An NBC reporter and a CNN political analyst on Tuesday both erroneously reported that President Donald Trump did not offer a military plane to Joe Biden, who flew to Washington, D.C., that day to prepare for his inauguration as the 46th president of the United States.
NBC Kelly O’Donnell wrote on Twitter: “Arriving on a private charter aircraft with a generic paint job instead of the customary use of an Air Force plane for an incoming president is among the many courtesies not extended to the new president by the departing one.”
Arriving on a private charter aircraft with a generic paint job instead of the customary use of an Air Force plane for an incoming president is among the many courtesies not extended to the new president by the departing one. pic.twitter.com/zaxUxirXrc
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) January 19, 2021
April Ryan, a CNN analyst who covers the White House for The Grio, an MSNBC site, said much the same thing. “The Bidens have landed at Joint Base Andrew’s and being welcomed! What is striking how Donald Trump is in his feelings. He did not offer a military plane for the Biden’s to fly to DC as traditionally done by the outgoing president!” she wrote on Twitter.
The Bidens have landed at Joint Base Andrew’s and being welcomed! What is striking how Donald Trump is in his feelings. He did not offer a military plane for the Biden’s to fly to DC as traditionally done by the outgoing president!
— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) January 19, 2021
The reports, of course, fit the narrative of the establishment media: Trump is horrible, terrible, awful.
But once again, the reports were wrong. In an odd twist, it was CNN’s Jim Acosta, who has repeatedly clashed with Trump and cashed in with a book about the president titled “The Enemy of the People,” who actually got it right.
“WH official said Biden team did not ask for a government plane to bring PEOTUS to DC. The official said the administration explained to the Biden team what the options were. But aides to Biden explained they preferred to fly on private aircraft, the official added,” Acosta tweeted.
WH official said Biden team did not ask for a government plane to bring PEOTUS to DC. The official said the administration explained to the Biden team what the options were. But aides to Biden explained they preferred to fly on private aircraft, the official added.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 19, 2021
That’s right, Biden never asked for a government plane.
But that didn’t stop other “news” outlets from running with the fake “news” story.
TMZ went further, saying, “Donald Trump’s pettiness apparently knows no bounds because Joe Biden isn’t getting what Trump himself got … a government aircraft taking him to D.C. for his inauguration.”
The U.K.’s Daily Mail also went with the “petty” angle in a piece headlined, “How petty can you get? Biden and family arrive in DC on a charter plane after Trump REFUSES them government jet – as Joe cries during a heartrending speech about son Beau.”
“Donald Trump delivered Joe Biden one more snub Tuesday, forcing him to charter his own plane to fly from Delaware to Washington D.C. instead of authorizing an Air Force jet,” said the Mail. “The president-elect flew the short hop from his home state, after a tear-stained speech eulogizing his dead son Beau, on a private Boeing 737 – then as he landed at Joint Base Andrews taxied past an idle Air Force Boeing 757 on the tarmac.”
“The snub was the latest in Trump’s defiant refusal to acknowledge his successor. In contrast, the Obama administration sent an Air Force plane to New York for the Trumps in January 2017,” said the tabloid.
By the way, all the tweets and stories are still posted.