Bernie Goldberg, a Fox News media analyst, was cut off in mid-sentence by fill-in host Shannon Bream on a recent edition of The Kelly File while he was arguing that the civil rights struggles of the 1960s are analogous to those of gays and lesbians today.
In a segment about Arizona's SB 1062, the now-vetoed bill that would have allowed Arizona businesses to deny service to LGBT people on "religious freedom" grounds, Bream played host to Goldberg in a discussion of Gov, Jan Brewer's veto and the media's coverage of the bill.
Based on her review of the bill's text, Bream asserted, "There were no words about homosexuality or discrimination," implying that the media had been unfair in its reporting.
Goldberg shifted the discussion back to the issue of discrimination. "If you open a shop on Main Street open to the general public, then you have to really serve the general public," he argued.
Bream chafed at Goldberg's statement. "Why would you want to force them to do business with you?" she asked. "Why not just go down the street and say, 'I'm going to spend my money with somebody who supports me?'"
"Would you have made this argument in 1960 in Greensboro, N.C.?" Goldberg replied, referring to the Woolworth lunch counter sit-in by four African-American college students in protest ofsegregation. "They were American heroes because they didn't get up and say, 'I'm not wanted here. I'll go someplace else.'"
In response, Bream attempted to point to "African-American pastors and others" who have pushed back against such comparisons. "Some of them find that objectionable," she argued.
"Well, that's their call," Goldberg replied. "I happen to disagree with that." He then began to describe how "states' rights" arguments were used to permit race-based discrimination, before Bream cut in.
"I'm sorry, I hate to leave it there, but we are out of time," she declared. As the segment faded to commercial, Goldberg shook his head, increduously.