During a shocking moment on The Megyn Kelly Show, Rich Lowry, editor of the conservative National Review, appeared to utter a racial slur during a heated discussion about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. While the two pundits were dismembering the baseless claims against the immigrant community, Lowry seemed to fumble over words—and right into controversy.
“Police have gone through 11 months of recordings of calls and they’ve only found two Springfield residents calling to complain about Haitian [n-word]s,” Lowry said, before catching himself and quickly substituting in “migrants.”
But if the slur was shocking, the surreal calm that followed was even more so. Megyn Kelly didn’t bat an eyelid. No raised eyebrow, no interruption, no correction. The show rolled on as both the commentators defended Republican VP candidate JD Vance, who had peddled similar falsehoods about Haitian immigrants, including preposterous claims of pet abductions and spreading diseases like HIV and tuberculosis.
Vance, who last week admitted the rumors were fabricated, did not retreat from his fear-mongering, arguing that spreading lies was justified to put a light on American suffering. “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention. then that’s what I’m going to do,” Vance unapologetically told CNN.
But Lowry’s slip-up-despite being intentional or otherwise-raised uncomfortable questions about the depth those racist narratives have permeated conservative discourse. The incident was another disturbing reminder of that dangerous junction of “alternative facts” and racial prejudice in American politics.
Despite the backlash, Lowry took to Twitter to say he merely misspoke and that he “began to mispronounce the word ‘migrants’.” Yet, in today’s caustic political climate, teeming with divisive rhetoric, many are left to question if this was more than a mistake.
