After a bloody weekend filled with mass shootings across the country, former UFC fighter and special forces sniper Tim Kennedy went on FOX & Friends and discussed a very touchy topic; masculinity in modern times.
As a staunch right-wing, ex-military and Trump supporter Kennedy’s views on this topic would naturally rub some more liberal and younger folks the wrong way. Some would argue that his thought structure reflects the same archaic beliefs that currently holds our country back.
In one swiping interview, he basically offended everyone. Kennedy has a host of soundbites that will keep some people hating him and clowning him for years. However, this frame of thinking doesn’t come out of the blue. There are people who support Kennedy’s views.
But the fact that he’s not a qualified psychiatrist makes his opinion nothing more than an agenda-based rant. More right-wing trickery to distract us from the country’s real issues and keep people divided.
Kennedy’s rants against ADHD medicine as an inhibitor to masculinity was classic in all the wrong ways.
On Fox & Friends, a former UFC fighter & military sniper says mass shootings happen because "there's not enough masculinity" in America, and we're "stunting" boys' ability to protect the rest of us by telling them to avoid danger & take ADHD meds: "You have to let boys be boys." pic.twitter.com/CEsDAOjZHx
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) August 8, 2019
His confusing and contradictory take on what many Americans see as a “toxic masculinity” problem in the US was also something special.
Fox guest rants against ADHD medication, claiming that the hyperactivity it helps patients manage is what enabled the United States to land on the moon, defeat communism, and stop "the fascists and the REAL Nazis in Normandy." pic.twitter.com/yg9N22xSr7
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) August 8, 2019
Kennedy also expressed his support for President Trump by accusing Democrats of being “ignorant” and unable to form an argument, so they cop out and name call.
The final part of Kennedy’s scripted agenda included the usual fear-mongering that’s involved when white politicians hype the ISIS threat, to keep people of color as the perceived enemy of the State. This is used as a tactic to downplay an unprecedented number of mass shootings being committed by white males.
This Fox segment blaming mass shootings on a lack of masculinity ended by hyping the ISIS threat, even though right-wing extremists like white nationalists regularly kill many more Americans than any ISIS group. Fearmongering about a distant threat to downplay an active threat. pic.twitter.com/h7nq6JOnmY
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) August 8, 2019
Twitter exploded once Kennedy’s clips hit cyberspace.
As someone that worked in mental health IN THE MILITARY, this toxic masculinity BS caused 98% of the issues I saw. We don’t teach our boys to handle emotions like rejection, failure, or hurt and expressing those emotions in healthy ways.
— thecharminglibrarian (@thecharminglib) August 8, 2019
Tim Kennedy is the same goof that waterboarded himself to try and prove waterboarding is not torture… I’m not sure how sane his opinion is
— Jay Kelz (@JayKelz76) August 8, 2019
This is so deeply irresponsible
— Grudge of Whales (@grudging1) August 8, 2019
Kennedy’s “ape” reference when speaking on the improper way to express male masculinity was a bad look as well, but offending Black folks is par for the course with these supposed “patriots.”
The bottom line is Fox News continues to give ignorance a national platform. As long as stations push ideologies like those shared by Kennedy, there has to be a balance and pushback by people of color to answer these philosophies and even out the national conversation.
