The American corporate media, while almost always an embarrassment to actual journalism, has had a particularly rough go of it in recent weeks. It has gotten to the point where we are no longer surprised at anything they say and write. We just chuckle and channel our inner Ronald Reagan:
We miss The Gipper these days.
The media's latest attempt at 'making yellow journalism great again' comes courtesy of CNN, who tried to report on a story about yet two MORE states where they are trying to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot. You know, to 'protect' democracy.
Looking at the headline in this tweet, you'd think people all over the states of Illinois and Massachusetts are rising up against the Bad Orange Man.
Voters in Illinois and Massachusetts seek to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 primary ballot based on the "insurrectionist clause" https://t.co/GZtiMawQBJ
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) January 4, 2024
Except ... yeah, not so much.
Just a cursory examination of the facts here shows that the petitions in both states are not a grassroots voter movement, but instead a coordinated attack from one far-left activist group, Free Speech for People (yes, we laughed at the irony of the group's name too).
But it gets even better. The 'groups of voters' CNN refers to in Illinois? It was five people. Not 5,000. Not 500. Not even 50.
Five.
Five voters.
— The🐰FOO (@PolitiBunny) January 5, 2024
Saved you a click. https://t.co/SlPdldc7Ls
Sounds a lot more like astroturf to us than grassroots.
"One obscure progressive activist group seeks to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 primary ballot in Illinois and Massachusetts"
— Straight FYAH! (@comediacity) January 4, 2024
Fixed it for you. https://t.co/Zydeuthq4f
Recommended
Voters my ass. Stop lying (we know you can’t). https://t.co/OMOJtYh6Vr pic.twitter.com/aJT7DGiybj
— Leslie ن 🇺🇸☦️ (@LADowd) January 5, 2024
We don't know who the five rubes are that Free Speech for People (sorry, we're still laughing at the name) roped into signing the petition, but the organization's signatories to the petition include Ron Fein, who is a regular liberal commenter on CNN and MSNBC and has written many anti-Trump op-eds for The Washington Post; the organization's president Ben Clements, another MSNBC regular; pro-Palestinian advocate and attorney Amira Mattar; ex-ACLU attorney Courtney Hostetler; and founder John Bonifaz, a former failed Democrat candidate for office in Massachusetts who has written articles with Trump impeachment manager Jamie Raskin. Fein, Clements, and Bonifaz actually wrote a book together demanding the impeachment of Trump.
But sure. They're 'non-partisan.' (By the way, guess how many of them went to Ivy League universities.)
We suppose CNN wasn't interested in their backgrounds though.
Voters? Really? pic.twitter.com/nXIYpBgvnl
— Psalm 109:8 (@TweetShaming21) January 5, 2024
Nothing says democracy like removing your political opponents from the ballot.
— Charlie Murphy (@charliem1975) January 5, 2024
We don't expect Free Speech for People (yep, haven't stopped laughing at that) to take that into account. They're leftist activists, doing what leftist activists do.
But the fact that CNN and the rest of the corporate media aren't aghast at this -- are, in fact, implicitly supporting it -- tells you everything you need to know about them.
— MoneyPenny700 (@MoneyPenny700) January 5, 2024
They certainly are.
You mean politicians not voters.
— MAGA AMERICAN! (@JDSolly1) January 5, 2024
In fairness, no one at Free Speech for People (still ... LOL) is an actual politician, at least not a successful one. But they certainly don't represent voters, given that they could only get five of them in Illinois.
But that's the CNN game. Technically, their headline is correct. The five people who signed the petition ARE registered voters in Illinois. We are sure CNN's liability lawyers took a good, long look at that wording.
But you can be 'technically correct' and still be lying. Outlets like CNN have made a horrific art form of it.
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