Last week, Jen Psaki said that the Biden administration “will maintain all existing travel restrictions at this point” (while doing absolutely nothing to curb the influx of migrants at our southern border).
Republican political consultant Ellen Carmichael is one of many Americans struggling to understand the scientific reasoning behind that decision. Carmichael’s Austrian in-laws have yet to meet her baby daughter, and her family is heartbroken.
So when Fox News’ Bret Baier solicited questions on Twitter for his interview with CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, Carmichael offered up a question about the travel restrictions:
Tonight on #SpecialReport I’ll sit down with @CDCDirector Dr. Rochelle Walensky & I’m looking for your questions. Submit them on camera here by replying to this tweet on Twitter & you may just end up on @FoxNews.
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) July 30, 2021
Bret, I’d like to know the scientific rationale for the continued ban on EU visitors, while immigrants and visitors alike from countries with far greater COVID spread and far worse vaccine administration are able to come here.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 30, 2021
Little did Carmichael realize when she asked that question that she was about to kick the mother of all hornet’s nests.
See, Baier asked her question to Walensky, and Area Expert™ Tom Nichols was absolutely beside himself:
Honest to God, @BretBaier is now asking @CDCDirector “how come people in Austria can’t come to visit their grandchildren while illegal immigrants are pouring in over the border” and saying that the high Covid rates in the south are because of illegal immigrants. Right on brand.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 30, 2021
Being pissed off about someone making a valid point is right on brand for Tom Nichols.
Bret Baier publicly solicited questions. It's right there on his timeline. Several people including me replied to him. He picked her question about immigration but again, like I said I can see how appearing on conspiracist Joy Reid's show has rubbed off on you. https://t.co/cREfoKUABJ
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) August 2, 2021
A question from a political consultant whose identity he turned into "a viewer" and then – according to *her* – added material to the question that wasn't hers. Then he said "hey, I'm just asking what our viewers are asking."
Well done, media watchdog! https://t.co/AgFflqhmZ6— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) August 2, 2021
They keep saying that who it came from doesn’t matter while completely ignoring the part where Baier lied about it. “This question from a Republican consultant is completely valid, that’s why I lied about who I got it from.”
— Bob Sampson (@bobsalpha1) August 2, 2021
All you need to understand that freak-out from the defenders of that Fox segment a few days ago is to replace "GOP consultant" with "Democratic consultant" and change "Fox" to "MSNBC," and then ask what those same people would have said about it.
They went nuts because they know. https://t.co/lu8BmsoYGH— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) August 2, 2021
Who went nuts, Tom?
Baier was understandably puzzled as to why Nichols was getting so bent out of shape:
I asked a lot of questions Tom-that 1 was from a viewer who was concerned about migrants coming across the southern border while restrictions prevent their family from getting together. Honest to God-a real viewer q. Right on brand -all sides of an issue. Thanks for watching https://t.co/T20oaSSrHq
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) July 30, 2021
Baier did nothing wrong. Nor did Carmichael, who never tried to mislead anyone with her question.
It was me. #LoveIsNotTourism https://t.co/3C7zMNiUfV
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 30, 2021
Note: my note to Bret was about Europeans not being allowed in while people are coming from countries that had worse vaccination administration rates and more prevalence of COVID-19…
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 30, 2021
It was a good question. Carmichael has nothing to apologize for.
Nichols, on the other hand …
Since this has come up again, just a reminder that the GOP consultant who landed this question – described by Baier as "a real viewer question," later said that the stuff about the southern border was not in her question. https://t.co/e3E8svjYRu
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) August 2, 2021
Saying something that is technically true while leaving out additional facts and context with the obvious intent of misleading the viewer is sneaky and unethical. Period. If you cannot grasp that, I don't know what to tell you. Use your critical thinking skills.
— PissedOffLawyer (@PissedOffLawyer) July 31, 2021
Yes, but the point is to command the viewer's unthinking assent by implying that "many ordinary people are thinking this. The goal, of course, is to lodge that association in the viewer's head and *get* ordinary people thinking this.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 31, 2021
So, regular people can’t have the same concerns as a political consultant? That’s an awfully elitist attitude, Tom.
I mean, if you’re concerned about integrity on cable news, I’d steer clear of appearing on Joy Reid’s show, but if you want to take cheap shots at Bret Baier, go off.
— Jay Caruso (@JayCaruso) July 31, 2021
I identified a Zito-like case of a "News" broadcast laundering a professional GOP consultant as "an ordinary viewer" in order to say "this is a question that many ordinary people have."
Jay is very upset that someone noticed. https://t.co/BKflCNL3L1— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 31, 2021
(Tom’s referring to Salena Zito, whom he’s accused of fabricating sources and stories. Nichols has also complained about a recent Zito story for which she interviewed Bethany Mandel, because apparently the fact that Mandel is married to Washington Examiner editor Seth Mandel and therefore can’t have widely shared opinions on parenting and homeschooling.)
I know. No one other than Ellen Carmichael is asking about banned travel from Europe. https://t.co/SBR3v3ivV2
— Jay Caruso (@JayCaruso) July 31, 2021
Just because Tom Nichols doesn’t care doesn’t mean no one else does.
I happen to know the person who asked this question. It is a real and outrageous situation and the fact that Tom would make light of it in an effort to score imaginary political points is horrible. https://t.co/VTVSaWa2au
— Will Upton (@wupton) July 30, 2021
Will knows the person because it was a conservative writer and consultant who fed the question to Fox. This, apparently, somehow makes it logical to link illegal immigration with travel bans during a pandemic – and not at all just the usual red-meat, nativist bullshit from Fox. https://t.co/EYxkliEueO
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 31, 2021
I also know Ellen, and you're making an ass of yourself.
— CJ Ciaramella (@cjciaramella) July 31, 2021
As big an ass as I would be if I planted a question on a news show and then ratted out the host – who made it seem like a random viewer – for making the question seem nastier than the one I planted? Because that's some top strategering there.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 31, 2021
Tom’s tinfoil hat must be cutting off the circulation to his brain. This is approaching Alex Jones-level conspiracy theorizing.
So, for those keeping tabs on tonight's @FoxNews soap opera:@BretBaier claims to read a random viewer question that links travel bans and illegal immigration@ellencarmichael admits it was her, not a random viewer – i.e., a planted question, but not about immigration
/1
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 31, 2021
Baier, apparently not realizing Carmichael has already owned the planted question and said so publicly on Twitter, doubles down:
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 31, 2021
Carmichael, unfortunately, now inadvertently rats out Baier – or whoever tacked on the immigration bullshit – and plays the victim (which is a very savvy political consultant move, I guess).
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 31, 2021
At this point, Carmichael's friend @wupton white-knights his way over to say: No, no, she's really raising this question, and it's a good thing to ask, because it's legit (even though she just said it wasn't in her original question).
/4https://t.co/68gP9WbUlT— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 31, 2021
As this devolves into people all frantically trying to extricate themselves from a bad planted question while "Yakety Sax" plays, Will remembers when I smoked cigars with him in the days before The Federalist spoke up for Roy Moore.
/5https://t.co/wDWeLR2ija— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 31, 2021
So, to recap, Baier asked a planted question, added something the person who planted it claims she didn't intend, while a friend of the planter then says she *did* intend it. Top professionals on display, and this the final and cutting response.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 31, 2021
For those keeping tabs on Tom Nichols, he’s creepily fixated on a woman who wants her family to stop being kept apart by arbitrary rules with no scientific basis.
You need to let go, Tom. I did nothing wrong. I am able to ask a question of my government via a reporter soliciting public input for questions, the same as anyone else from any profession could. My tweet had a ton of replies from other #LoveIsNotTourism families asking, too. https://t.co/FFboS7AVzl
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 31, 2021
We are all in this miserable, frustrating boat. We are trying our best with whatever tools we have to get the word out about this travel ban. Stop using me to make a point about Fox. It’s late. Just give it up.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 31, 2021
Well, to be fair, Tom Nichols literally has nothing better to do with his time.
I have written about, tweeted about and even am organizing efforts to try to reverse this policy because it directly harms my family.
What does my profession have ANYTHING to do with this?
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 31, 2021
Her profession has nothing to do with it. Which is why Tom’s making such a big deal out of it. He’s desperate.
Will knows the person (me) because he is a personal friend.
My activism for #LoveIsNotTourism is in my freaking bio. It’s my pinned tweet. I tweeted Bret publicly and others in our situation sent tweets. I don’t know how you can insinuate this was some nefarious thing. (1/2) https://t.co/2BfNkuAtao
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 31, 2021
I didn’t bring up illegal immigration. The fact, however, is that Europe has far more robust testing and vaccination efforts (and lower incidence of COVID) than other countries whose citizens CAN come to America, like Turkey and Indonesia. It’s unscientific and cruel. (2/2)
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 31, 2021
The derisive way he was talking about my in-laws – and implicitly, my 6-month-old daughter, is noted, though.
I wouldn’t wish this situation on my worst enemy. To mock us – or use it as a way to dunk on Republicans or Fox News or whatever – is incredibly screwed up.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 31, 2021
“Incredibly screwed up.” That’s Tom Nichols in a nutshell.
I, along with others in the #LoveIsNotTourism movement, publicly tweeted him, you numbskull. There is nothing nefarious about this. We want to reunite with our family kept apart by an unscientific, cruel travel ban. What is wrong with you???? https://t.co/fuiST5S7BB
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 31, 2021
Planting a question by asking it publicly on Twitter – along with dozens of other people in the #LoveIsNotTourism movement.
Disgusting. https://t.co/EhJiai597Z pic.twitter.com/rABCmph5gY
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 31, 2021
Say, @ellencarmichael, you're a professional political consultant. @BretBaier described you as "a viewer."
If a show on MSNBC had a "a viewer" question lobbed at a Trump official, and it turned out I wrote it, you'd totally say it was disgusting to call it out, right? https://t.co/dEoyBoLbaP— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 31, 2021
I tweeted him as the mother of a 6-month-old whose European relatives cannot come to America to see her. I have no professional stake here whatsoever. Your implication that I behaved unethically by tweeting a question to ask my government official is preposterous. https://t.co/K6VJM3E79J
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 31, 2021
It’s so sad that someone wouldn’t assume that a mother would love her child and her in-laws so much that she’d spend day and night trying to find ways to change public policy so their family can be reunited. I’m using my platform to help others in the same situation too!
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 31, 2021
Tom wouldn’t know about using his platform to help anyone.
Has anyone brought up the point that any question submitted through Twitter would not likely pass @RadioFreeTom’s “average viewer” test since most people on Twitter talking about politics are hyper partisan and many work in politics?
— LorieByrd (@LorieByrd) July 31, 2021
Meh. I think it's okay to take stuff from Twitter. It's not okay for a news network to scrub that same stuff from a political consultant and then present it as "man on the street" opinion from someone whose job is to shape opinion. That's a no-no.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 31, 2021
He just can’t stop.
I didn't say you behaved unethically, @ellencarmichael. I said @BretBaier laundered your question as if you were a random viewer, which is a no-no. You're not. But yes, you're the victim here, not the viewers who had no idea they were getting played by @FoxNews. https://t.co/IOi3eb1bW3
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 31, 2021
Man, what a look for you dude.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) July 31, 2021
Oh, it’s definitely a look.
No, I’d say my 6-month-old baby girl, her wonderful Austrian grandparents and all those suffering under a cruel, unscientific, illogical travel ban on Europeans are the real victims.
Tom, I hope that whatever is so clearly troubling you is remedied soon. This is very sad. https://t.co/6pal9O1VvQ
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 31, 2021
Hi, @ellencarmichael. This isn't about travel policy, or you, or your child. It's about Fox's craptacular attempt to launder a GOP consultant's "question" as part of an interview with Wallensky. I was pointing my criticism at Fox; only *you* keep trying to make it about you. https://t.co/KzsJCSfQJ1
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 31, 2021
So…your gripe is not the question, but who asked the question? What difference would it have made if @BretBaier identified her as a political consultant? Was the question valid or not, Tom? https://t.co/YlB0iugVPz
— Jay Caruso (@JayCaruso) July 31, 2021
Correct. Well, and also, that Baiee added an inflammatory linking of two issues that the original questioner says did not have in the question – which that we would not have known because the question was laundered through the host. https://t.co/qIvLRlc7ir
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 31, 2021
Tom: This has nothing to do with you, Ellen!
Tom: This has everything to do with Ellen. https://t.co/urh74K6eyK
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 31, 2021
For a guy whose beef is not with Ellen Carmichael, Tom Nichols sure has spent a lot of time talking about Ellen Carmichael.
Like, a lot of time:
My God, he’s STILL talking about me because I had the nerve to publicly tweet a question about the EU travel ban that deeply affects my family to a reporter who was asking the CDC director questions from viewers. It’s been more than a day, and he just keeps going. pic.twitter.com/EFrJiPntsj
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) August 1, 2021
I do political/policy PR on totally unrelated topics so I’m therefore ineligible to petition my government on this one that impacts my family. When I chose this profession, I ceased to have any identity outside of it, I guess. This is some loony tunes stuff.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) August 1, 2021
Loony tunes is right:
Have just been notified that he’s on day 3 of talking about me #BloomWhereYoureLaunderedandPlanted pic.twitter.com/MUv15aMssw
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) August 2, 2021
Three. Days.
I feel sorry for him. Someone of his age and self-declared credentials spends all day – and night – being a jerk online. As you pointed out, he is drawing attention to this cruel, unscientific travel ban, so I can’t be that mad about it.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) August 1, 2021
Tom drawing attention to the travel ban’s cruelty is definitely a silver lining. As is Tom drawing attention to his awfulness — it’s important that as many people as possible realize what kind of person he is.
I promise I’ll stop talking about the EU travel ban… when they reverse it.
Sorry everybody else!
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 31, 2021
Sorry most of all to Tom Nichols, who, no matter how far he’s fallen, can always find a deeper bottom to the barrel.
***
Update:
‘Hi Tom’! @redsteeze backs conspiracy theorist and projection artist Tom Nichols into a moral and intellectual corner https://t.co/JCFkLsEGUr
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) August 2, 2021
