Listen to Media Matters' Kayla Gogarty explain how the RNC’s partnership with Rumble acts as a “bridge to extremism”
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Listen to Media Matters' Kayla Gogarty explain how the RNC’s partnership with Rumble acts as a “bridge to extremism”
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From the October 31, 2023, edition of SiriusXM's The Michelangelo Signorile Show
MICHELANGELO SIGNORILE (HOST): The RNC -- Republican National Committee -- is partnering with the Republican Jewish Coalition in supporting a website that showcases antisemitism, which doesn't seem to bother the Republican Jewish Coalition. Talk a little bit about that. And then, you know, it needs to be said that major media organizations are also partnering with Rumble in this.
KAYLA GOGARTY (MEDIA MATTERS RESEARCH DIRECTOR): Yeah. So, the RNC has partnered with Rumble for, now, all three debates so far. So this isn't just the first time that they've -- this third debate isn't the first time that it's happening.
But so, basically, Rumble is its exclusive streaming partner, and it's a way that Rumble has been getting a different audience to the platform, which is why I think the RNC using Rumble is particularly dangerous. By using it, they are trying to normalize the platform, though it is filled with extreme and harmful content. And it could be a bridge to extremism.
I think a notable example is Devin Nunes appeared on a QAnon show in April, and he actually told the host that he discovered the show while browsing Rumble. So Rumble can be that bridge to more extreme content and the RNC using the platform really can, you know, help bridge some of that audience to that extreme and harmful content.
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SIGNORILE: So, as you said earlier, this relationship with the RNC in these debates with Rumble has been for the, you know, past two debates as well, but those debates were Fox News debates. They were hosted by Fox News. This debate coming up is hosted by NBC News and Salem Radio, which is a right wing radio network as well. And they're, in essence then, also legitimizing Rumble, aren't they? And isn't this a problem for NBC News?
GOGARTY: Yeah. It was surprising, you know, the partnership with all of them. But mainstream platform -- mainstream media has not really been reporting on Rumble, you know, and Rumble's extremism. And I think that, you know, the RNC partnering with both Rumble and NBC News is just an extension of that. You know, people are unaware of the extremism that is on the platform and how harmful it is. And that's why, you know, at Media Matters, we've really been trying to sound the alarm on that.