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Are Conservatives Now Doing the Canceling? Plus. . .
It’s Tuesday, September 16. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: The Trump TikTok deal that might not be legal. How Israel’s strike on Qatar changed the Middle East as we know it. Zohran Mamdani engineers a savvier, more durable form of wokeness. And more.
But first: Has the death of Charlie Kirk brought cancel culture back?
It’s never easy to set the bounds of civilization, to determine what is and is not welcome in polite society, what should be illegal, and what should simply be a canceled lunch—or a rescinded job offer. And that’s really what we’re talking about when we talk about cancel culture. What are the bounds of acceptability in our society? When does a different opinion become one so abhorrent that you don’t want that person as your kid’s preschool teacher? What about as your bank teller?
On the one hand, it seems crazy to ostracize someone for one bad post. On the other, what if the post is really bad? This week, many, many people posted online that they were glad Charlie Kirk had been assassinated. Or maybe just that they aren’t mourning his death. Teams of vigilantes are archiving those posts. Some of those most thrilled by his death are losing their jobs over it, since maybe it’s a little weird to have someone like that teaching third grade.
So today we bring you four stories: Matthew Continetti explains why allegations of “conservative cancel culture” are overblown. River Page on whether the right is repeating the mistakes of the 2010s progressive left. Eliana Johnson on how not everything is cancel culture, guys. Adam Rubenstein defends the recently canned Washington Post editor Karen Attiah, who—it just so happens—fanned the flames of his cancellation in 2020. And tune in today at 1 p.m. for a livestream on cancellations with River Page, Christopher F. Rufo, and me.
—Nellie Bowles
Jose Maria Fernandez Sousa-Faro, president of PharmaMar, is accused of falsifying his Covid vaccination records. (Image via Instituto de Investigacion Sanitaria)A Spanish pharmaceutical executive was charged with falsifying his Covid vaccination records. Jose Maria Fernandez Sousa-Faro, president of PharmaMar, is accused of paying thousands of euros to have his name added to Spain’s immunization registry while arranging to be injected with saline.
President Trump called for public companies to switch from quarterly to semiannual reporting of their financial results. “This will save money, and allow managers to focus on properly running their companies,” he wrote on Truth Social. The move would not require an act of Congress and could be done through the Securities and Exchange Commission.
China said yesterday that U.S. chipmaker Nvidia violated the country’s antitrust laws as bilateral trade talks in Madrid continue this week. China’s antitrust regulators said the violations concern Nvidia’s acquisition of an Israeli networking products company in 2020.
As FBI director Kash Patel faces scrutiny over missteps during the manhunt for Charlie Kirk’s assassin, his leadership is under fire from the White House, Fox News reported. Patel previously had a public feud with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the Jeffrey Epstein case, and some of Patel’s critics in the administration have begun circulating contingency plans in case he is fired.
The U.S. military has killed three “narcoterrorists” from Venezuela in a strike in international waters, President Trump announced yesterday morning. The attack comes hours after Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro called a similar attack on September 2 that killed 11 people a “heinous crime.”
President Trump signed a memorandum yesterday to establish the Memphis Safe Task Force, which he said will lead a “replica” of the National Guard’s deployment to Washington, D.C. Memphis, Tennessee, has the highest violent crime rate of any American city. The mayor has said he is “certainly not happy” about the deployment.
One in six American parents have delayed or skipped some recommended vaccines for their children, excluding for Covid and the flu, according to a new Washington Post poll. About half of parents “lack faith in federal health agencies to ensure vaccine safety,” the poll said.
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By Bari WeissIt’s Tuesday, September 16. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: The Trump TikTok deal that might not be legal. How Israel’s strike on Qatar changed the Middle East as we know it. Zohran Mamdani engineers a savvier, more durable form of wokeness. And more.
But first: Has the death of Charlie Kirk brought cancel culture back?
It’s never easy to set the bounds of civilization, to determine what is and is not welcome in polite society, what should be illegal, and what should simply be a canceled lunch—or a rescinded job offer. And that’s really what we’re talking about when we talk about cancel culture. What are the bounds of acceptability in our society? When does a different opinion become one so abhorrent that you don’t want that person as your kid’s preschool teacher? What about as your bank teller?
On the one hand, it seems crazy to ostracize someone for one bad post. On the other, what if the post is really bad? This week, many, many people posted online that they were glad Charlie Kirk had been assassinated. Or maybe just that they aren’t mourning his death. Teams of vigilantes are archiving those posts. Some of those most thrilled by his death are losing their jobs over it, since maybe it’s a little weird to have someone like that teaching third grade.
So today we bring you four stories: Matthew Continetti explains why allegations of “conservative cancel culture” are overblown. River Page on whether the right is repeating the mistakes of the 2010s progressive left. Eliana Johnson on how not everything is cancel culture, guys. Adam Rubenstein defends the recently canned Washington Post editor Karen Attiah, who—it just so happens—fanned the flames of his cancellation in 2020. And tune in today at 1 p.m. for a livestream on cancellations with River Page, Christopher F. Rufo, and me.
—Nellie Bowles
Jose Maria Fernandez Sousa-Faro, president of PharmaMar, is accused of falsifying his Covid vaccination records. (Image via Instituto de Investigacion Sanitaria)A Spanish pharmaceutical executive was charged with falsifying his Covid vaccination records. Jose Maria Fernandez Sousa-Faro, president of PharmaMar, is accused of paying thousands of euros to have his name added to Spain’s immunization registry while arranging to be injected with saline.
President Trump called for public companies to switch from quarterly to semiannual reporting of their financial results. “This will save money, and allow managers to focus on properly running their companies,” he wrote on Truth Social. The move would not require an act of Congress and could be done through the Securities and Exchange Commission.
China said yesterday that U.S. chipmaker Nvidia violated the country’s antitrust laws as bilateral trade talks in Madrid continue this week. China’s antitrust regulators said the violations concern Nvidia’s acquisition of an Israeli networking products company in 2020.
As FBI director Kash Patel faces scrutiny over missteps during the manhunt for Charlie Kirk’s assassin, his leadership is under fire from the White House, Fox News reported. Patel previously had a public feud with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the Jeffrey Epstein case, and some of Patel’s critics in the administration have begun circulating contingency plans in case he is fired.
The U.S. military has killed three “narcoterrorists” from Venezuela in a strike in international waters, President Trump announced yesterday morning. The attack comes hours after Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro called a similar attack on September 2 that killed 11 people a “heinous crime.”
President Trump signed a memorandum yesterday to establish the Memphis Safe Task Force, which he said will lead a “replica” of the National Guard’s deployment to Washington, D.C. Memphis, Tennessee, has the highest violent crime rate of any American city. The mayor has said he is “certainly not happy” about the deployment.
One in six American parents have delayed or skipped some recommended vaccines for their children, excluding for Covid and the flu, according to a new Washington Post poll. About half of parents “lack faith in federal health agencies to ensure vaccine safety,” the poll said.