Vice President Mike Pence is retaliating against CNN for pausing coverage of President Donald Trump’s press conferences/campaign rallies to fact-check by barring Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx from appearing on the network.
Trump’s conferences are filled with lies and propaganda that CNN has been helpfully fact-checking to make sure viewers are getting accurate information at a time when it can mean the difference between life and death in the midst of a pandemic that has killed 15,000 Americans.
Of course, Trump doesn’t like being fact-checked, so Pence is punishing CNN by refusing to let Birx and Fauci appear as guests, depriving viewers of important health information.
According to CNN:
Pence’s office, which is responsible for booking the officials on networks during the pandemic, said it will only allow experts such as Dr. Deborah Birx or Dr. Anthony Fauci to appear on CNN if the network televises the portion of the White House briefings that includes the vice president and other coronavirus task force members.
‘When you guys cover the briefings with the health officials then you can expect them back on your air,’ a Pence spokesperson told CNN.”
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So, in order to get these health officials back on the air, CNN would be forced to stop fact-checking Trump and air the full briefings without interruption. Since the briefings last for several hours, it would be too late to do an effective fact-check by the time they end.
That’s clearly Pence’s — and Trump’s — aim, and more Americans are going to get sick and die because of their pettiness.
Americans have the right to hear from health officials on all the networks. What Trump has to say has been irrelevant, which is why networks are being called on to stop airing the briefings. CNN settled on a compromise by merely fact-checking Trump after he speaks. But the snowflakes in the White House apparently can’t handle it.
Featured image via screen capture
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