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Low-Octane Gaslighting – NBC NEWS
It’s not lying when THEY do it.
You have to wonder why the Sunday news shows and their pundits keep bringing on Senator Tom Cotton, considering how often he runs circles around them. Following his exposing last week of Jon Karl’s built-in bias, this weekend, he was on “Meet the Press” with hostess Kristen Welker, and she came off looking even worse.
Welker has been at the helm of the show for one year now, and she appears to be getting worse instead of better. Her partisan approach to the job has been a regular issue, and she seems to only be getting more brazen and far less prepared. As she spoke about the controversy surrounding Donald Trump’s visit with Gold Star families with Cotton, the senator overwhelmed her with facts and common sense, and Welker felt compelled to come out with a defense of Kamala Harris in the exchange. Listen at the end as she states Kamala Harris met with the families during the return of the coffins from Afghanistan.
This is Kristen Welker claiming - falsely - that Kamala Harris met with Gold Star families at the ceremony of the return of the bodies of the fallen service members.
— Brad Slager - Folksy as Walz & Joyful As a K-Hive! (@MartiniShark) September 3, 2024
Harris was not in attendance. pic.twitter.com/gIDPX6sZup
Kamala Harris did not attend that ceremony and has not spoken with the families. This was such a bad lie that the “Meet the Press” account had to issue a retraction, although it hedges and states that Welker “implied” Harris was there. No – Welker clearly stated Harris was there, which is 100% a falsehood.
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Keep in mind that these are the same outlets that are perpetually bleating about misinformation during the election and how much of a threat it poses to the integrity of our democracy. They have spent months revising history and lying on behalf of Harris in a clear show of dedicated support for the Democratic ticket.
On our broadcast this morning, we incorrectly implied that both President Biden and Vice President Harris attended the dignified transfer of 13 American service members killed during the Afghanistan withdrawal. Biden was in attendance but Harris was not.
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 1, 2024
DNC PR Firm – CNN
Pimping politically at the expense of the families of fallen service members.
Jake Tapper continued the media insistence to politicize the Trump visit to Arlington, all while complaining it is wrong for Trump to have politicized his visit with Gold Star families.
He brought on Jim McCain, son of the late politician John McCain, and he went on to scorch Trump as well.
Now we see @JakeTapper was willing to speak with Jim McCain - a registered Democrat - to trash Donald Trump, but not give the families of fallen soldiers respect at the same time.https://t.co/rsYVYwMaSi
— Lie-Able Sources (@LieAbleSources) September 3, 2024
Notably Jake has not had on his show any of the Gold Star family members to explain their viewpoint on inviting Trump to honor their fallen family. Also left out was any mention of John McCain taking photo-op images while visiting Arlington. Huh.
Other “illicit campaign events” at Arlington. Biden, Obama, and McCain. You guys suck. pic.twitter.com/oJgOtlqMDm
— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) September 3, 2024
Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – Talking Points Memo
When the question contains the answer, you know how bad this is going for them.
While few regard the crew at TPM to be serious journalists, this inclusion from Josh Marshall appears because he manages to typify so much of the narrative issues of the Trump-Arlington controversy in his stunted assessment of the details, such as they are.
Josh is dredging up one of the side aspects, the alleged confrontation between Trump campaign figures and a worker at Arlington. There has been much bandied about this supposed eruption, but there has been a woeful lack of details. Marshall is supremely bothered that this story has not been fully reported on, but in his complaint, he fails to grasp the reason "why?"
He calls it an open secret concerning who was involved in the dispute, yet he cannot fathom how they have not been exposed. It’s as if he is convinced everyone is aware of the players, yet the press members who LOVE scorching Trump cannot find a way to impugn him on this detail.
Reminder: Now 7 days since Trump's illicit Arlington campaign event, attack on cemetery employee. Identity of the attacker is certainly an open secret - numerous witnesses - and yet no national news organization - Times, Post, CNN, NBC, ABC - has published their identity. Why?
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) September 2, 2024
News Avoidance Syndrome – NEWS
You can tell how bad the story must be by the inability to have it reported on...
On the subject of Jon Karl, he displays how it is not necessary to have on Tom Cotton in order to look inept. He had Colorado Governor Jared Polis sit in with him on Sunday, and yet the intrepid host managed to sidestep one issue.
One of the biggest items in the national news cycle last week was the takeover of portions of Aurora Colorado by Venezuelan gangs, yet, Mr. Karl never managed to find a way to bring up the topic in their time together.
ABC's Jon Karl asks Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) about both immigration *and* a local Colorado issue, but NOT about Tren de Aragua's activities in Aurora. Compare to Regime Media hounding of Trump surrogates on abortion pic.twitter.com/j9Om6M3WaU
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) September 2, 2024
Legalized Press-titution – SALON
You do realize that Salina is comically inept, correct?
The desperation is strong with this one – but not common sense. At Salon, Melanie McFarland seems to think that Kamala Harris could benefit from the women who were president of the United States – in television shows. How?! Does anyone actually care…?
Sixteen years ago critics wondered whether seeing much-loved actors like Morgan Freeman and Dennis Haysbert play effective and charismatic presidents helped Obama win the election. Since his tenure, TV’s Hall of Presidents has only expanded its female representation.
The best is that one of the featured players here is Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who portrayed Salina Meyer, an inept and underqualified figure played for comedy. So…in a way, when it comes to Harris, maybe McFarland has a point?
From "Scandal" to "Veep," how likely are TV's female presidents to aid Harris' presidential bid? https://t.co/1CBWawla6q
— Salon (@Salon) September 1, 2024
Reporting on the Mirror – CNN
In a way, this seemed inevitable, right?!
What with new management, and the departure of Oliver Darcy (sniff!) from his inherited role, Brian Stelter announced today that he is returning to CNN. He will re-take over the "Reliable Sources" newsletter, as well as serve as what he calls "Chief Media Analyst." How is this different from his past role? That is a mystery, but he insists he has changed in the two years since his ouster from the network.
How much he has changed remains to be seen, because in the various appearances he has been making of late, he has retained his acidic focus on Fox News. Case in point – his latest book tearing apart that network released to little fanfare a year ago is being released in paperback.
We wanted Reliable Sources readers to find out first. So I wrote them a letter: https://t.co/UPSopYHRbA pic.twitter.com/7xBWp4dcno
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 3, 2024
