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Ali Velshi Brings on a British Historian to school Him on History?

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Sep 12, 2022
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

"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.

09.12.22

Anti-Social Media – MSNBC

  • Ali Velshi brings on a British historian…to school him on history?

On Saturday morning, Ali Velshi had on as a guest Dr. Andrew Roberts, a British historian who works for the network and is a specialist on the British Crown. It is not entirely clear why Velshi had Dr. Roberts on, as he was immediately contradicted with facts and this sent the host down a spiral with angry tirades.

Ali first insisted that there seems to be a trend in England that people are tired of the Royals, but his guest pointed out that polls show the commoners support the monarchy by 80-85%. Then when Velshi brought up the imperial aspects, which many a contrarian journalist has brought up as a way of positioning themselves as enlightened, Dr. Roberts again noted that as of today, all of the British commonwealth countries voiced enthusiastic support for Charles ascending to the throne.

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This sent Velshi spinning off, accusing his guest of dismissing the horrors of imperialism when he said no such thing. Ali was reduced to repeatedly chastising Dr. Roberts with "I need you to stop" in order to lecture the historian on the proper narrative. 

Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – CNN

  • The network is bowled over by landmark reporting about events from two years ago – which never happened.

Maggie Haberman of The New York Times has a book coming out next month all about Trump and his machinations in the post-election era. CNN got hold of an advance copy and they appear to be particularly impressed by a significant revelation Maggie provides about Trump's behavior.

So this BIG revelation is that Trump had given voice to something that countless journalists had been promising before the election would take place. Annnnnnd – then it ultimately did not take place. Trump vacated without much in the way of drama. BUT…he said something back then!

Pre-Written Field Reports – NEW YORK MAGAZINE

  • Ron DeDesantis relying on correct data is a troubling example of pandering.

This weekend, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke at an election event and addressed the issue of the vaccines and how they have not performed at a level as promised by the medical professionals – and just as much by the media. His fully accurate assessment of things was particularly bothersome to Jonathan Chait.

He saw DeSantis delivering this set of facts and wanted to scorch the governor, but since he was not actually in a position to be torched for delivering "misinformation," he had to find another approach to justify being rankled by DeSantis and his accuracy.

Blue-Anon – NBC NEWS

  • "We just know Trump is up to something, and as soon as we figure out what it is we can get outraged about it!"

What does an unhealthy Trump Addiction look like? Bear in mind – first for a moment – that so many in the press love to accuse the GOP of being obsessed with Trump. Now behold that so many journalists and resisters on the right are consumed with the fact that Trump showed up in D.C. wearing golf shoes. Surely this had to mean…SOMETHING!

But the speculation that he raced from a golf course in Florida in order to immediately appear in the capital was proof…of…him dealing with something serious, right?!

Well, it turns out there was a good reason for this curious appearance; Trump was immediately spotted on – a Virginia golf course. But even this reality did not dissipate the hysterics. 

Kelly O'Donnell blesses us with surveillance footage taken of Trump on the golf course – and he is decidedly not playing golf for minutes at a time. This totally means something!

Pre-Written Field Reports – VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

  • There must be some way to tie this all in to the man who had nothing at all to do with this.

And the Trump obsession continues.

In the ongoing saga of the journalist from LVRJ who was murdered by a state politician, it continues to be a case of the media needing to avoid the core truth of the story. We detailed how CNN had numerous stories of the journalist killing that managed to fully avoid stating the alleged killer was a Democratic politician. Numerous other news outlets have found ways to report the crime without finding a way to include the party involved.

Then when a press conference was recently called by the county sheriff to address new details of the arrest, he was asked about the motives of this crime; specifically, did the sheriff suspect that Donald Trump's treatment of the press could have contributed to this crime? Because, of course, a politician who found his career shortened because the targeted journalist exposed personal ethics issues was not motivated by revenge but by the man who has not been in office for over 18 months. That is, Trump inspired a DEMOCRAT to commit the murder. Allegedly. 

Reporting on the Mirror – (formerly) CNN

  • Stelter has found a landing spot already.

Some of the speculations about Brian Stelter's exit were about where he would end up next, but that talk evaporated rather quickly as it was realized how little the man was missed. He managed to vacate his Sunday show without leaving a void.

Today, we learned he has found at least a temporary gig. Harvard has announced Brian will become a fellow, and with that title will host public events and seminars on campus about the media.

So great – the people who are doling out tens of thousands for annual tuition will be able to listen to the guy few wanted to listen to for free.