05.11.23
Gilded Reframe – CNN
- They thought they heard just about enough.
Donald Trump's town hall on CNN last night generated all manner of reactions, but it's doubtful that anyone had a changed mind as a result. It is amusing to see some of the outraged remarks coming out as if the worst crime against humanity had been perpetrated, but here is some truth; it could have been far worse!
Specifically, it could have been longer. It appears that the network trimmed the length of the event, as it was pegged to go an hour and a half, but was cut short to about a 70-minute run time. This was not because of ratings, as they drew over three million for Trump's appearance and then ran discussion shows covering what was said. Best guess? They wanted to limit the damage as it appeared Trump was getting the better of hostess Kaitlan Collins.
Wasn't this supposed to run until 9:30? This gives CNN more time to spin. Literally they are now devoting more than double the time on their spinning than the length of the town hall.
— johnny dollar (@johnnydollar01) May 11, 2023
Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – CNN
- Now is that really the stated goal of your profession?
For Monday (Thursday) morning quarterbacking purposes, CNN CEO Chris Licht held a company-wide conference call to rave about the town hall. It is not as if there was any chance of him being critical or even honest about the result, so expectedly he was buoyant and energetic. Licht was effusive with praise for Collins ("a masterful performance"), and then he let slip out a bit of an admission.
In raving about the content that was revealed, he went on to declare that as a news network, it is not their job to find and report on events but to craft and create news themselves?
"You do not have to like the former president's answers, but you can't say that we didn't get them," Licht tells staffers, many of whom are angry about the town hall. "Kaitlan pressed him again and again and made news. Made a LOT of news." And "that is our job."
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 11, 2023
First Amendment Strike Force – FACEBOOK
- When facts are declared "hate speech," we have taken another step toward Orwell.
Yesterday, here at Townhall, we featured a column by Hung Cao, as he covered details taking place at our southern border. Following publication, he ran into issues trying to share the piece, as Facebook flagged the column as hate speech. It will be the kind of action taken, we have a feeling, with more frequency and stricter parameters the closer we get to the 2024 election season.
I penned an op-ed in @townhallcom about the crisis at our southern border and Facebook flagged it as hate speech when @polarisnatsec tried to share it.
— Hung Cao (@HungCao_VA) May 11, 2023
What about telling the truth of our border is hate speech? Was mentioning the 85,000 exploited and unaccounted migrant… pic.twitter.com/CWbI2HE2KJ
News Avoidance Syndrome – VARIOUS OUTLETS
- Seems the revelations of a complex bribery network involving the president are not too interesting.
There is a possibility you may have missed the press conference yesterday from the House GOP as they announced the preliminary findings of the investigations into the Biden family and the sketchy financial dealings they have been connected with over the years. The networks barely touched the story, and MSNBC and CNN avoided it outright.
We will just call it a matter of convenient coincidence that the George Santos arrest was announced by the DOJ just slightly before the House GOP press conference. We will also call it a matter of selective coverage, as that story was given a significant amount of oxygen yesterday.
"They say that this is the height of deception by a sitting U.S. congressman, who has now been placed under arrest."@AaronKatersky explains the 13 criminal counts Rep. George Santos has been charged with. pic.twitter.com/G4tzI94s0Y
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) May 10, 2023
Low Octne Gas Lighting – THE NEW YORK TIMES
One of the news outlets that did cover the House findings was The New York Times. Well…sort of.
The committee released a lengthy and detailed thread that lays out a complex web of graft and collusion that explains what they found.
Multiple Biden family members received money from the Chinese after it passed through an associate’s account. Additionally, Hunter Biden received money directly into his company’s account from a Chinese-controlled entity. pic.twitter.com/CEyPZGW8gA
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) May 10, 2023
And yet, despite this voluminous amount of unsettling detail, The Times looked things over and declared – there's nothing to see here!
After months of investigation, House Republicans who promised to use their new majority to unearth evidence of wrongdoing and corruption by President Biden acknowledged that they had yet to uncover incriminating evidence about him. https://t.co/sOcqjmmLnC
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 11, 2023
Pathological Media Amnesia – POLITICO
Credit where it is due, the gang at Politico also covered the House announcement. And, just like with The Times, we have to follow with, sort of.
In looking over the evidence, Politico does the only sane thing; question the GOP and run with Democrat claims that the Russians were behind all of this!
The Republicans provided no information on the purported whistleblower’s background, or how that person would have knowledge of an alleged conversation with an FBI source. GOP lawmakers have faced Democratic criticism in the past for applying the whistleblower designation to individuals who don’t meet the legal definition.
Committee Republicans are recycling unsubstantiated claims floated by Senate Republicans by issuing a subpoena to the FBI to require the release of a June 2020 tip from an unknown informant. During this same time period, Rudy Giuliani and Russian agents, sanctioned by Trump’s Treasury Department, were peddling disinformation aimed at interfering in the 2020 presidential election,” [Jamie] Raskin added.
Republicans allege unspecified Biden 'scheme,' fire off new FBI subpoena https://t.co/ppecssNYpv
— POLITICO (@politico) May 3, 2023
Anti-Social Media – THE INTERCEPT
Yesterday saw the return of Senator Dianne Feinstein following an extended medical leave, and many on the left (like Jake Tapper, as we had covered here) have been very vocal about pushing to have the California senator replaced. Her return completely infuriated Ken Klippenstein, who was incensed enough to go on a tirade on Twitter.
Ken was piqued enough that he began naming off Feinstein staffers and provided their contact information as a result of their coddling the woman and working to have her return.
Alright it's time to name and shame Dianne Feinstein's staff, all of whom should be blacklisted from politics forever for caring so little about their country that they refuse to resign (THREAD):
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) May 10, 2023
Adam Russell - press secretary (@JAdamRuss), paid $102,046
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