WWE Accused Of Playing The Race Card

Conservative Alex Jones has slammed WWE over the Zeb Coulter character, saying that the company is "creating a racist wrestler to demonize the Tea Party." Jones, who was one of the people who Lawler joked last night was "sending fan mail" to Jack Swagger and Coulter, wrote on his website InfoWars.com that Swagger is being positioned as a Tea Party heel before he faces Alberto Del Rio at WrestleMania.

The site also notes Linda McMahon's unsuccessful Senate run, saying, "This is part of the divide and conquer tactic of cultural subversion to manufacture racial division and to characterize the Tea Party, conservatives, libertarians, opponents of uncontrolled illegal immigration, and constitutionalists as racist, extremist radicals who should be pushed to the fringes of the political discourse. Now the demonization runs so deep that it's even being bolstered by WWE wrestling. The fact that WWE is owned by Vince and Linda McMahon, who are part of the Republican establishment, also tells us a lot about how grass roots conservatives and libertarians are viewed by those near the top of the power structure."

WWE is denying that the Zeb Colter character is an attempt to bash the Tea Party. As previously reported, Alex Jones slammed the character and Fox News hosted a segment posing the same theory, noting that the Tea Party's slogan "Don't Tread on Me" was on Colter's podium last night on RAW (and apparently neglecting to remember that the slogan precedes the Tea Party by a couple centuries as a revolutionary and patriotic motto). WWE's Brian Flinn gave THR the following statement in regard to the news:

"WWE has a long history of creating fictional characters that serve as either protagonists or antagonists, no different than other television shows or feature films. To create compelling and relevant content for our audience, it is important to incorporate current events into our storylines. WWE is creating drama centered on a topical subject that has varying points of view to develop a rivalry between two characters. This storyline in no way represents WWE's political point of view. One should not confuse WWE's storytelling with what WWE stands for, similar to other entertainment companies such as Warner Bros., Universal Studios or Viacom."