Oops: Media Makes a Rather Embarrassing Error in Rush To Declare 'Firsts' for Rev. Warnock

One of the primary tactics the mainstream media uses in an effort to generate more excitement and interest for the victor in a political race is by proclaiming them the “first” in their minority group to win a race.

We’ve seen countless instances of reporters tripping over themselves to declare this person or that person “the first woman/black person/Hispanic/transgender/etc in XYZ state to win political office.”

The rule is almost exclusively applied to Democrats because Republican firsts don’t seem to count. Why? In the media’s/left’s view, minorities who choose to be Republicans instead of Democrats are insufficiently representative of their respective minority groups or something because they choose to think and believe differently.

We saw more than just a tiny glimpse of this in their “reporting” on Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock’s apparent victory over Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in their Senate runoff race last night in Georgia. We’ll start with Politico’s coverage, where they noted Warnock’s “litany of firsts” They reported that he is the “first black Dem from Georgia, first black Dem from the South, first black pastor in the South since Reconstruction” to win a Senate race:

Raphael Warnock’s victory is historic, heralding a litany of firsts:

• First Black Democrat from Georgia
• First Black Democrat from the South
• First Black pastor from a state below the Mason-Dixon line since Reconstructionhttps://t.co/GTctQMb1jy

— POLITICO (@politico) January 6, 2021

To be fair, there’s nothing untrue in what they reported there. But the online news outlet made a rather glaring error in one of their write-ups on Warnock’s “firsts.” They said Warnock was the first elected black Senator from the South:

They had it wrong on Instagram before stealth editing. pic.twitter.com/PvjapBe1Bx

— Iris Miller (@IrisCMiller) January 6, 2021

CNN media coordinator Christian Sierra did the same thing in this now-deleted tweet:

"CNN media coordinator" not doing so well in the #FactsFirst department pic.twitter.com/EIOnB4GYPV

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 6, 2021

The big problem here is that in their mad rush to point out Warnock’s “historic firsts”, they erased South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott’s statewide election victories on the Senate side. While Scott was initially appointed in 2013 by then-Gov. Nikki Haley to replace Sen. Jim DeMint (who retired) in the Senate, he then won a special election in 2014 to serve out the remainder of DeMint’s term. Scott won reelection to a full term in 2016.

But – and I know this won’t shock most of you reading this – Scott’s firsts are actually being debated by members of the mainstream press as we speak, including by Washington Post “reporter” Dave Weigel, who had no qualms about downplaying Scott’s accomplishments in the tweet below, and Huffington Post reporter Kevin Robillard, who “thinks” Scott’s wins still “count as getting elected”:

yeah, but I still think that ultimately counts as getting elected

— Kevin Robillard (@Robillard) January 6, 2021

How magnanimous of Robillard. Not.

To be quite honest, like most Republicans I hate these identity politics games. It diminishes people in many ways to just being “the female Congresswoman” or “the black Senator’ or “the gay Mayor” when there is usually so much more to them than that.

But noting “firsts” among minorities has long been a media thing, and it’s not going to change. What SHOULD change, however, are their pathetic attempts at erasing the “firsts” of minority Republicans simply because they (the media) apparently view them as sellouts.

It’s inexcusable. Enough is enough and this BS has got to stop. They either need to call these things right or not call them at all — unless they enjoy being exposed for what they’re trying to do. It’s just that simple.