On Monday, as President Trump highlighted in his coronavirus press briefing the way media coverage of his administration has been biased, the network decided to mock Trump consistently by running chyrons at the bottom of the screen full of scorn and vitriol.
Trump used part of the briefing to air a video showing how the media had unfairly criticized him.
Fox News noted, “CNN host John King quickly called it ‘propaganda,’ which became the phrase du jour for the network during a series of events that one former network employee said proved it has officially become ‘Leftist State Media.’ … Brian Stelter called it ‘nothing short of disgraceful,’ Jim Acosta accused Trump of having a ‘total meltdown’ and Don Lemon said Trump’s briefing was ‘the height of narcissism.’”
CNN cut away from the briefing, but when they returned, here are some examples of the snarky comments they made:
“Trump melts down in angry response to reports he ignored virus warnings.”
“Trump refuses to acknowledge any mistakes.”
“Trump uses task force briefing to try and rewrite history on coronavirus response.”
“Angry Trump turns briefing into propaganda session.”
Four banners on @CNN over the last five minutes … pic.twitter.com/UBxpCcY2vl
— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) April 13, 2020
Members of the Left were delighted:
Chyron on point today CNN. pic.twitter.com/P5t6l1anjH
— Symone D. Sanders (@SymoneDSanders) April 13, 2020
Comedian W. Kamau Bell, who once described President Trump as “an orange wolf at the door with tiny paws”:
CNN Chyron person has had enough. 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿 pic.twitter.com/EXq98tIkIl
— W. Kamau Bell (@wkamaubell) April 13, 2020
A writer who has been associated with Politico, The Hollywood Reporter and insulted Ivanka Trump after she issued a tweet celebrating Passover:
A CNN chyron for the ages pic.twitter.com/TlMlZlc4je
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) April 13, 2020
A self-described NY Times contributing op-ed writer and CNN contributor:
.@CNN Chyron writers, I salute you, colleagues. I salute you.
— Wajahat "Social Distance Yourself" Ali (@WajahatAli) April 13, 2020
But CNN was slammed by others, including former CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien, who wrote, “Honestly, these chyrons are a mess. They’re inappropriate. It’s not Trump vs CNN and they’re playing it that way. If you’re running the chyrons AND the presser, you’re failing. It’s pretty clear it’s about exploiting a trainwreck—the opposite of good journalism.”
Honestly, these chyrons are a mess.
They’re inappropriate. It’s not Trump vs CNN and they’re playing it that way.
If you’re running the chyrons AND the presser, you’re failing.
It’s pretty clear it’s about exploiting a trainwreck—the opposite of good journalism . https://t.co/bfQOwNYFJP— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) April 14, 2020
DePauw University professor and media critic Jeffrey McCall told Fox News, “The CNN chyrons during yesterday’s presser were clearly designed to take a sledgehammer editorial approach to Trump’s comments. Viewers watching these live COVID-19 briefings have enough sense to figure out for themselves what is going on, without producers trying to push opinion while the events are in progress. Such brief and politically charged chyrons leave little room for context and perspective, which a story like the pandemic crisis should demand.”
Cornell Law School professor and media critic William A. Jacobson: “CNN’s argumentative chyrons demonstrate that news and opinion have completely merged at CNN, feeding into Trump’s claims that CNN is ‘fake news.’ What’s worse, CNN is quite proud its chyrons, reflecting that CNN is oblivious to how deeply its reputation has been damaged by the games it plays with its news operation.”
Newsbusters noted what happened on CNN when they cut away from the briefing and instead aired a panel discussion ripping the president. CNN’s Erin Burnett commented:
That was President Trump giving the latest update on the pandemic. The President was very angry; if you were watching that. Over the past hour and a half or so trying to rewrite history regarding his response to coronavirus. Coronavirus, as of today, has killed more than 23,000 Americans. I want to get straight to our panel who has been standing by, as we all have been watching this. John King, let me start with you. The President was extremely angry and lashing out, frankly, multiple times at various reporters.
Host John King chimed in: “Erin, the briefing was breathtaking from beginning to when we dropped out. And at times bordered on dangerous.”