Last week, we discussed a recent CNN Saturday Michael Smerconish show, where the host attacked Fox News for supposedly promoting former President Donald Trump's "false conspiracy theory" that the 2020 presidential election was "stolen." Fox hosts, argued Smerconish based on court filings in a defamation lawsuit filed against the network, "knew" what CNN referred to as the "Big Lie" was false yet, for ratings and to prevent viewer defections, promoted it anyway.
The implication is that CNN is NOT partisan and would never, ever act in such a biased way. Bear in mind that this network quickly dismissed the pre-election Hunter Biden laptop story as "Russian disinformation." Then-host Brian Stelter, chief media correspondent, called the story a "classic example of the right wing media machine." Stelter said, "Fox and Trump have this in common: They want you to stay mad and stay tuned." His guest, a Harvard Law professor, added, "The strategy is to deflect attention, to attack the opponent, and the same propaganda is there all the time." When the federal government belatedly acknowledged the authenticity of the story, Stelter then also conceded its veracity -- two years after the story broke -- but attributed the error to "tension between fast and slow journalism."
As the show continued, I took to Twitter and sent Smerconish and CNN a series of tweets about that network's blatant left-wing partisanship. We take up where we left off last week:
--Smerconish and fellow CNN host Jake Tapper admitted -- 2 years after the fact -- that Trump was, in fact, referring to the debate over displaying Confederate monuments in the public square when he said "there were very fine people on both sides." He was not saying there "were very fine" Nazis or "there were very fine white supremacists" -- the interpretation that Joe Biden, as a candidate and as president, insists Trump was saying. Yet, incredibly, CNN -- after Smerconish and Tapper clarified what Trump actually referred to -- STILL allowed Biden and others to go on the network and flat-out LIE about what Trump said and meant -- with NO pushback by hosts.
--In a 2016 poll, the No. 1 reason "likely voters" gave for disliking Trump is that he "mocked a disabled reporter." HE DID NOT! In June 2022, I wrote: "First, (reporter Serge) Kovaleski does not flail his arms as did Trump when he made fun of him. Kovaleski has a condition called arthrogryposis, described by HopkinsMedicine.org as a 'variety of conditions involving multiple joint contractures (or stiffness) ... where the range of motion of a joint is limited.' He does not gyrate as did Trump when he 'mocked' the reporter's condition. Kovaleski is a calm and steady speaker."
Second, Trump, for years, has used the same "mocking" gesture to ridicule others, including himself as well as an able-bodied general, as shown by videos on a website called Catholics4Trump.com.
Investor's Business Daily in a commentary called "Fake News: Trump Did Not Mock Disabled Reporter and Other Lies From the Left," wrote, "The truth is, Trump has often used those same convulsive gestures to mimic the mannerisms of people, including himself, who are rattled and exasperated."
Did CNN ever correct the record?
--During my campaign for California governor, CNN's Joe Johns interviewed me. He reported I was wrong to say the young and healthy did not need to be vaccinated. But a recent study published in the respected Lancet medical journal found immunity from infection to be 'at least as high, if not higher' than that provided by two doses of a mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. How many suffered adverse reactions? How many businesses were bankrupted and jobs lost due to lockdowns? What about the increase in depression, suicide, domestic violence and child abuse?
--President Biden did not take the cognitive test that the media/Dems all but demanded in the case of President Trump. Will CNN accuse Biden's doctor of promoting a "Big Lie" about the alleged soundness of Biden's health and engaging in a "cover-up" when, to use Smerconish's expression, "Democracy is at stake"?
No, CNN is NOT biased and riddled with "news" hosts -- as opposed to opinion hosts-who double as Democrat activists.
Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. To find out more about Larry Elder, or become an "Elderado," visit www.LarryElder.com. Follow Larry on Twitter @larryelder. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com
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