Rolling Stone shared an out-of-context quote from self-proclaimed neo-Nazis at a rally in Orlando, Florida, over the weekend and had to
On Sunday, the outlet published a story covering the rally, which featured quotes from some of the self-proclaimed neo-Nazis. The outlet’s report quoted one demonstrator who said they supported Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
“Myself and others noted the deceptiveness of the article and tweet,” said Contra writer Pedro L. Gonzalez. “Seeing footage of the exchange, it is immediately obvious the individual the magazine portrayed as a DeSantis supporter was being sarcastic.”
Gonzalez noted News2Share’s editor-in-chief, Ford Fischer, who was covering the rally on the ground, said the statement was “clearly sarcastic,” adding the individual in the video followed up disparaging the Florida governor.
The outlet’s original publication of their story omitted the latter half of the demonstrator’s quote, suggesting the group sincerely supported the Florida Governor.
On Sunday, Rolling Stone published a story (“Videos Show Angry Neo-Nazis Cursing and Screaming Slurs During March in Florida”) about a group of self-professed neo-Nazis who held a demonstration in Florida over the weekend. The magazine initially quoted an exchange between a… pic.twitter.com/f1aZoCFosg
— Pedro L. Gonzalez (@emeriticus) September 5, 2023
“The original version of this article quoted a marcher as saying, ‘We’re all DeSantis supporters!’ without including his second remark, ‘F— Ron DeSantis! Ron DeSantis is a joke. Ron DeSantis is a joke,” reads Rolling Stone’s updated story.
On Sunday, Gonzalez shared a screenshot of Rolling Stone’s article and a video of the demonstrator’s quote for context.
“Rolling Stone is so insanely dishonest here,” Gonzalez wrote. “These guys hate Trump *and* DeSantis. They said it on camera. See for yourself.”
“Compare the video to what Rolling Stone wrote.”
Rolling Stone is so insanely dishonest here. These guys hate Trump *and* DeSantis. They said it on camera. See for yourself. Compare the video to what Rolling Stone wrote.
Man: “We’re all DeSantis supporters.” [laughs]
Reporter: “You’re kidding about DeSantis though, right?”… https://t.co/8ra4gxQMH5 pic.twitter.com/zhCB6ISGFO
— Pedro L. Gonzalez (@emeriticus) September 3, 2023
The segment from Rolling Stone’s article covered one demonstrator saying the group wasn’t supporting former President Donald Trump before invoking an anti-semitic remark referring to the “right-wing” as the “k-ke wing,” to which a second demonstrator chimed in saying the group supported DeSantis.
Gonzalez’s video features the exchange between demonstrators and investigative journalist Laura Loomer, who is an ardent supporter of former President Trump.
The first demonstrator refers to Loomer as “Jewmer,” while the reporter asks if the group sincerely supports DeSantis, to which the second demonstrator says, “F— Ron DeSantis. Ron DeSantis is a joke.”
“After that, one of the leaders talks about how much they hate the right, and that is after they denounced Trump,” Gonzalez continued. “They also talked about how they prefer *Biden* due to his foreign policy because he supports Ukraine and Azov.”
The Contra writer noted other anti-semitic statements by the group in support of Ukraine were omitted from Rolling Stone’s article.
“These guys are obviously just malicious trolls,” he said. “They hate the GOP and know what they are doing. But Rolling Stone has no problem using them to advance a narrative.”
Rolling Stone also deleted their X post with the misleading quote from their article.
During the rally, one of the self-proclaimed neo-Nazi members, Christopher Pohlhaus, also stated he preferred President Biden over a Republican during the event.
“I’m glad the magazine admitted the error,” Gonzalez wrote in Contra. “But this sort of ‘journalism’ isn’t journalism at all. It’s lame point-scoring and can never be rooted in a desire to inform honestly.”
