On Thursday, CNN’s Chris Cillizza unloaded on President Trump for refusing to talk about Russian interference in the American election. But his choice of words raised some eyebrows – for good reason. Here’s what he tweeted:
Cillizza was presumably referring to Trump’s comments during a press conference in Poland, where Trump said, “it could have been other people in other countries,” adding, “no one really knows for sure…I think it very well could be Russia but I think it could very well have been other countries. I think a lot of people interfere.” He continued:
I think it was Russia but I think it was probably other people and or countries. I see nothing wrong with that statement….I remember when I was sitting back listening about Iraq, weapons of mass destruction, how everybody was 100% certain that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. Guess what? That led to one big mess. They were wrong and it led to a mess.
Granted, this is dumb stuff. The CIA, FBI, and NSA all agree that Russia meddled in the American election. But Cillizza’s contention – that Russia “hacked” the election – is outright false. There is no evidence that Russia hacked any election votes; the only suggestion is that Russia used Wikileaks as a front in order to hack the Democratic National Committee.
But that hasn’t stopped the media’s pro-Hillary narrative. In an attempt to blame Hillary’s loss not on her own incompetence, but on some nefarious collusion, the media have exaggerated claims about Trump and Russia. And now they’re angry that Trump won’t repeat those exaggerated claims. It’s difficult to rip Trump for lying when you’re lying about the situation, too. It’s also difficult to claim that Trump is in Vladimir Putin’s pocket when Trump is reinstituting missile defense in Poland and condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine and Syria.
But no task is too tough for the objective reporters at CNN.