POLITICO's Gary Fineout weathers baseless Twitter attack

POLITICO's Gary Fineout weathers baseless Twitter attack

Javier Manjarres
Javier Manjarres
|
February 13, 2020

Sometimes being a reporter for a respected media outlet that is considered by many Republicans as “Fake News” has its drawbacks, and at times, some offensive and uncalled for jabs from readers.

Shortly after Jacksonville, Florida news outlets reported that on February 8th, 27-year-old Gregory Timm purposely drove his van into a pro-Trump, Republican voter registration tent, the POLITICO’s Gary Fineout (pictured with a young Marc Caputo) decided to report on the media reports of the incident a couple of days after the fact.

Fineout’s story, “Republicans vow ‘revenge’ at ballot box after volunteers nearly hit by van” was greeted by an avalanche of disapproval on Twitter, with many people using the social media platform to attack Fineout and the story with no less than 400 comments.

It appears as if these people upset with Fineout and his story did not read past the headline.

But what was wrong with his headline?

Absolutely nothing.

What was so wrong with the story?

Absolutely nothing.

This one appears to have gotten it:

Fineout’s use of the word “revenge” and reverence to the “ballot box” came from a quote stated in the story by a Republican official.

Here it is:

“The best revenge is victory,” Black said. “Righteous peaceful victory in November for President Trump and all Republican candidates.”

Here is how the short story read:

“Florida and Duval County Republican leaders on Monday vowed “revenge” at the ballot box after a man drove his van into a tent of GOP volunteers who were registering voters over the weekend.

Party officials said Gregory Timm targeted the group because of their support for President Donald Trump. During a press conference in Jacksonville, they described how Timm nearly hit people, made an obscene gesture, and started recording the incident on his phone. They used the event to make a plea for donations to the party.

“The only other explanation is some great hatred for tables and chairs,” said Dean Black, chairman of the Duval County Republican Party.

Timm was arrested and appeared in Duval County court Sunday on charges of aggravated assault, criminal mischief and driving with a suspended license after he drove his van into a tent in the parking lot of a Walmart Supercenter in Jacksonville. The incident drew a tweet from Trump and became a Republican rallying cry.

No one was injured in the attack, but Republicans say their volunteers jumped out of the way to avoid the van.

Local authorities are looking into whether the attack was politically motivated.

Black called Timm a “coward” but said Republicans should not respond with violence. GOP supporters instead must reelect Trump, he said, and asked for donations to the party.

“The best revenge is victory,” Black said. “Righteous peaceful victory in November for President Trump and all Republican candidates.”

On February 11, it was learned that Timm’s motives for the assault were politically motivated.

According to the police report, Timm had admitted to committing the crime because he loathed President Donald Trump.

Unfortunately, many people on both sides of the political aisle fail to read past the news headlines, wind up making fools or complete asses of themselves.

But with all that said, Fineout is a seasoned veteran reporter and can take a punch. These sorts of attacks come with the job. We have all had to weather these kinds of storms.

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Javier Manjarres

Javier Manjarres

Javier Manjarres is a nationally renowned award-winning political journalist and Publisher of Floridianpress.com, Hispolitica.com, shark-tank.com, and Texaspolitics.com He enjoys traveling, playing soccer, mixed martial arts, weight-lifting, swimming, and biking. Javier is also a political consultant and has also authored "BROWN PEOPLE," which is a book about Hispanic Politics. Follow on Twitter: @JavManjarres Email him at Diversenewmedia@gmail.com

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