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CNN Has No More Opinions

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Aug 01, 2024
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

Anti-Social Media – National Association of Black Journalists

  • "Now why should a black voter support a racist like yourself?"

Say what you like about Donald Trump as a candidate, one complaint cannot be that he shies from a media challenge. On Wednesday, he accepted the invitation to sit with members of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), an invite that was met with hostility by some members of the organization. Then came the opening salvo from Rachel Scott of ABC News, a rather aggressive dose of accusatory questioning:

A lot of people did not think it was appropriate for you to be here today. You have pushed false claims about some of your rivals, from Nikki Haley to former President Barack Obama saying that they were not born in the United States, which is not true. 

You have told four congresswomen of color who were American citizens to go back to where they came from. You have used words like 'animal' and 'rabid' to describe black district attorneys, you've attacked black journalists calling them a loser, saying the questions that they asked are 'both stupid and racist.' You've had dinner with a white supremacist at your Mar-a-Lago resort. So, my question, sir, now that you are asking black supporters to vote for you. Why should black voters trust you after you have used language like that?

The press has been eager to characterize some of Trump's responses as aggressively racist, yet the table was set with Scott's question. Brian Stelter was keen to call Trump's opening here "hostile" but not Scott's interrogation style.

Both Kinds of Standards – CNN

  • Does Abby realize there are two candidates in this election?

Commenting on the panel at the NABJ, CNN's Abby Phillip was applauding the fact that Trump had been grilled by Rachel Scott.

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Funny thing about that – ever since she was announced as the Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris has not sat for an interview or given an interactive press conference. In fact, Trump noted that he agreed to sit with the NABJ with the understanding his opponent would do so as well. He also noted that while he was told that a Zoom interview was not acceptable, it seems that honor has been offered to Harris.

Low-Octane Gaslighting – AXIOS

  • When your outlet reels from its bad week, this approach is not helpful.

Axios is still recovering from getting blistered over its faulty claim that Kamala was never called the Border Czar. (It is always tough when a site is debunked by itself.) Last night, the site's national politics reporter Sophia Cai tried to slam Donald Trump for cutting off his interview with the NABJ because, as she claimed, the interview was a trainwreck and he ran. 

You might notice Ms. Cai's replies are closed on that post. This was quickly done when she received an avalanche of corrective comments letting her know that this truncated visit was the result of the organizers facing a technical issue that delayed the start by more than half an hour.

Reporting on the Mirror – CNN

Word was made official yesterday that CNN is shutting down the opinion section on the site. The announcement was made to the affected staffers in an abrupt message Wednesday afternoon:

'Just a quick note to let you know that unfortunately CNN has decided to shut down the opinion section,' an opinion editor sent in an email. 'I hope our paths cross elsewhere!'

One executive noted that a Substack post last month reported this closure was set to take place at the start of August. Upon notification on social media, most people came to the same conclusion: "If CNN shuts down the opinion side, then what is possibly remaining?!"

Stealth Story Evolution – REUTERS

The announcement that the Israeli military took out the Hamas terrorist leader Ismail Haniyeh this week was met with mostly applause – save perhaps from those hardline pro-Palestinian protesters and the media. As an indication of the positions held by many in the press on the Israeli-Hamas War, Reuters announced his passing with a jarringly supportive headline.

Haniyeh was the force that orchestrated the attack on Israeli citizens last October that took the lives of over 1,000 civilians, the kidnapping and subsequent deaths of dozens, and a list of other atrocities. Calling him a "moderate" is as slanted an approach as a news outlet can take.

Glossary Over Things – THE NEW YORK TIMES

In The New York Times Times Opinion Section, contributing editor Jessica Bennett delivers another pom-pom-shaker of a column supporting Kamala and the Democrats. Bennett joins other journalists we have seen following the narrative of calling Trump and J.D. Vance "weird" and "creepy." While this is a sophomoric hot-take being shared across the media spectrum, Bennett actually acknowledges the childish aspect of this, yet forges ahead gleefully:

Weird and creepy. Simple, gut-punching words. And of course, as any sixth grader who’s been called weird — or worse, 'creepy' — by his peers knows, good luck trying to argue your way out.

But taking this argument from the level of a middle-schooler and lowering it to the plain imbecilic is the headline declaring that Democrats "Finally…start name-calling." Finally?!

Where has Jessica been the past few years, as Trump and Republicans have been called everything from Nazis, Hitler, Fascists, Authoritarians, Racists, Sexists, Homophobes, Bigots, etc.?