Apologies for all the Brian Stelter-centric posts today, but the hits just keep coming.
Earlier this morning, Media Matters rapid response guru Bobby Lewis shared this stunning video of Fox News contributor Bill Bennett comparing COVID19 to the flu and saying that the COVID19 pandemic “was not and is not a pandemic”:
Fox News contributor Bill Bennett compares coronavirus to the flu, claiming that "this was not and is not a pandemic." pic.twitter.com/Q4oBcXKISV
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) April 13, 2020
CNN’s Brian Stelter, who, like Bobby Lewis, has also made a career out of watching Fox News, couldn’t believe what he was hearing:
What the hell? Words have meanings. This IS a "pandemic" and Covid-19 is not the "flu." Fox execs know that — so why did this air? Deeply irresponsible. https://t.co/w2qAx29hl3
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 13, 2020
Search for Bill Bennett's name on this site, and you'll see "Fox & Friends" viewers cheering him on. And that's the real problem. This show provides a permission structure for ignorance.
Read this story from Fox's sister company, the WSJ, instead ??https://t.co/bkiz6yqFIT
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 13, 2020
Well, we technically shouldn’t say that Stelter couldn’t believe what he was hearing, since he evidently didn’t listen to the the audio portion of the video Lewis posted:
YOU LIBERAL HACK
If you actually played the video instead of taking Media Matters' word for it you'd see Kilmeade corrects him saying "it is labeled a pandemic" in this clip.
"Reliable Sources" jfc https://t.co/usr17umQFJ
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) April 13, 2020
We listened, unlike Brian, and Kilmeade indeed corrected Bennett on the “pandemic” point. But Brian Stelter’s not the type of firefighter to let the truth get in the way of his narrative.
Brian Stelter just airing Media Matters clips now. https://t.co/PPI1AKndiF
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) April 13, 2020
