Some right-wing pundits and politicians who cry censorship are actually ‘thriving’: conservative

During the Biden era, pundits at Fox News and other right-wing media outlets have had a lot to say about "cancel culture" — claiming that conservatives who speak their minds are facing censorship from the left. Never Trump conservative Tim Miller tackles the subject of "cancel culture" in a March 22 column for The Bulwark, stressing that some on the right who claim they are being censored are, in fact, "thriving."

Miller isn't denying that "cancel culture" exists, but he argues that is important to make a distinction between who is and isn't being "canceled." Far-right Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, who has come under fire for promoting former President Donald Trump's false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election and waving at the Capitol Building rioters in solidarity on January 6, recently claimed, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, that he is being censored — which Miller finds laughable. Miller writes that Hawley isn't being "canceled" any more than Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is being "canceled."

"Most of the people who complain about being censored are actually thriving," Miller writes. "Never before in history have more cranks and contrarians with political views way outside the mainstream had a wider variety of platforms — with larger audiences — available to share their ideas."

Miller adds that "racist YouTube troll Steven Crowder" and former Fox News pundits Diamond & Silk are hardly being censored, noting that Crowder has a large audience and that Diamond & Silk now have a contract with Newsmax TV.

The columnist writes, "It's not just the politicians — the most fanatical cancel culture cassandras are political commentators who claim that their voices are being silenced…. Let's be clear about what's happening: These crisis actors are using a problem affecting other people out in the real world in order to get attention by posturing as victims. Twenty years ago, these people would have been sitting at home and writing five letters-to-the-editor per day and complaining to the bartender about how they aren't getting published. Today, they're stars."

In Miller's view, it's important to make a distinction between what is and isn't "cancel culture."

"The 'cancel culture' conversation has been degraded by the conflation of one real problem — normal people feeling like they can't say their opinions without being fired, or worse, that they'll get fired for the old opinions — with two not-real problems: (1) public figures being criticized for something they've done…. and (2) the supposed 'stifling' of political speech online…. My point here is that if we are going to get serious about stopping the oppressive hall monitors who stifle speech in corners of society where it should thrive, we need to stop lumping the real-life victims in with the big mouth pundits who are expanding their reach by yelling about how oppressed they are."