Grandson of man who shot Ralph Yarl says his grandfather was caught up in “cycle of fear and paranoia” from watching Fox News
Klint Ludwig: He would “sit and watch Fox News all day every day blaring in his living room. And I think that stuff really kind of reinforces this negative view of minority groups.”
Published
Citation From the April 20, 2023, edition of CNN's CNN This Morning
DON LEMON (ANCHOR): The prosecutor in this case is suggesting there was a racial component to it. Do you believe your grandfather is racist?
KLINT LUDWIG: I believe he holds racist tendencies and beliefs.
LEMON: Why do you say that?
LUDWIG: He's just a stock American Christian male. It's an older, you know, that's just how they are. It's the conspiracies and weird, random racist things they say [inaudible] and it doesn't make sense, but they're just scared.
LEMON: Now, listen, you're generalizing a lot here about you said older Christian white males, but what do you mean by that? What do you mean they're scared? Talk to me more, please.
LUDWIG: Yeah, just I feel like a lot of people of that generation are caught up in this 24-hour news cycle of fear and paranoia perpetuated by some other news stations and he was fully into that, sit and watch Fox News all day every day blaring in his living room. And I think that stuff really kind of reinforces this negative view of minority groups and leads people, it doesn't necessarily lead people to be racist, but it reinforces and galvanizes racist people and their beliefs.