I wish I didn't have to tell you what I'm about to say. In a more perfect world, we wouldn't have to fact check major news outlets in an effort to prevent them from exploiting a national tragedy.
But that's not the world we live in. In the wake of the mass shooting that occurred in Florida last week, CNN is in full fake-news mode. Their propaganda department is attempting to disrupt the Union and alter the Constitution under false circumstances. Of course this is nothing new, but it feels like they aren't even trying to hide it anymore.
Yesterday there were two nationally televised townhall-style events to discuss gun violence. The first took place at the White House, the second was held in Miami with Senator Marco Rubio and NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch.
Let's start with what happened at the Oval Office. President Trump had a "listening session" to let family members of mass-shooting victims speak their minds about gun laws and school safety. A student named Samuel Zeif was at Trump's listening session, and he got pretty emotional (understandably) while talking about losing his best friend in the Parkland, Florida high school shooting.
After sharing his experience, he told the story of a 20-year-old man who claims he walked into a store and bought a gun with an expired ID (happens at the :21 second mark in the video clip below). And this news would pretty alarming if not for one giant problem - its not a true story.
I have nothing but respect for Samuel Zeif and the friend he lost, but just so we're clear, this gun-purchasing story never happened. Samuel's repeating something he heard on a news blog called The Tab. The article is two years old and it was written by someone named Cody Davis (if you don't know who that is, don't worry - he's just someone who struggles to tell the truth).
In the article Cody claims he was able to buy an AR-15 in five minutes. He was 20-years-old when this article was published shortly after the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando (2015). He says he walked into a local gun store in Virginia, looked at some guns, and detailed his observations. He also had his photo taken while holding a rifle. But if the truth matters, it should be noted that Cody didn't purchase a gun or fill out the proper paperwork - it was all nothing more than a photo-op. He purchased nothing. He never had a NICS check. The article is literally fake news.
So right now you're probably wondering what this has to do with CNN?
Well, CNN’s Chris Cuomo retweeted it the story to his 1.3 million followers, which was like throwing gas on a fire. When Samuel told this story in the Oval Office (in front of the President and millions of TV viewers) nobody challenged its legitimacy. And why would they? He got this information from CNN - the most trusted name in the cable news world!
Sadly, this wasn't the only time yesterday CNN helped spread fake news on gun safety to millions of people.
Last night at 8pm CST CNN hosted a gun-control themed townhall with Senator Rubio and the NRA's Dana Loesch. The event was basically presented as a glorified punching bag for gun control advocates (where Rubio and Loesch were treated like the bags). During the event Loesch, someone with a spotless criminal record, was accused of being a murderer (more than once). CNN's Jake Tapper nodded in agreement as it happened.
But the fakest of fake news occurred before the event even took place. In this case the crime of spreading fake news was committed by CNN producers. And we have a very honest teenager to thank for helping to shed light on more blatant media-bias.
Colton Haab is a 17-yr-old survivor of last week's mass shooting. The student was interviewed by reporters about why he didn't appear at the town-hall despite being invited.
His answer? CNN tried to give him a pre-written scripted question. He claims they refused to let him ask the real question he had prepared for the pundits at the event. They wanted to control his words and actions. Like a political marionette.
Folks, this goes beyond the scope of your typical Left VS Right American political debate. This is nothing ore than a blatant example of CNN injecting fake news into the minds of Americans all over the nation by tring to manipulate the words of a teenager. Even if you're a staunch gun control advocate, you should be furious at CNN for making your side look dishonest and misleading.
And it's happened before. CNN has a long history of allowing political plants to flourish in its public forums. Michelle Malkin wrote about in 2016. There are numerous examples of this brand of fake journalism. And they continue the practice today.
I've said this before and I'll say it again: it's time for America to turn off CNN.