The source of the quote corrected CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, but they kept accusing Rep. Rashida Tlaib of antisemitism anyway.

In the last three days, CNN hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash have performed a masterclass in journalistic malpractice — better described in this case as “lying.”

Both anchors devoted concerted airtime to accusing Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., of antisemitism based on a comment they attributed to the Palestinian American member of Congress — a comment she never came close to making.

Anyone watching CNN’s “State of the Union” with Tapper on Sunday, or “Inside Politics” with Dana Bash on Monday, would have heard that Tlaib questioned Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s ability to fairly do her job because Nessel is Jewish. Little matter to the primetime journalists that Tlaib’s recent criticism of Nessel did not in any way mention or refer to the attorney general’s Jewish faith or identity.

  • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    0·
    9 months ago

    Steve Neavling is the author of the original article in the Detroit Metro Times which included Tlaib’s quote. He wrote

    “We’ve had the right to dissent, the right to protest,” Tlaib says. “We’ve done it for climate, the immigrant rights movement, for Black lives, and even around issues of injustice among water shutoffs. But it seems that the attorney general decided if the issue was Palestine, she was going to treat it differently, and that alone speaks volumes about possible biases within the agency she runs.”

    Nessel is the first Jewish person to be elected Attorney General of Michigan.`

    There’s a clear implication that Tlaib’s statement about bias refers to Nessel’s Jewish identity. Ten days later, Neavling wrote a follow-up article titled “Fact-check: Tlaib did not say Nessel charged pro-Palestinian protesters because she’s Jewish” which says

    Tlaib never once mentioned Nessel’s religion or Judaism. But Metro Times pointed out in the story that Nessel is Jewish, and that appears to be the spark that led to the false claims.

    The funny thing is that there’s no mention in the follow-up article that he’s the same guy who wrote the original article. Neavling doesn’t come out of this looking like a good journalist.

    • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
      0·
      9 months ago

      Do you think Tlaib’s suggestion that Nessel’s office is biased was anti-semetic?

      This is a valid question to ask the governor

      No it’s not. It’s a leading question repeating a complete fabrication as if it had a basis in reality. It would have been equally valid to ask “do you think Tlaib’s supports Hamas?”.

      I agree with your take on the governor’s lack of refutation, though.