Here Are The Conservative Pundits Branding Black Lives Matter A “Hate Group”

Written by Emily Arrowood

Published

Rush Limbaugh joined Fox News hosts in declaring that the Black Lives Matter movement, which aims to shine a spotlight on racial disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system, should be designated a “hate group.”

Geraldo Rivera: Black Lives Matter Is “Looking More Like A Hate Group Than Ever.” Fox News' Geraldo Rivera tweeted on September 2:

[Twitter.com, 9/2/15]

Rush Limbaugh: You Can Tell Black Lives Matter Is A “Hate Group” By Listening To “What They Say.” On the September 1 edition of Rush Limbaugh's radio program, Limbaugh claimed that people are justified in branding Black Lives Matter a hate group based on “what they say”:

LIMBAUGH: People wondering, 'Gee, why all these attacks on the cops?' Anybody remember 'hands up, don't shot?' All this Black Lives Matter - Somebody will allege that Black Lives Matter maybe is a hate group. And people erupt. 'How can you say that? They're a peace-loving protest organization. What do you mean, a hate group?' Well, I'm just listening to what they say. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 9/1/15]

Bill O'Reilly: Black Lives Matter Is A “Hate Group” That Wants Police Officers Dead. On The O'Reilly Factor on August 31, Bill O'Reilly alleged that Black Lives Matter is a “hate group” and compared the movement to the Ku Klux Klan:

O'REILLY: Is Black Lives Matter a hate group?

JUAN WILLIAMS: No. I mean, you mean like a neo-Nazis, or Aryan Nation, or --

O'REILLY: The Klan --

WILLIAMS: Klan or even terrorist groups like Boko Haram.

O'REILLY: I wouldn't say they're terrorists. I think they're a hate groups. They hate police officers.

WILLIAMS: Well, they have strong feelings about --

O'REILLY: No, they hate them. [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 8/31/15]

Elisabeth Hasselbeck: “Why Has The Black Lives Matter Movement Not Been Classified Yet As A Hate Group?” On the August 31 edition of Fox & Friends, co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck wondered when Black Lives Matter would be labeled as a hate group:

HASSELBECK: Why has the Black Lives movement -- Black Lives Matter movement -- not been classified yet as a hate group? I mean, how much more has to go in this direction before someone actually labels it as such? [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/31/15]

Fox & Friends Names Black Lives Matter The "'Murder' Movement." On the same edition of Fox & Friends, the network displayed on-screen text calling Black Lives Matter the "'murder' movement":

[Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/31/15]

Neil Cavuto: “Do You Think The Black Lives Matter Groups Are Hate Groups?” On the September 2 edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto, host Cavuto asked a Texas sheriff, “Do you think the Black Lives Matter groups are hate groups?” [Fox News, Your World with Neil Cavuto, 9/2/15]

This item has been updated with additional examples.