Well, CNN stepped in it again. Editor Chris Cillizza tweeted and then deleted a photo of Trump in a sniper’s crosshair. It’s certainly something that would catch the attention of the Secret Service. It’s certainly not appropriate for a member of the news media to do it. The photo was commenting on President Trump’s remarks commemorating fallen officers; it’s National Police Week this week. The picture featured the president under a green sniper’s scope with the caption, “Donald Trump, pointing to heavens to commemorate police officers killed in the line of duty.”
CNN's Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) tweeted a GIF that had crosshairs on President Donald Trump.
— Ryan Saavedra ???? (@RealSaavedra) May 15, 2018
Archive: https://t.co/v03QVs6Ppm pic.twitter.com/4vQ4LqdIav
Um, why is there green crosshairs over trump? https://t.co/CSFsvfIkk0
— LaurieAnn ?? (@mooshakins) May 15, 2018
.@CillizzaCNN Hi. You deleted it but don't worry, I saved it for you. Along with a reminder. You're welcome. pic.twitter.com/1CQhbDJKng
— LaurieAnn ?? (@mooshakins) May 15, 2018
Cillizza’s tweet quickly caught the attention of social media and he promptly deleted it saying, “I’ve deleted a GIF about President Trump. We use @GifGrabber to make our GIFs and it defaults to the image below as a first frame. To clear up any unintended confusion, I’ve removed the tweet.”
Factchecker: The bogus claim that a map of crosshairs by Sarah Palin’s PAC incited Rep. Gabby Giffords’s shooting
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 15, 2017
https://t.co/IS6p2atej1
You know that saying: liberal have short memories. Former Vice President Joe Biden knows this. So, will there be outrage over this? Will there be calls to tone down the rhetoric because that’s what happened to Sarah Palin when her PAC put crosshairs on districts they were targeting. And no, these crosshairs did not cause or inspire Jared Lee Loughner to shoot former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ). They didn’t inspire him to commit this assassination attempt, which is something The New York Times erroneously suggested in an op-ed. To the network’s credit, host Jake Tapper called out the Times on their nonsense over this baseless accusation.
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I was willing to chalk this up as a mistake and a poor exercise in judgment, but the double standard is still appalling, as always in these incidents of liberal media bias.
I’ve deleted a GIF about President Trump. We use @GifGrabber to make our GIFs and it defaults to the image below as a first frame. To clear up any unintended confusion, I’ve removed the tweet. pic.twitter.com/x6PCKoiW16
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) May 15, 2018
Also, some people seem to be having trouble replicating what Cillizza allegedly did with GIFGrabber.
I just used GIF grabber to make a GIF of Chris Cillizza's twitter timeline.
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) May 15, 2018
Strangely, there were no crosshairs inserted. pic.twitter.com/N1CvwgGq7d
***
UPDATE: Apparently, there is a version, where crosshairs are available. It’s still horrible. Also, remember that time Cillizza said journalists don’t pick sides?
Several people have since pointed out to me that there is a version of the app that has the "crosshairs" seen in Cillizza's GIF on their screen capture.
— Amber Athey (@amber_athey) May 16, 2018
oh, really? pic.twitter.com/XsTXK2ZoUS
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) May 15, 2018
(H/T Twitchy)
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