In Which National Review Columnist Kevin D. Williamson Falsely Accuses Me of “Fabrications”
In a recent article for National Review attempting to defend his grotesque statements about working class whites and attacking Donald Trump supporters (which I would normally be wholeheartedly in favor of, except this is National Review and they’re every bit as bad as Donald Trump but in slightly different ways), Kevin D. Williamson comes out of left field with an attack on … well, yours truly.
He begins by ripping Breitbart “News” as a “pseudojournalism site” (which, again, I’d normally agree with, but his only real objection to them is that they’re pro-Trump and that offends his upper class conservative sensibilities), and then suddenly out of nowhere accuses me of “fabrications.”
I don’t give the furry crack of a rat’s behind what the people at Breitbart think about anything, if indeed they can be said to think at all. I don’t even much care what they write about me, and would care still less if the world were less credulous. (I’ve had congressional staffers ask me, straight-facedly, about fabrications from Little Green Footballs.) They’re a stain on the name and memory of Andrew Breitbart, who had Trump’s number long ago and saw him for the impostor he is.
Since I’ve only written a few articles about Williamson and his repellent beliefs, and since he mentions that “congressional staffers” asked him about something written at LGF, it’s pretty clear which piece he’s referring to. By far the most popular LGF article about Williamson, and the one most likely to have been read by congressional staffers, is the one in which I called him out for his truly awful statements about women who have abortions: National Review’s Kevin D. Williamson: Women Who Have Abortions Should Be Hanged, and So Should Doctors.
This article was shared on social media nearly 6,000 times. And that title, dear readers, is 100% accurate, because this is exactly what Williamson said on Twitter in September 2014.
Attorney Isaac Levy was having a discussion with NRO writer Charles Cooke, and asked him whether women who have abortions should get life sentences without parole, because Cooke had written one of those standard right wing articles equating abortion with first degree murder.
I have hanging more in mind. @LeveyIsLaw @charlescwcooke
— Kevin D. Williamson (@KevinNR) September 28, 2014
Williamson’s response — “I have hanging more in mind” — astounded me at the time, because you don’t very often hear conservatives come right out and say things like this. When I tweeted a link to his statement, he replied and made it clear this is precisely what he believes:
@Green_Footballs Yes, I believe that the law should treat abortion like any other homicide.
— Kevin D. Williamson (@KevinNR) September 28, 2014
And after a few more exchanges, I asked him directly whether doctors and hospital staff should also be charged with murder. His response:
@Green_Footballs @jljacobson Yes. If I had my way, thee law would address the entire criminal architecture.
— Kevin D. Williamson (@KevinNR) September 28, 2014
OK, so there you have it. He expressed these horrible inhuman opinions very clearly, and responded directly to questions, defending his opinions at every step.
In what way did I “fabricate” any of this?
I’d ask Kevin Williamson directly about his false accusation, but at some point after the exchanges above he blocked me on Twitter. I’d demand a retraction of this false slur, but I know that’s not how conservatives roll.
So instead I’m posting this new article about Williamson’s clearly stated belief that women who have abortions should be hanged, to point out how sleazy and dishonest this guy is.
And for the record, I saved screenshots of the tweets above, in case he now tries to delete them.