CNN’s Brian Stelter wasn’t “Facts First” when he tweeted: “Pete Hegseth reverting to his fake-news routine in today’s Pentagon presser.” What’s fake? “The press only wants to make the president look bad.” Does Stelter watch CNN? Or maybe it was the rest of the phrase “try for once to report the reality.”
Jim Acosta also trashed Hegseth on X: “Even though the briefing room was filled with his MAGA buddies, Hegseth still resorted to Fox MAGA talking points to bash the press.” And: “Stocking these Pentagon briefings with MAGA ringers is an absolute disgrace. This is what state TV looks like.”
This was also Acosta: “Lindell TV, the Daily Wire, Gateway Pundit, Tim Pool. These are the ‘outlets’ asking ‘questions’ at a Pentagon briefing on a war. How are the American people served by this?”
MRC Free Speech America associate editor Luis Cornelio and MRC Government Affairs Manager Jerris Jackson joined the show.
Mary Margaret Olohan at the Daily Wire noted the War Department approved these outlets for the presser: ABC, CBS, NBC, MS NOW, Fox News, Newsmax, The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Time, Reuters, and Bloomberg.
Stelter kept complaining: “Most of the questions at the Pentagon briefing came from right-wing outlets like The Daily Wire and LindellTV that have little experience covering the military. Hegseth did field a Q from the BBC, though; he seemed to pick the reporter based on the tie the reporter was wearing.”
At the White House briefing, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Karoline Leavitt: “You just mentioned the President is going to attend the dignified transfer for these families. Given what Secretary Hegseth said this morning, is it the position of this administration that the press should not prominently cover the deaths of U.S. service members?” Leavitt appropriately told her off.
We also discuss our Bill D’Agostino’s latest study, on how CNN and MS NOW lightly covered the mass shooting outside a bar in Austin, Texas. Over three days, these two networks only covered this story for about 30 minutes combined. Diagne’s status as a naturalized citizen from Senegal was brought up five times, and his “Property of Allah” hoodie saw three mentions. But even with those references to the obvious religious messaging on his clothing, nobody on CNN of MS NOW could bring themselves to utter the words “Muslim” or “Islam.”
Finally, there’s the usual disparity in hearings coverage. The House Republicans grilling Gov. Tim Walz on Somali fraud are going to get ignored. House Republicans and Democrats jointly grilling Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was not ignored. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem testified. Online, ABC centered Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.): “You’ve turned our government against our people, and you’ve turned our people against our government.” Democrats always translate “illegal aliens” into “our people,” “our neighbors,” and even “Americans.”
Enjoy the podcast below on video. Or listen to the audio here.
