Kyle Griffin, senior producer of MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell,” recently raised eyebrows on Twitter by using the word “alleged” when referring to China’s human rights abuses.
Japan recently announced that it does not have plans to dispatch a government delegation to the upcoming Beijing Olympics. The Associated Press reported that Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno noted, “We have no plans to send a government delegation.”
However, the AP also reported that Matsuno said that Tokyo Olympic organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto, Japanese Olympic Committee president Yasuhiro Yamashita, and Japan Paralympic Committee president Kazuyuki Mori will be in attendance at the Olympics.
The AP also reported that when asked about whether this is a diplomatic boycott, the official answered, “We don’t use a particular term to describe how we attend.”
Earlier in December, the U.S. announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics, citing the host country’s human rights record.
“U.S. diplomatic or official representation would treat these games as business as usual in the face of the PRC’s egregious human rights abuses and atrocities in Xinjiang, and we simply can’t do that,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a press briefing.
Griffin’s tweet caught many people’s attention because he used the term “alleged” in the context of China’s human rights abuses.
“Japan has decided not to send senior officials to the Beijing Olympics in February — a move that will align it with the U.S. diplomatic boycott over China’s alleged human rights abuses,” Griffin tweeted.
Many people on social media took issue with Griffin’s use of “alleged.”
“China’s egregious human rights abuses are well documented & to suggest otherwise is amplifying CCP propaganda,” Alyssa Farah Griffin tweeted.
“So much alleged journalisming,” Ben Shapiro tweeted.
“NBC paid $7.75 billion for the rights to the Olympics from 2022 to 2032, including Beijing, so the word ‘alleged’ is doing a lot of CYA here,” Tim Murtaugh tweeted.
“Far-left MSNBC propagandist says China’s proven genocide of religious minorities is only ‘alleged,'” Ryan Saavedra tweeted.
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to note that Seiko Hashimoto, Yasuhiro Yamashita, and Kazuyuki Mori will attend the Beijing Olympics.