ABC again invited CNN contributor and conservative pundit Dana Loesch to be part of its This Week roundtable, even though she has promoted a conspiracy theory that her CNN co-workers described as “McCarthy-like.”
On her radio show earlier this week, Loesch promoted the fringe idea that Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin “is essentially a member of the female version of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Muslim Sisterhood.” The comment was the subject of a letter circulated by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) attacking Abedin.
The theory has been widely discredited and was denounced on the floor of the Senate by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). The ongoing attacks on Abedin have been repudiated by members of Congress from both parties. CNN hosts Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer have also pointed out the incendiary and “McCarthy-like” qualities of the attack.
These comments apparently don't bother ABC News.
Similarly, Loesch attacked a caller to her show this week who said she opposed Chick-Fil-A management's stance against gay marriage, telling her that “I know you hate Christ.” Loesch claimed that as a supporter of marriage equality, the woman could not be a Christian. Polls over the last decades have shown declining opposition to same-sex marriage among evangelicals, and among Americans in general.
But Loesch nevertheless repeated the claim on This Week, saying, “obviously the CEO is a Christian, people are shocked that he's for traditional marriage? It just doesn't make sense to me.”
In her appearance on This Week in February, Loesch hyped an undercover sting of Planned Parenthood that had already been discredited.
Those are just the latest absurd, conspiracy-minded statements from Loesch. What's the purpose of having a person with that sort of track record on what is supposed to be a serious news program?