Republican Florida Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar lashed out at the media for creating headlines and stories that are insignificant to the American people outside of a Wednesday House GOP meeting.
“I did this job for 35 years, and I loved being a journalist. But you know, let me share something with you, we have a problem in this country with the news media,” she said. “Because the news media is now … we’re not doing our job. You know why? Because maybe we have been infiltrated by an ideology that I don’t agree with. Now I am a member of the GOP, but I’m still an American.”
“And shame on the media. You know why? Because we’re concentrating, we’re trying to look for headlines on what is not important,” she added. “What’s important is there’s a major threat in this country by what I call the socialists or the neo-Marxists. That’s the real threat.”
A reporter then questioned Salazar on whether the American voter should know the true opinions of the public. The representative said the media has a “duty” that it is not fulfilling because the most significant issues facing Americans do not produce headlines.
“Why don’t we move forward and why don’t we start thinking about what’s happening right now? But no, the media doesn’t want to do that because it’s not convenient, it doesn’t produce headlines,” she said. (RELATED: ‘Don’t Dodge The Question’: Tucker Gets In Near Shouting Match With GOP Rep Over Ukraine, Immigration)
.@RepMariaSalazar following @HouseGOP meeting: “I did this job for 35 years and I loved being a journalist, but you know, let me share something with you, we have a problem in this country with the news media…shame on the media…this is a moment of reckoning.” pic.twitter.com/8s6KyxeDuN
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 27, 2022
She then said the meeting discussed ways to lower the price of gas and secure the U.S.-Mexico border which she said no one is talking about since it is “not convenient.”
“The editors and the people who are running the networks just do not like that type of headline and, you know, that’s a very big disservice to this country,” Salazar continued.
A reporter told the representative they wanted to know what happened on January 6, which Salazar said they should investigate what lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle — notably House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — knew following the event. She then said the reporter may have taken the audio of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy allegedly telling colleagues he would encourage former President Donald Trump to resign.
“Don’t you guys see it? What you guys are doing? History will judge the news organizations a hundred years from now and will say, ‘They’re not doing their job.’ I’m not saying to cover this, I’m saying to cover everything,” Salazar said. “The story’s bigger. It’s not just how it was edited, what this guy said, what that guy said. Put it into context. … It’s the people who are running the show. They’ve got to wake up and do their job. Shame on them! Shame on the news media. Concentrate on what’s really happening in this country.”
She concluded that she is worried about what is taking place in American newsrooms, calling on the media to cover news the “American way.”
