Language police: Blistering analysis roasts the 'woke right'

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds an image of a rendering of the new White House ballroom to be built, during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 31, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

In right-wing media, the term "woke" is often used to attack political opponents of the left. And some people who vote Democrat have a negative view of "wokeness" as well, including "Real Time" host Bill Maher and veteran Democratic strategist James Carville.

When CNN's Jake Tapper asked Maher to define "woke," he described "wokeness" as political correctness on steroids and argued that it is contrary to the spirit of traditional liberalism. The "woke," Maher complained, are so obsessed with language policing that traditional liberal causes fall by the wayside.

Maher, however, is also a scathing critic of President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, and often attacks the far right for language policing and "cancel culture" as well.

In a blistering video posted by the New York Times on October 19, Stephanie Shen and Alexander Stockton make the same argument, accusing MAGA Republicans and the Trump Administration of using the same "woke" tactics they accuse the left of.

"The truth is: wokeness is actually alive and well," Shein argues in the video. "Now, wokeness just wears a MAGA hat. This is the woke right. They're now going around policing people's language. They've limited what federal agencies are allowed to mention in their documents, such as these dangerous words."

The "dangerous words" that the video mentions range from "LGBTQ" to "socioeconomic" to "underprivileged." And Shein notes that journalists who use "Gulf of Mexico" rather than "Gulf of America" are "getting their credentials rescinded because the woke right loves telling people what to say."

The video also accuses MAGA Republicans of practicing the very "cancel culture" they claim to oppose and makes that point by showing clips of Vice President JD Vance and Fox News host Jesse Watters calling for government retaliation against anyone who criticizes the late MAGA activist Charlie Kirk.

Shein warns, "So, they're protecting free speech by revoking the visas of numerous international students…. If you do commit any crimes the language police deems a threat to society, like criticizing anything MAGA, they will try to cancel you. And it's not just the lefty celebrities. They've canceled respected four-star Gen. Mark Milley by removing his portrait from the Pentagon."

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