Donald Trump-obsessed journalists can’t help but notice some “cracks” in his “cult.” Sen. Mitch McConnell declared the Jan. 6 riot was a “violent insurrection,” and former Vice President Mike Pence proclaimed “Trump was wrong” about insisting Pence could overturn the Electoral College. One can question whether these statements are really “new,” since they echo in sentiment what these men said on the day of the riot.
McConnell was moved to repeat himself by strange language in a Republican National Committee statement suggesting the Jan. 6 committee was persecuting “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.” Rioting is never legitimate political discourse. Republicans taking a stand against rioting shouldn’t be newsworthy. It should be routine if you want to be a law-and-order party.
Journalists mangled all this. On Feb. 7, CNN’s John Avlon suggested in his “Reality Check” commentary that Fox News aerobically avoided Pence’s speech. “This is big news, but you wouldn’t have known it if you watch Fox,” he boldly asserted. “Because as CNN’s Oliver Darcy pointed out, transcripts showed that they totally ignored Pence’s statement on primetime Friday, all day Saturday. You’d have to wait some 36 hours to see the clip.”
This is wrong. Any search of Fox coverage shows that Martha MacCallum reported on it within minutes that afternoon. On “Special Report,” fill-in anchor Shannon Bream carried a report, complete with a clip of Pence. Bream also reported on the speech on her own show in the first hour of Saturday.
“Reality Check” was “Pants On Fire.”
Then Avlon had to double down with Soviet wisecracks: “It’s kind of like Pravda remaining silent on the fall of the Berlin Wall, hoping that nobody would notice.” This is sick stuff coming from CNN, which has played Pravda to the Soviets, the Cubans, the Nicaraguans and even Saddam Hussein.
Like a good CNN employee, Avlon thinks Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger are the very best Republicans. He said the RNC statement “accuses Cheney and Kinzinger of trying to sabotage the GOP conference for trying to get the facts, which the RNC fears could jeopardize victory in November. So, investigating Jan. 6 is recast as efforts to destroy Donald Trump.”
Earth to Avlon: This is not about fact-finding. Democrats are frank with reporters that the Jan. 6 committee is about defeating Republicans in November. See Jonathan Lemire on MSNBC, saying, “There is a hope among Democrats … that the Jan. 6 committee, which they soon hope to have prime-time hearings … will allow them to really paint Republicans as unfit for government.”
Cheney and Kinzinger were so anti-Trump that they joined Nancy Pelosi’s effort to defeat Republicans. But Avlon ranted that attacking them is “an Orwellian exercise designed to protect a cult-like cohesion around a party now committed to defending a lie. And that’s the real deal here, because the reason cults hunt down heretics is to try to make an example of them.”
Once again, this smack talk is strange coming from CNN, whose declining audience of fanatics wanted every dissenting conservative contributor like Rick Santorum dismissed from CNN, leaving only the occasional Kinzinger type to agree with everyone else.
One recent NBC News poll found 56% of Republicans now define themselves first as supporters of the Republican Party, compared with 36% who said they are supporters of Trump first. Trump’s appeal is fading with his backward-facing election denialism, and incessantly attacking Republicans as Trump cult members didn’t work in Virginia last year.
Can CNN really handle the dissolution of their “cult” narrative? Or will they keep their hourly obsession with Trump in their fervent belief that it’s an electoral silver bullet for Democrats?
Tim Graham is director of media analysis at the Media Research Center and executive editor of the blog NewsBusters.org. To find out more about Tim Graham and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2022 CREATORS.COM
Does anybody know why this site is putting out less content than usual?
Rumor has it that the Chinese have hired over 300,000 internet surfers to probe for any and all Conservative columns and debate points to lower the vote ratings in trolled votes, particularly that condemn the Chinese,,,and remove the ability to comment on places like Facebook and twitter, all as a pre-curser to corrupting the 2022 elections. I’ve gone to bed seeing 5 star ratings on several people’s conservative comments only to awaken next day with the scores lowered significantly.
Not at all surprised. I have seen a number of instances on here where comment ratings were obviously being tampered with.
I thought it was just me. I saw the same thing, but figured that the tide had turned on that comment. In the past on some comment sections on other sites I have seen where “commenters” have obviously ganged up to lower the TU ratings for a comment. This was usually regarding gays.
Not surprsing one bit. THIS site has long been plagued with a liberal that seems to just love going around and giving everyone one stars.
May 30th 2020,
“The CNN office in Atlanta was surrounded by scores of demonstrators earlier Friday, who vandalized the main entrance and set a police car on fire.
A number of armored vehicles and additional police reinforcements were brought in to back up the heavy police presence as the standoff continued outside the building, with dozens of heavily equipped officers protecting the entrance of the headquarters.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp called in National Guard units and declared an emergency to quell the riots and looting amid the ongoing unrest in Atlanta.”
I don’t recall seeing any coverage of this on CNN that day???? – Hypocrite Propagandists for the Democrat Party by a fake news media in definite need of a reality check.
BECAUSE TO THEM< that was just 'yet another peaceful protest'..
The Article Above Abput ” CNN’s ” rating Being In The Tank shoul Improve, ‘ Did n’t Chris Wallass Just Joined CNN. ??, That Should Help don’t you think .??
“Like a good (fake news) CNN employee, Avlon thinks Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger are the very best Republicans.”
“(RINO) Cheney and (RINO) Kinzinger were so anti-Trump that they joined Nancy Pelosi’s effort to defeat Republicans.”
Keep in mind that CNN is nothing but a treasonous, dishonest, unethical political propaganda outlet of the treasonous, dishonest, unethical, immoral, socialist Democrat Party.
Anyone who would watch/listen to and believe anything from CNN,
has the mentality of a crayon.
The Democrat Party wins most of their followers because they are ill-informed and/or low intellect. Democrat’s propaganda or narrative works on an emotional level, not on the intellect level.
the democrat party wins their followers by giving them free stuff and lots of welfare -and some minor power
such as passing bills to keep unions superior-
Scruffy_ U.S. N. _ Retired , Then, In Other Words, You Think Democrats, CNN Listeners Are Low Lifes ???
sotheseedsofliberty2: Are You a Democrat??
I did not write “You Think Democrats, CNN Listeners Are Low Lifes ???”
I wrote “Anyone who would watch/listen to and believe anything from CNN,
has the mentality of a crayon.”
Note:
To Democrats, Truth, Facts, Reality and History are all irrelevant,
If the Democrats do not WANT to believe them or they disagree with them.
Democrats will just make up their own, Truth, Facts, Reality, History to fit what they WANT to believe
or fits into the Con or Deception that they are running at the time.
YES they are..
These people are so immersed in lies and deception that they think it is the norm—the way for them to do business—they own it—it is their monopoly. Truth and fairness become the lie in their world—and they feel compelled to attack it at every opportunity.
Lying is SO INBRED into their DNA< they can't DO ANYTHING ELSE BUT lie constantly.
“Can CNN really handle the dissolution of their “cult” narrative? Or will they keep their hourly obsession with Trump in their fervent belief that it’s an electoral silver bullet for Democrats”? We Conservatives already know the answer to that question, as the MSM, including the Clinton News Network, are communists, so they are liars!!!
CNN has no sense of reality, just fantasy.
Wilddog
When, like the democrat elite, build their ” Sand castels on the Beaches, fantasy, Things Happen.!!
it was not that many years ago that CNN was caught red handed creating news instead of reporting it-
and they attempted to do the same thing along with NBC concerning the fake attack on the capitol building
jan 6 2021 -they were in the middle of having a leader of Antifa/Blm set up photoshots to make the protest seem like a full blown attack-
which it never was -no weapons no attacks -the only documented death from the protest — a protester was murdered in cold blood by a
member of nancy pelosi’s gestapo–
IF YOU or I had, faked up ‘evidence’ like they had done, WE WOULD ALREADY BE in jail.
BUT because “they are journalists” they get away with it.
God–if only Pence had not been such a wuss-as we see firsthand -he might have been able to keep america safe
and in capable hands-if there is anyone anywhere that believes the democrats actually won the 2020 election
they are surely in full blown alzheimer’s or a total criminal-
superstar1
Do you believe ” Pence , In Some Ways, Is Like democrat President Joe Biden.??
HE’s a rino, that’s for certain!
No but I do believe that he was born w/o balls. He is a weak wishy-washy simi-conservative. Nice man likely, but nice guys always finish last.
The biggest mistakes President Trump made was believing in people. Trusting people he had been told were good. Next time I hope he gets advice from people who can be trusted. I know that they got off to a rocky start during the campaign, but one person he can trust to the death is Ted Cruse. Yes I know they both want the same office but I think they would make a positive and powerful pair in 2024.