'Platforming stupid': 60 Minutes evokes outrage by interviewing Marjorie Taylor Greene

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene will be the subject of an interview by correspondent Lesley Stahl Sunday on CBS’s “60 Minutes,”– and the show’s decision to give the Q-Anon-friendly agitator a platform has provoked a firestorm of protest.

The network first promoted Greene’s interview late Saturday morning with a Tweet simply announcing it.

Then it stirred the pot with this Tweet stating: “Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, nicknamed MTG, isn’t afraid to share her opinions, no matter how intense and in-your-face they are.

“She sits down with Lesley Stahl this Sunday on 60 Minutes.”

That was all it took to provoke an avalanche of angry responses from a wide range of critics.

Here’s a smattering of the pushback that greeted the network:

Former West Wing Actor Bradley Whitford: “Reminds me of a guy we defeated in the 1940s who wasn’t afraid to share his opinions, no matter how intense and in-your-face they were. Too bad you couldn’t interview him, you could have asked about his vegetarianism and his love of dogs.”

Elie Mystal, correspondent for The Nation: “The way you guys say her ‘nickname’ is MTG... as if it’s a cute moniker bestowed by her besties… when her initials are just MTG and her ‘nicknames’ are ‘Marjorie Three Names’ and ‘Unfrozen Caveman Congresswoman’ just shows that you’re here to launder her rep and complicit."

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger: “Wow. Insane that 60 min would do this.”

Atlantic contributor Jemele Hill: “There’s nothing wrong with interviewing and profiling controversial, even despicable people, but this framing is s---. There’s also a fine line between engaging provocative people and platforming stupid. This is platforming stupid.”

MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan: “So brazen anti-Muslim, antisemitic, anti-trans bigotry, and insane conspiracies about Hillary Clinton torturing kids and murdering her opponents, are reduced by a storied American news brand merely to ‘intense and in-your-face’. This is equal parts embarrassing and reckless.”

Just to stir the pot more, Greene, who has promised to travel to New York City to protest on Trump’s behalf, praised Stahl with this Tweet, misspelling the interviewer’s first name:

“It was an honor to spend a few days with the legendary icon Leslie [sic] Stahl and talented crew [of 60 Minutes]. Leslie is a trailblazer for women in journalism. And while we may disagree on some issues, I respect her greatly.”