By now, you have all heard of the most recent reason why some Republicans are against Chuck Hagel‘s confirmation. For the few who haven’t heard, the latest scoop on Hagel – according to Republicans – is that he received money from a group called, “Friends of Hamas.”
Shocked? Well you should be. A little digging online found that Friends of Hamas does not exist. The idea of the fake organization came from a reporter in New York. But this little fact has not stop some Republicans in congress from naming the fictitious organization and its non-existent connection to Mr. Hagel, as one of their reasons for opposing Hagel’s confirmation. Take Republican/Teaparty Senator Rand Paul for example. Responding to a question about the so called, Friends of Hamas, the Senator said that he saw the information and that it is “more and more concerning.”
The information of course, is being pushed by a conservative website, Breitbart.com. Breitbart is the same site that fabricated a video of Shirley Sherrod, giving the impression that Sherrod had racist tendencies. The doctored video implied that Sherrod denied a white farmer the funds and information he needed. Due to the backlash on the video from Fox News and other conservative media, Sherrod was forced to resign as Director of Rural Development for the United States Department of Agriculture. She later sued Breitbart.
Friends of Hamas does not exist, but Breitbart stands by their story and continues pushing this lie to Congressional Republicans and these Republicans have bought into it.
Stephen Colbert breaks it down in the video below.
