After his run-in with Alex Jones, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) told reporters that they’re the reason people like the InfoWars host have such a following.
“I know you’ve got to cover it, but you give these guys way too much attention,” Rubio said. “We’re making crazy people superstars, so you’re going to get crazier people.”
Rubio’s claim doesn’t just apply to Jones. White Nationalist Richard Spencer wasn’t widely known to the general public until media outlets like CNN, The Atlantic, and The Daily Beast began giving him wall-to-wall coverage in an effort to make then-candidate Donald Trump look like he was emboldening racists. It was the media that amplified those voices.
Evidence of this comes from the recent “Unite the Right” rally that was attended by few in D.C. Spencer wasn’t there, and the person who hosted the rally hadn’t been covered extensively by the media.
Not everyone needs or deserves coverage, and the media’s selective coverage in order to craft a narrative gives “crazy people,” as Rubio called them, more attention than they deserve.