"Riffed from the Headlines" is Townhall's daily VIP feature with coverage of the deeply flawed aspects of journalism in the nation. We'll look to bring accountability to the mishaps, malaprops, misdeeds, manipulations, malpractice, and manufactured narratives in mainstream media.
09.21.22
Blue-Anon – MSNBC
- Anyone with a migrant ancestor cannot enforce immigration laws, is the lesson.
There is a mounting humanitarian crisis at the border and the Biden administration has done little to nothing to stem the flood of arrivals and has been lax in assisting the border states dealing with the crisis. So what does Mehdi Hasan spend time looking into? He performs a 23-AndMe-type investigation into the family history of Ron DeSantis in order to score a "gotcha" type story.
Hasan's big revelation? That DeSantis has an ancestor who was an immigrant from Italy. This, according to the intrepid TV personality, is a sign of "hypocrisy." Now, most thinking people would say that expecting the government to enforce policy and assure legal immigration in the fashion the governor's great-great-grandmother experienced would be a sign of consistency, but this is not readily apparent to a grudge-inspired journalist.
Luigia Colucci was an Italian immigrant who came here in 1917, unable to read or write and thanks to what some on the right might call 'chain migration.'
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) September 21, 2022
She also happens to be the great-great-grandmother of Ron DeSantis - my commentary on his hypocrisy:pic.twitter.com/Osg2wTATpr
DNC PR Firm – MSNBC
- "Thank you, Ms. Press Secretary, for that laughable explanation – now on to the weather!"
The embarrassing fallout from the "60 Minutes" interview continues for the administration. After needing to refute Joe with the official White House position on Taiwan minutes after the program aired, the other issue has been Biden's declaration that the pandemic is over. Karine Jean-Pierre has been the hardest hit. Yesterday, she attempted to explain that Biden said he is still working to fight back against the pandemic, despite – you know – our hearing him declare it was over.
After, KJP went on "Morning Joe" to attempt more cleanup, and the pivot in messaging is equal parts sad and uproarious. Her explanation: We cannot take Biden's words too seriously because when he was talking, there were all kinds of flashy vehicles around to distract him. Yes…she actually says this.
WH @PressSec says Biden didn't actually mean the Covid pandemic is over despite saying it: "Just to step back for a second, when he made those comments, he was walking through the Detroit car show, the halls of the Detroit car show, he was looking around." pic.twitter.com/JUMzkkA1P8
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 21, 2022
News Avoidance Syndrome – VARIOUS OUTLETS
- It appears what is considered political violence has to pass a political party litmus test.
The press has long railed about the potential for violence. President Biden delivered an angry primetime speech about the violent horrors promised to come from right-wing sources. Yet in the past few weeks, we have seen reporters shrug when a Republican campaign office was attacked. They have reported on a reporter being killed by a politician while refusing to indicate he was a Democrat.
Now comes the newest story to be memory-holed, as a man has run over and killed an 18-year-old because he viewed the victim as a "Republican extremist." Good luck finding this detailed in the larger media news outlets.
North Dakota man kills 'Republican extremist' teenager after political argument https://t.co/xrSawVDXBb
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) September 21, 2022
First Amendment Strike Force – THE WHITE HOUSE
- Why can't that Melugin guy not report on stories like the rest of the press?!
It has been a comedy of errors to see a small stampede of reporters rush out to cover the possible arrival of a plane at a small airport in Delaware because it was supposed to be another message of immigrants arriving on the doorstep of Joe Biden's home. No such plane existed.
Meanwhile, the actual immigrant crisis taking place in Texas is being reported on by one journalist, and that is one journalist too many for the White House. Politico details that they have spoken to a list of operatives from the administration who are saying that Bill Melugin is "getting under the skin" of administration officials because he has the temerity to report on the mounting crisis in Texas.
- "In recent days, several current and former White House and administration officials expressed to West Wing Playbook their increasing frustration with his on-air coverage, arguing that there is an alarmist quality to it, designed to feed political narratives rather than illuminate the actual issues feeding the migrant flow."
When the White House is more worried about @BillFOXLA exposing the border crisis, than the border crisis
— Media Research Center (@theMRC) September 21, 2022
https://t.co/hhDnEeybDm
Blue-Anon – USA TODAY
On Monday, we detailed how The Atlantic had the breaking story that the January 6 riot was spearheaded by memes. Now, following suit is USA Today, with this exposé that suggests memes might not be the most reliable source for news, given how they are always connected to disinformation spotted across social media.
This only leads to one logical conclusion – we need to make memes illegal.
USA TODAY reviewed thousands of Internet memes ranging from the Jan. 6 hearings to conspiracy theories concerning 5G and Jewish space lasers.
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) September 20, 2022
Here’s how such memes have played a key role in almost every disinformation campaign of the digital age. https://t.co/VHFDf9vzPA
