Aaron Maté

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Aaron Maté

Aaron Maté is an American journalist who writes for The Nation[1] and The Grayzone,[2] where he has hosted Pushback with Aaron Maté since July 2019.[3] He has contributed to Al Jazeera English,[4] Democracy Now!,[5] The Intercept[6] and VICE News.[7]

News and Controversies

Criticism of Russiagate

After special council Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion between members of Donald Trump's campaign and the Russian government, Maté released a video, saying "As some of us have been arguing... this Trump/Russia conspiracy theory was not only baseless, but it was extremely dangerous: it was distracting us from Trump's actual policies, it was channeling liberal resistance to Trump into faith into a conspiracy theory, faith into Robert Mueller uncovering it, all the while... disempowering actual efforts to take Trump on for all he did and... taking away the attention that could have been paid to the serious damage that he has been doing."[8]

Concluding his video, Maté sharply criticized "liberal elite" proponents of the Trump/Russia collusion theory, saying "It's a reminder why we can't put our faith in liberal elites to mount a real resistance when really, they've shown again and again that instead of looking at their own selves and doing honest self-reflection, they're most interested in sustaining their own privilege. The election of Donald Trump was a threat to their own privilege because a) they lost to him when they shouldn't have and b) Trump ran as a working-class champion– he conned enough people in the right states into believing that he would fight for the working class. And for Democrats to really challenge that and pose an alternative would have meant posing a challenge to the same corporate interests that they represent. They didn't want to do that. They didn't want to acknowledge their own failures in that election and so, they doubled down on this conspiracy theory and they've prioritized it above all else."[8]

In April 2017, MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow tweeted "Death by algorithm. 'YouTube recommended Russia Today for understanding Mueller report.'", sharing a related Washington Post article. Maté responded in a 24-tweet thread with clips of Maddow's Russiagate coverage, calling her show "the leading purveyor of debunked Trump-Russia conspiracy theories, falsehoods & innuendo..." and accusing her of lying to her audience and of wild speculation several times. [9]

In a 2017 article, Maté criticized Maddow for her overwhelming focus on issues related to Russia and Trump: "In the six-week period we reviewed, Maddow covered Russia not just more than any other issue, but more than every other issue combined. The contrast is particularly striking when comparing the amount of time that speculative Russia stories received versus critical non-Russia issues."[10]

Maté has been interviewed several times to comment on Russiagate and the Mueller Investigation.[11][12][13][14][15]

Awards

2019

  • Izzy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Independent Media[16]

Contact and Social Media

Email: aaronmate@therealnews.com
Twitter: @aaronjmate

References

  1. The Nation, Aaron Maté, organizational website, accessed August 23, 2019.
  2. Grayzone, Aaron Maté, organizational website, accessed August 23, 2019.
  3. Aaron Maté, Introducing Pushback with Aaron Maté, organizational website, accessed August 23, 2019.
  4. Al Jazeera English, Trump, Russia, and the collapse of the collusion narrative, organizational website, accessed August 23, 2019.
  5. Democracy Now!, Aaron Maté, organizational website, accessed August 23, 2019.
  6. The Intercept, Aaron Maté, organizational website, accessed August 22, 2019.
  7. VICE News, Aaron Mate, organizational website, accessed August 22, 2019.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Aaron Maté, Russiagate implodes: Aaron Maté buries the Trump-Russia conspiracy theory, The Grayzone YouTube Channel, March 25, 2019, accessed September 25, 2019.
  9. Aaron Maté, 1122551982332481537, Thread Reader App, April 28, 2019, accessed September 5, 2019.
  10. Aaron Maté MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Sees a “Russia Connection” Lurking Around Every Corner, Intercept, April 12, 2017, accessed August 22, 2019.
  11. Gabor Maté and Aaron Maté, America in denial: Gabor Maté on the psychology of Russiagate, The Greyzone YouTube Channel, May 7, 2019, accessed September 5, 2019.
  12. Chris Hedges and Aaron Maté, On Contact: Russiagate & Mueller Report w/ Aaron Mate, Russia Times America YouTube Channel, April 20, 2019, accessed September 5, 2019.
  13. Jordan Chariton and Aaron Maté, Rachel Maddow & RussiaGate Crowd STILL Lying to Their Audiences—Aaron Mate Interview, Status Coup YouTube Channel, April 3, 2019, accessed September 5, 2019.
  14. Robert Wright and Aaron Maté, A Victory Lap for Russiagate Skeptics, Bloggingheads.tv YouTube Channel, March 26, 2019, accessed September 5, 2019.
  15. Robert Wright and Aaron Maté, Russiagate skepticism, Bloggingheads.tv YouTube Channel, March 27, 2018, accessed September 5, 2019.
  16. Dave Maley, Izzy Award to Be Shared By Earth Island Journal and Journalists Laura Flanders, Dave Lindorff and Aaron Maté, organizational website, accessed August 22, 2019.