We’ve heard from investigative journalist Lesley Stahl that the Hunter Biden emails just can’t be verified because … they just can’t. Never mind that people named in the emails found on that abandoned laptop aren’t denying they’re real. Plenty have noted that the Steele dossier was never verified and that didn’t seem to stop anyone reporting on it.
Drew Holden has once again put together an excellent thread naming and shaming those media outlets that pushed the Russian collusion story but either dismiss the Hunter Biden story or, in NPR’s case, flat-out refuse to waste their listeners’ time by covering it.
?Hypocrisy Warning?
New evidence of Biden family corruption has led media outlets to suddenly worry about pushing unverified allegations as facts.
Anyone who remembers the Steele dossier knows that, for these Hypocrisy Hall of Famers, such concerns only apply to one side.
— Drew 'Full, Fair and Contextual' Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 22, 2020
Leading the pack is @NPR. Not only have they refused to cover the Joe & Hunter Biden email scandal, they put out an editors note saying they “don’t want to waste…time on stories that are just pure distraction.”
Compare that to the clickbait headline for Steele. Amazing. pic.twitter.com/LVmSriZSvE
— Drew 'Full, Fair and Contextual' Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 22, 2020
Not to be outdone, @CNN’s @brianstelter called the Post’s reporting unverified and “manufactured.”
This is pretty rich from an outlet that had disgraced lawyer Bruce Ohr on to push salacious and unverified allegations from the Steele dossier. pic.twitter.com/lryIyQiPF9
— Drew 'Full, Fair and Contextual' Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 22, 2020
Bruce Ohr? Whose wife Nellie Ohr was working as a contractor for Fusion GPS? That’s Mr. “Reliable Sources” for you.
The Times was a competitor for a top spot. You may remember that, back in 2017, even Jim Comey disputed the Times’ coverage on Steele & Russia.
On the Bidens? In 2019 they “debunked” the “viral rumor” that Hunter had problematic foreign business relationships. Oof. pic.twitter.com/BdqDjmQw9e
— Drew 'Full, Fair and Contextual' Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 22, 2020
What the #HypocrisyHOF voters look for is reach and egregiousness. What Rolling Stone may lack in the former, it makes up for in the latter here. From the outraged defense of Hunter, to hyping up the Steele dossier, @RollingStone is a formidable inductee. pic.twitter.com/ghwX0W9U3H
— Drew 'Full, Fair and Contextual' Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 22, 2020
While you may think that “debunking” was an isolated incident, @NBCNews called the since-confirmed Biden allegations “a baseless conspiracy.”
On Steele? Kid you not, NBC had a straight news headline: “Christopher Steele, Trump Dossier Author, Is a Real-Life James Bond” pic.twitter.com/5FZVsWD5CF
— Drew 'Full, Fair and Contextual' Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 22, 2020
The media really had an infatuation with Steele. @CBSNews had a straight news headline calling him “a cool operator” (!) back in 2017.
For Hunter? All of a sudden CBS wants to bump the breaks and proceed with caution about his “alleged” laptop. Curious how that works. pic.twitter.com/7jLeLX2NtF
— Drew 'Full, Fair and Contextual' Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 22, 2020
Christopher Steele … cool operator and a real-life James Bond.
We’ll add a couple of honorable mentions, too, but wanted to set apart the best of the best for the #HypocrisyHOF.
And all jokes aside, this kind of bias is untenable. We can’t have a media that has two sets of standards for stories that fit their narrative & those that don’t.
— Drew 'Full, Fair and Contextual' Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 22, 2020
A lot of outlets have A LOT of egg on their faces for this, and from the smears and lies advanced during the “Russian collusion” saga.
I wish they would understand the way that these sorts of things obliterate their credibility for millions of Americans.
— Drew 'Full, Fair and Contextual' Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 22, 2020
Their credibility has already been obliterated.
Related:
‘Circle those wagons’! Rolling Stone’s attempt to slam ‘vile, baseless conspiracy theories’ about Biden & Son is a huge FAIL https://t.co/HUg7d1Ywhn
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) October 22, 2020
