Editor’s note: This article contains explicit language.
(LifeSiteNews) — Left-wing media outlet MSNBC has come under fire for an article that associates physical exercise with white supremacy.
Initially published in March 2022, the essay garnered newfound criticism on social media this week after being re-shared by MSNBC’s Twitter account on July 10 under the title “The far right’s obsession with fitness is going digital.”
Twitter CEO Elon Musk and podcaster Joe Rogan are just two of several high-profile influencers to express shock over the article.
“Being healthy is ‘far right.’ Holy f*ck,” Rogan tweeted. To which Musk replied, “Parody & reality are becoming indistinguishable.”
Parody & reality are becoming indistinguishable
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 10, 2023
“MSNBC thinks you’re a nazi if you work out lmaooo,” Musk also exclaimed.
MSNBC thinks you’re a nazi if you work out lmaooo
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 10, 2023
Musk had just appeared on a podcast hosted by rapper Zuby to discuss the absurdity of liberal efforts to link health with fascist political views.
Professor Cynthia Miller-Idriss authored the essay. She is a so-called “hate expert” who frequently appears on liberal television shows to attack Christian conservatives. When not running the “The Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab” at American University in Washington D.C., she’s busy giving speeches and writing essays demonizing homeschoolers and patriotic citizens as “extremists” and “anti-Semites.”
In her article for MSNBC, Miller-Idriss argues that “physical fitness has always been central to the far right. In ‘Mein Kampf,’ Hitler fixated on boxing and jujitsu.”
She then rhapsodizes about how “valorizing” masculinity and “combat sports” can trick young men into adopting racist attitudes. She points to purported online efforts undertaken by Patriot Front, a political group that many conservatives believe is a CIA-backed organization meant to smear the America First movement, as an example of where this is happening in the U.S.
To her credit, Miller-Idriss clarified this week that she believes the headline MSNBC gave her essay is “misleading,” and that physical exercise is “key to my own well-being in immeasurable ways.”
At the same time, she did not back off the claim that fitness “can be exploited by [the] far right” to radicalize young boys.
I’m just going to say one thing about this. I was a high school & college athlete. I work out several times/week. Fitness is key to my own well-being in immeasurable ways & I wrote that piece about how it can be exploited by far right. @MSNBCDaily gave it a misleading title 1/
— Dr. Cynthia Miller-Idriss (@milleridriss) July 11, 2023
MSNBC’s decision to share Miller-Idriss’ article on Twitter comes amid what appears to be a years-long psychological warfare operation aimed at encouraging Americans to embrace their obesity-inducing habits and to ignore harmful ingredients in their food.
In December 2022, TIME magazine ran an article titled, “The White Supremacist Origins of Exercise, and 6 Other Surprising Facts About the History of U.S. Physical Fitness.”
In the same month, Cosmopolitan magazine published an essay titled, “11 women who prove wellness isn’t ‘one size fits all.” The article characterized several overweight women as “healthy.”
Scientific American and NPR have gone so far as to invite University of California-Irvine Professor Sabrina Strings to present her belief that fighting obesity is “racist” because it discriminates against women with African heritage, whom she pointed out tend to be heavier set.
The heightened concern about black women’s weight reflects the racist stigmatization of their bodies. It also ignores how interrelated social factors impact black women’s health. https://t.co/sqVv8wpHyJ
— Scientific American (@sciam) December 28, 2022
Some of the code words Strings and liberals like her have used in recent years to discourage Americans from discipling their eating habits and getting healthy include “self-love,” “body positivity,” “fat phobia,” and “intuitive eating.” Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon mocked this growing anti-health movement in a tweet on Monday.
“We learned today that working out is for nazis and eating 3 meals a day is for slave owners. Wokeness destroys both mind and body,” he said.
We learned today that working out is for nazis and eating 3 meals a day is for slave owners.
Wokeness destroys both mind and body. https://t.co/5CV6eKBIBY
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) July 10, 2023
The Mostly Peaceful Memes twitter account echoed Dillon’s views. “Weak people make better slaves.”
Weak people make better slaves
— Mostly Peaceful Memes (@MostlyPeacefull) July 10, 2023
On July 10, The New York Post reported that a new study confirmed that exercise is a key component in the fight against depression. “When people over 50 who suffer from conditions often linked to depression — such as diabetes, heart disease and chronic pain — exercised, the activity reduced their depressive symptoms.”
Weight training and eating right have long been touted by medical experts as ways to ensure longevity, prevent disease, and live a happier life.