Several news outlets have used the « Republicans pounce » trope in their coverage of the fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska that has sparked a national outcry.
Legacy media outlets have rushed to revive the « Republicans pounce » trope in its coverage of murdered 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska.
Recently released video of Zarutska’s killing last month in Charlotte, North Carolina, spread across social media. The clip shows 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr. standing up behind her on a light rail train and repeatedly stabbing her in the neck with a pocketknife. Brown has been charged with first-degree murder and is now facing federal charges.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the attack Tuesday, criticizing the media’s coverage.
« Perhaps most shamefully of all, the majority of media – many outlets in this room – decided that her murder was not worth reporting on originally, because it does not fit a preferred narrative », Leavitt said.
Much of the coverage has focused on the right’s reaction to the murder rather than the crime itself.
The New York Times covered the attack with the headline, « A Gruesome Murder in North Carolina Ignites a Firestorm on the Right. » The article called the killing an « accelerant for conservative arguments about crime, race and the perceived failings of big-city justice systems and mainstream news outlets in the Trump era. »
« The outrage over the Charlotte killing is a part of a pattern in which President Trump and his allies highlight horrific crimes to bolster their case that the country is plagued by ‘American carnage,’ as Mr. Trump put it in his first inaugural address, despite statistics that show crime is dropping », the Times reported.
Politico followed similar framing with the headline, « Ukrainian refugee killed in North Carolina gets dragged into political messaging war.
