DC Trawler

CNN Blackmails Trump Troll

CNN Center in Atlanta on August 10, 2014. The CNN Center is the world headquarters of CNN. [Shutterstock - f11photo]

[Shutterstock - f11photo]

Jim Treacher Blogger
Font Size:

Three days later, everybody is still talking about that dopey Trump tweet where he clotheslined CNN. And now CNN has upped the ante to outright blackmail.

Here’s the dopey Trump tweet in question:

I don’t like this crap. I wish the President of the United States would quit doing it. But, unlike Andrew Kaczynski at CNN, I don’t think it’s worth extorting anybody over it.

Peter Hasson reports:

CNN sparked a backlash Tuesday night after threatening to identify the Reddit user who claimed to have created a meme of Donald Trump body-slamming the CNN logo that the president later shared on Twitter…

CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski opted not to identify the user “because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed his remorse by saying he has taken down all his offending posts, and because he said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again.”

But Kaczynski then added that “CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change,” seemingly indicating that CNN would identify the user if he repeats his “ugly behavior” on social media.

“This guy was mean to us and said a lot of other bad things too, but he promises to be a good boy now. As long as he keeps his promise, we won’t tell you his real name.” That’s some damn good journalism, Andrew Kaczynski. Policing random Reddit trolls who criticize you, that’s Pulitzer-worthy work right there.

I’ll admit I’m biased, because several years ago Kaczynski lied about me in print and publicly insulted me when I demanded a correction. But in retrospect, I got off light. At least the lying hack didn’t blackmail me.

CNN: Coercing Nerds Nauseatingly.

P.S. Any lawyers out there?