BuzzFeed Touts 'Historic Firsts' from Elections, Leaves 2 Glaring Omissions
This week, two minority Republicans were elected to statewide offices in Virginia. But you would not know that from looking at BuzzFeed’s list of “People Of Color [Who] Made History In The 2021 Elections.”
On Wednesday, BuzzFeed News listed politicians who became the first women and/or people of a certain ethnicity to be elected to their particular offices. All seven of the people listed were Democrats.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu; New York City Councilwoman Shahana Hanif; Durham, North Carolina, Mayor Elaine O’Neal; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Mayor Ed Gainey; Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg; Cincinnati, Ohio, Mayor Aftab Pureval; and Dearborn, Michigan, Mayor Abdullah Hammoud made the list.
The outlet also celebrated the 7 Democrats in a Facebook post that included each of their pictures.
“From Boston to Dearborn, Michigan, the 2021 elections showed the promise of increasing diversity in local politics,” BuzzFeed News reported.
While getting elected to local office is a great accomplishment, winning a statewide position is arguably even more difficult. That is exactly what Lt. Gov.-elect Winsome Sears and Attorney General-elect Jason Miyares achieved in Virginia.
According to The Grio, Sears is an immigrant from Jamaica. She became the first woman and person of color to be elected as lieutenant governor in Virginia.
“There are some who want to divide us and we must not let that happen,” Sears said. “They would like us to believe we are back in 1963 when my father came.”
“We can live where we want, we can eat where we want, we own the water fountains. We have had a black president elected not once, but twice, and here I am, living proof. In case you haven’t noticed, I am black, and I have been black all my life.”
Lieutenant Governor Elect Winsome Sears: “There are some who want to divide us and we must not let that happen. They would like us to believe we are back in 1963 when my father came…In case you haven’t noticed, I am black, and I have been black all my life.” pic.twitter.com/NoJJc6qxBe
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) November 3, 2021
In addition, Miyares was the first Hispanic person to be elected attorney general in Virginia, Fox News reported. Neither one of those historic accomplishments made BuzzFeed’s list.
Sadly, BuzzFeed News was not even the only outlet to snub Sears and Miyares from its list. Fox News said USA Today also left the Republicans off a similar list initially.
After Fox News reached out for comment, USA Today updated the story to include Sears and Miyares. The outlet also added an excerpt at the beginning of the story explaining it had been “updated to reflect additional races that were called on Wednesday.”
“The Miyares and Sears races weren’t called last night when we initially wrote and posted the story referenced in your inquiry, but we had planned to update it with the Virginia results today,” USA Today’s parent company Gannett told Fox News. “We’ve now updated to reflect the Sears and Miyares victories.”
However, well-known Republicans including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz had a more sinister interpretation of the omissions.
“The corrupt corporate media isn’t interested in reporting accurately,” he said in a tweet about the USA Today story. “They’re only interested in advancing their leftist agenda.”
The corrupt corporate media isn’t interested in reporting accurately. They’re only interested in advancing their leftist agenda. https://t.co/qs7OfMFAG1
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) November 3, 2021
Progressives claim to care about “diversity,” yet they continue to ignore conservative minorities who make history. While they may want diversity in skin color and gender, they appear to only be supportive of candidates who think the exact same way they do.
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