As previously reported, Rachel Maddow called for networks to stop broadcasting the daily White House Coronavirus Press briefings. Now, according to a Daily Beast article released yesterday, MSNBC and CNN said that “going forward, they will be ready to cut away from the briefings when newsworthy facts and figures—usually shared by federal public-health officials such as Dr. Anthony Fauci—give way to unsupported presidential speculation and outright falsehoods.”
This morning, Eric Trump took to Twitter to lash out at those companies saying, “NBC, CNN and others say they will likely stop broadcasting @realDonaldTrump virus briefings. This is truly sick in the time of national emergency and once again tells you everything you need to know about the #MSM. #JournalismIsDead“
NBC, CNN and others say they will likely stop broadcasting @realDonaldTrump virus briefings. This is truly sick in the time of national emergency and once again tells you everything you need to know about the #MSM. #JournalismIsDead
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) March 26, 2020
Also included in the Daily Beast article was the fact that both MSNBC and CNN had cut away from Monday’s briefing. On Monday, both CNN and MSNBC cut away from Trump’s unusually lengthy briefing after an hour, while the Fox News Channel continued to carry it until the end.
One CNN employee went further with it, saying, “Of course they did, and yesterday [Tuesday] they produced a propaganda show”—a reference to the Fox News town hall with President Trump in which anchor Bill Hemmer, with the president in the White House Rose Garden, and Harris Faulkner in her makeshift home studio, asked him a series of “softball questions.”
The piece goes on to lament the fact that, “their ratings have never been higher, and viewers’ appetites for the live sessions have shown no signs of dwindling. On the other hand, journalists and executives at MSNBC, CNN and the often Trump-friendly Fox News—which scored an impressive 6.2 million viewers for Sunday’s installment of the Trump show, according to Nielsen—are increasingly facing the likelihood that they are becoming an uncritical and unvetted transmission belt for propaganda and misinformation.”
As one user on Twitter pointed out in response to Eric Trump, “They’re only stopping b/c his polls numbers are going up.” A Gallup poll found that his approval rating is up to 49% and that 60% approve of his response to the Coronavirus.
They’re only stopping b/c his polls numbers are going up
— Rogan O’Handley ?? (@DC_Draino) March 26, 2020
Maddow now accuses President Trump of “spreading misinformation”. She recently tweeted, “During these briefings, Trump has lied that the virus is ‘something that we have tremendous control over’. He has promoted an unproven drug treatment. He is spreading misinformation that could actually put people’s lives in danger.”
“During these briefings, Trump has lied that the virus is ‘something that we have tremendous control over’.”
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) March 24, 2020
“He has promoted an unproven drug treatment.”
“He is spreading misinformation that could actually put people’s lives in danger.”https://t.co/mRyZwodeHL
It seems unbelievable that the media thinks they can get away with all this, but as the polls show, more American people are starting to wise up to their tactics. In a time of national crisis, it is important for the President to be visible and offering guidance with members of the Coronavirus Task Force present.
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