Patricia Heaton criticizes media, 'extremists' she says 'fear-mongered' in 2024 election
"The Middle" star Patricia Heaton is making her stance on politics known after former President Donald Trump's reclamation of the U.S. presidency.
The "Everybody Loves Raymond" alum spoke out on social media Saturday, decrying the "media" and "pundits" for their coverage of the 2024 presidential election results.
"To all these extremists that are allowed television time, who told women that this is what is going to happen to them, shame on you! Shame on you!" Heaton said in a video posted to X, referencing anti-abortion laws that sparked controversy and which some left-leaning politicians, including Trump's opponent Vice President Kamala Harris, coined as "Trump abortion bans."
She also accused news organizations of spreading misinformation: "Apparently, there are some really vulnerable people here who you targeted, and you fear-mongered to and you need to go back on the air and tell them things are going to be OK and tell them that they're fine."
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In response to the 2024 presidential election results and Trump's return to the White House, some women have protested in unique ways, from wearing blue bracelets to the 4B Movement. In the video, Heaton claims that women are also shaving their heads following the election.
"I've also seen a lot of the response videos, especially from women who are crying, screaming, shaving their heads, saying they’re going to be jailed or rounded up or killed or hunted or whatever," Heaton said, addressing such posts.
Heaton told her 570,000 followers that "only Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. Put your faith in Him, not in men, not in man's institutions, not in human institutions" and "we need to pray for" those women.
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Heaton, a self-proclaimed pro-life actress, helped found The October 7 Coalition nonprofit to advocate for Christians in support of Jewish people. She called the election outcome "very good for the Jewish people," noting she had just returned from a weeklong trip to Israel.
She also continued to criticize news organizations that refer to "uneducated voters," U.S. citizens without a college or post-secondary degree, as a voting bloc.
"Also, stop saying people who voted differently from you are 'uneducated,'" Heaton said, telling news organizations to learn a lesson "about smearing people who feel differently from you, who have different needs from you, who have legitimate complaints. Quit dismissing them as uneducated. When are you going to learn?"
Heaton's comments come amid a highly sensitive time in American politics as conservatives celebrate Trump's return to the White House and liberals launch post-mortems to grapple with this year's election results, where former Vice President Harris lost every single battleground state and ultimately, the popular vote.