I sometimes think that the least self-aware people in the entire country are reporters on the major news media.
A few months ago, I read an article from CNN politics claiming that Donald Trump’s most lasting, damaging, legacy was his attack on the major news media. The money line was this
“His six years in public life are littered with just that sort of over-the-top rhetoric, with few actual facts to back his wild claims up.”
Read that again, “with few actual facts to back his wild claims up.” Does CNN have any self-awareness at all? The list of documented and proven lies by CNN, NPR, MSNBC, etc. is longer than the flight from Washington to Kabul. Here are six things CNN lied about, and this was with only about 10 seconds thought:
- Russia Collusion.
- Michael Flynn.
- Quid-pro-Quo/Ukraine/impeachment number one.
- Kavanaugh accusations.
- Hunter Biden.
- Brian Sicknick
CNN not only had few “actual facts”, they reported outright lies as “actual facts.” It wasn’t Trump that was short on facts, it was CNN.
After reading the above article, I decided to do a little research. I decided to look at the oft reported claim that Trump told 30,000 lies while in office. I strongly suspect this is vastly exaggerated, so let’s examine the “actual facts” to back up our “wild claim” of vast exaggeration.
Going to a google search, we find where the lies are supposedly documented. The first claimed lie is this: Trump stated that the “US built the best economy in the history of the world under his watch” 493 times. First, of course, this is obviously an opinion and not actually subject to fact checking. If a Democrat had said this, the accuracy would never have been even discussed. So just the fact that they chose to fact-check it proves they are biased against Trump. But let’s look at it.
During the Trump’s presidency the US reached the lowest unemployment rates on record. That’s one measure of a good economy. He also had the lowest black unemployment rate on record, another measure. And the US has one of the highest standards of living of any country in the world. That’s another measure. That is three measures of the economy that support Trump’s statement. The so-called fact check looked at a single metric, growth rate, calling Trump’s opinion a lie solely because of the growth rate numbers. At this point, not only do we know that the first 500 (493) claims are opinions and not subject to fact checking, but the opinion can even be claimed to be objectively true. We are halfway there.
Next, Trump said he gave the largest tax cut in US history. Once again, obviously an opinion. Repeated 296 times according to our source. Well, in dollar amounts it was the largest tax cut I ever had, and probably for many others. The Post bases their claim of a lie solely on the percent of GDP numbers. They must have searched desperately to find a reason to claim this one was a lie, and GDP was the only thing they could find. This one is easy, yes, its an opinion, and its also objectively true. Now we are at 800, or 789 to be exact.
Finally, Trump said 258 times that the border was very tight, and the wall was being rapidly built. Once again, an opinion that cannot be fact checked. The reason the post said it was false? Because only 40 miles of wall had been built. Ignoring the tightening of control on the border, ending DACA, and the other rules he put in place to control the border. Not to mention the fact that Trump clearly said it was in the process of being built. The supposed fact check on this is simply an expression of ignorance by the Post. Ok, we are now over 1000, and each time we have shown that it is the media that is lying, not Trump.
You may ask why I kept putting the exact numbers in parenthesis in the analysis above. Well, that was to show another common fact checking scam. Trump would often round up, as all politicians do. Trump may have said that 80% of taxpayers saw a tax cut, when the actual number was 78%. The press routinely called the 80% number a lie when everyone else would simply call it rounding.
Now, if you look at the web site, those are the first three claims on the site, and they total over 1000 statements by President Trump. The Post is zero for one thousand, and by reasonable extrapolation, it could easily be zero for thirty thousand. Who exactly was making “wild claims” with “few actual facts to back it up?” Yes, every major media that has repeated the “30000 lie” claim, I am calling you out.
At this point the real question is, why does anyone believe CNN anymore? Well that answer is obvious: CNN appeals to their bias. There is a group in this country, primarily extreme leftists though there are a few on the right also, that believe that any lie is justified if it can be used to attack your enemy. And of course, this is a lesson we learned from Nazi Germany. Repeat a lie often enough and people believe it. Thankfully, the small fraction of the people that follow CNN is decreasing. Their ratings are worse every month.
CNN and the other media continue their games, blithely unaware of, or uncaring that no one believes them. Perhaps this was the inevitable result of the 24-hour news cycle. Sensationalism after all draws an audience. And in the real world, actual facts are usually boring. But the damage to this country is being done by CNN and its fellow travelers, it was not done by Trump. When CNN routinely lies about anyone whom they disagree with politically, they lose any sort of credibility.
One key fallout of the Trump presidency was the realization that the FBI routinely commits perjury. The Ted Stevens persecution was not an anomaly, it was business as usual. The job of CNN and the Post should be to investigate and report on the FBI misconduct. Their job is not to act simply as a PR office for the Democrat party. By spending hours looking for an excuse to call statements by Republicans lies, while ignoring actual criminal lies by the “most respected law enforcement organization in the US”, CNN creates a long-lasting and damaging legacy.
CODA:
The major media continue to wonder where all the vaccine hesitancy comes from. And why people don’t believe their reporting on COVID. My question is, why would they believe anything the major media reports? It took many years to go from Walter Cronkite to our current situation, but the only place for the major media should look for blame is the mirror.
If you enjoyed this article, then please REPOST or SHARE with others; encourage them to follow AFNN
Truth Social: @AFNN_USA
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/afnnusa
Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/2_-GAzcXmIRjODNh
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfnnUsa
GETTR: https://gettr.com/user/AFNN_USA
CloutHub: AFNN_USA