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STUDY: Networks Ignore Obama’s Knock On Cancel Culture, Woke Purity

   DailyWire.com
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 29: Former U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to guests at the Obama Foundation Summit on the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology on October 29, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. The Summit is an annual event hosted by the Obama Foundation.
Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Now that former President Obama has essentially come out against the advancement of cancel culture and woke purity tests, the mainstream media appears to be keeping his comments under the radar.

Earlier this week, Obama ignited a firestorm on social media when he told attendees at an Obama Foundation event that woke purity tests leading to the cancellation of others do society no good.

“If I tweet or hashtag about how you didn’t do something right or used the wrong verb or — then I can sit back and feel pretty good about myself because, ‘Man, you can see how woke I was? I called you out.’ That’s not activism,” said Obama.

“This idea of purity and you’re never compromised and you always politically woke and all that stuff, that is — you should get over that quickly,” he continued. “The world is messy. There are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff have flaws. [Transition] That’s not activism. That’s not bringing about change. You know, it is — if all you’re doing is casts stones, you’re probably not going to get that far. That’s easy to do.”

According to a study by Newsbusters, the big three networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — omitted Obama’s comments from the morning and evening broadcasts on Wednesday, choosing to focus on President Trump’s impeachment instead.

“ABC, CBS, and NBC all kept up the pressure for the impeachment of President Trump by eagerly anticipating of testimony from former National Security Adviser John Bolton,” reported Newsbusters. “Yet, in the past, they’ve gleefully latched onto Obama’s criticisms of President Trump. In September 2018, they gushed about Obama being on the campaign trail to fire up Democrats against Trump.”

Naturally, only “Special Report” of Fox News highlighted Obama’s comments and even held a panel discussion about their significance.

“Former President Barack Obama today talking about this culture and ideological purity in his own party warning Democrats to not be so stuck on being ‘woke,’” said anchor Bret Baier.

Tom Bevan, co-founder and president of RealClearPolitics, noted Obama was specifically addressing the prevalence of cancel culture on college campuses.

“And I loved what he had to say. I thought it was nice that someone of his stature on the left was able to say with some clarity, ‘Look, this is out of hand. It needs to stop. We need to get over it and move on and be more civil towards each other.’ And I thought it was a great thing for him to say,” Bevan said.

As the Washington Post noted, President Obama enjoyed a fair amount of bipartisan support for his denunciation of cancel culture, with even the far-left site The Root agreeing with his sentiment.

“Now, the nation’s forever president is calling out ‘cancel culture,’ telling an audience at the annual Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago that shutting down a person with an opposing view or just being overly critical is not a mark of true activism,” wrote Dara Sharif. “Wise and sober words, perhaps especially needed in an era in which the current occupant of the Oval Office hardly goes out of his way to find common ground with those with whom he disagrees.”

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