Back when Christopher Rufo was exposing critical race theory in public schools, he tweeted about exactly what he was doing — making critical race theory a dirty word. Liberal reporters pounced on the tweet, thinking it was some sort of "gotcha" moment.
Rufo scored a big win with critical race theory and moved on to academic queer theory. Now he's all over the plagiarism scandal at Harvard, claiming more than 40 instances where Harvard President Claudine Gay committed academic theft — no, wait — what did the New York Times call it? "Duplicative language."
Rufo is taking a victory lap over the coverage, and once again, he's fully admitted to what he's doing. And it's working.
We launched the Claudine Gay plagiarism story from the Right. The next step is to smuggle it into the media apparatus of the Left, legitimizing the narrative to center-left actors who have the power to topple her. Then squeeze.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) December 19, 2023
Today, the story is all over the New York Times, Boston Globe, CNN, BBC, Daily Beast, Bloomberg, Axios, and The Hill. https://t.co/1m9r1DK7LK
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) December 21, 2023
NBC News "dystopia beat" reporter Ben Collins — who'd said he'd be leaving journalism in the new year — thinks that mainstream media outlets are being "gamed" by Rufo who's just laying out the playbook right in front of them:
If you're a mainstream outlet and you're being gamed this easily by a guy who is laying out his playbook days or months in advance, maybe the problem isn't the right-wing grifters.
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) December 21, 2023
Maybe the problem is you. pic.twitter.com/R35wFR0EOG
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That's the problem here — newspapers covering the biggest academic scandal of our time.
What Ben doesn't recognize is that my strategy works because I am telling the truth—a truly frightening prospect for a man who is paid to obscure it. https://t.co/6mIvf4Lqg2
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) December 21, 2023
Collins is really butthurt that outlets like the New York Times are reporting on Gay's "duplicative language."
Please, newspapers, I must know more about internal politicking at Harvard University. Put more reporters on it. My need to know who is internally popular at the executive level of one college is insatiable. It is the most important thing in the world.
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) December 21, 2023
What is the most important thing in the world, and why isn't Collins covering it?
Ben's ironic pose is designed to lull people into accepting the idea that 41 instances of plagiarism by the highest academic leader in America is not a big deal. A real journalist would prioritize truth. But this is Ben Collins. https://t.co/02Mh3HXkMb
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) December 21, 2023
The “Crimson Guard” snaps into action!
— Ed Maguire (@eemaguire) December 21, 2023
Start the countdown on when “journalists” like this will be learning to code
— agnomen (@4thSpoliaOpima) December 21, 2023
Ben’s done more dishonest reporting than many if not all other leftist journos. Absolutely no integrity, just narrative spins and gaslighting.
— Paul Chenot (@paul_chenot) December 21, 2023
Ben's entire existence depends on the lack of a meritocracy
— General Kael (@theGeneralKael) December 21, 2023
Would be very curious to see coverage by the media brands were it, say, Harvey Mansfield, in a plagiarism situation. I suspect we'd hear far less about "duplicative language" & a lot more about swift & unsparing punishment.
— American Cannabis Review (@AmeriCannabisRV) December 21, 2023
Classic leftist obscurantist shaming tactics.
— Alexis de Tocqueville (@Tocqueville03) December 21, 2023
He won't even use the word plagiarism — instead, it's "internal politicking."
Disingenuous doesn’t begin to describe it.
— Jack Burden (@wahoolaw2006) December 21, 2023
Of course NBC News is not interested in this story. If it doesn't advance their left wing narrative, it is unimportant.
— Steve Slattery (@SteveSlatteryDC) December 21, 2023
"looking the other way" on plagiarism is an acceptable cost to have DEI
— trebase (@_rebase) December 21, 2023
It’s an important symbolic issue. Have colleges abandoned merit in order to promote a DEI agenda?
— Carey Haug (@CareyHaug) December 21, 2023
That's the conversation we're having, and Collins doesn't like it. He's upset that newspapers are covering a story that originated in the "right-wing."
At the beginning of the Biden administration, we noted the number of newspapers publishing pieces on how freedom of speech wasn't that important. Collins would rather you not know about any of this. Some "journalist."
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