue in the age of Trump often leads to the same individuals being featured repeatedly, despite their controversial views.
“Republican elites have a huge quality problem on their side but they don’t care to do anything about it. That’s because they realised that engaging in informational hygiene would shrink their very unstable coalition,” he wrote. “They’ve chosen extremism over centrism. And never get called on it.”
Sheffield stressed the importance of media platforms ceasing to amplify dishonest and bigoted perspectives. “We don’t need the bigots,” he said. “Reporters can present these views and their significance. Until CNN and other outlets return to regular standards, they’re going to keep having their right-wing commentators engage in self-destructive acts.”
He also highlighted the adverse effects of “both sides” narratives, arguing, “The irrational ‘both sides’ fetish has created a dynamic where it is more controversial to call a fascist than it is for Republican politicians to praise Hitler like Trump and Mark Robinson do.”
“Calling a Nazi a Nazi is more controversial than being an actual Nazi!” Shefflield contested.
“False accusations of extremism against Democrats, often perpetuated by figures like Donald Trump, distort public perception. Trump’s campaign has branded Democratic nominee Kamala Harris with labels such as “communist” and “fascist,” even as he and other Republicans, like the party’s North Carolina gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson, openly praise figures associated with fascism,” he added.
Addressing Ryan Girdusky specifically, Sheffield stated, “He is a full-on racist and radical Christian supremacist who has written for racist activist Richard Spencer. He has been running an operation to block Black and LGBT authors from school curricula. He should’ve never been on CNN.”
“Given how empowered that reactionaries and authoritarians have become within one of America’s two major political parties, the ideas of Trump and other extremists must be presented to the public. But we do not need to directly hear from the bad-faith actors who promote these deceptive and hateful ideologies,” Sheffield wrote to conclude his blog post.