Social media users have been mocking CNN for its coverage of the violent unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the aftermath of the shooting of Jacob Blake, particularly for the network’s insistence that the situation can still be described as “peaceful.”
During CNN’s coverage on Tuesday evening, the network described the situation in a news chyron as “fiery but mostly peaceful” while a large blaze burned in the background.
You cannot make this up… A CNN reporter is standing in front of a building engulfed in flames and CNN’s chyron reads:
“FIERY BUT MOSTLY PEACEFUL PROTESTS AFTER POLICE SHOOTING” pic.twitter.com/4OHvKnh63u
— Kelb Hull (@CalebJHull) August 27, 2020
After footage of the CNN chyron started to circulate on Twitter, other users started posting their own versions to mock the network.
James Lindsay, co-author of the new anti-Leftist academia book “Cynical Theories,” posted a meme of the CNN reporter standing in front of the Titanic with the chyron: “Ocean Liner’s First Voyage Mostly Successful.”
CC @BridgetPhetasy, who dropped the joke about a “watery but mostly successful voyage” last night. One of her best. pic.twitter.com/46c6jW19fo
— James Lindsay, fiery but mostly peaceful (@ConceptualJames) August 27, 2020
In another tweet, Lindsay posted a meme with the chyron “Issues Arise In Mostly Structurally Sound Bridge,” with a collapsed bridge in the background.
CNN. Bridges. pic.twitter.com/F5rSbqpaUv
— James Lindsay, fiery but mostly peaceful (@ConceptualJames) August 27, 2020
Clayton Keirns, another user, commented on a news story about protestors setting up a guillotine outside the home of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos with a caption reading: “CNN: Guillotine would keep body ‘mostly’ intact.”
CNN: Guillotine would keep body ‘mostly’ intact https://t.co/1e6R6VqXlg
— Clayton Keirns (@CKeirns) August 27, 2020
In a satire piece titled “14 Mostly Accurate CNN Headlines From The Last 6,000 Years,” the Babylon Bee included a thumbnail with a chyron “Watery But Mostly Peaceful Flood Destroys Earth.”
14 Mostly Accurate CNN Headlines From The Last 6,000 Years Of Human History https://t.co/2hDXFaRHKw
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) August 27, 2020
Titania McGrath, a satirical social justice account, tweeted: “It is the mark of a healthy democracy that protestors are able to peacefully throw bricks at police and burn buildings in a peaceful way.”
Thank you @CNN for this impartial and cogent reportage.
It is the mark of a healthy democracy that protesters are able to peacefully throw bricks at police and burn buildings in a peaceful way. pic.twitter.com/mGpKtzGkK3
— Titania McGrath (@TitaniaMcGrath) August 27, 2020
Former Evergreen State Biology Professor Eric Weinstein, making an observation about the nature of the phrase “mostly peaceful,” tweeted: “‘2 + 2 = 5’ is to math as ‘mostly peaceful’ is to journalism as ‘some men menstruate’ is to biology as #shutdownstem is to the academy as ‘intent doesn’t matter’ is to the law as #BlackLivesMatter is to equality as #DefundThePolice is to society.”
‘2 + 2 = 5’ is to math as “mostly peaceful” is to journalism as “some men menstruate” is to biology as #shutdownstem is to the academy as “intent doesn’t matter” is to the law as #BlackLivesMatter is to equality as #DefundThePolice is to society
It’s about power. Time is short
— Bret Weinstein (@BretWeinstein) August 27, 2020