A C-SPAN caller trashed CNN to host Brian Stelter Tuesday, calling it “the enemy of the truth.”
Stelter appeared on the cable and satellite TV network’s “Washington Journal” and fielded questions from viewers. A Minnesota viewer called in and trashed CNN, saying the network is “dividing our nation.” The viewer also accused the network of pushing over 300,000 “distortions of truth” amid President Donald Trump’s time in office.
“And you guys always talk about how many times Trump has lied, I’ve calculated that, I think with your chyrons – and I don’t know if there are any journalists left at CNN — but I know that, if I were to estimate, about 300 different, you know, distortions or misinformation that we get out of CNN,” according to the caller. “And you have to watch them in the airport, which is harsh, but if you added all that up to 46 months, it comes out to be 300,000-plus distortions of truth.”
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Stelter responded by saying the caller is “not the only person that feels this way” and that he was “grateful for the call.” The CNN host noted that “there has been a process of radicalization that’s happened in this country with media bashing that is absolutely unprecedented,” adding that many reporters do have “liberal leanings.”
The CNN host also said that although this bias should not affect news coverage, “sometimes it does.” (RELATED: ‘This Is False’: DOJ Denies Claim From Brian Stelter’s Book That AG Barr Met With Rupert Murdoch, Tried To Silence Andrew Napolitano)
“I absolutely acknowledge that,” Stelter said. “I think it’s different to talk about things as if they are enemies.”
The caller also criticized CNN for defaming “a child,” likely referring to Nick Sandmann, who settled a defamation suit against CNN in 2019.
“It’s really just one of those things that’s dividing our nation. And I don’t believe in dividing our nation – it hurts our great nation, and so CNN is really the enemy of the truth,” the caller added. “And that’s my opinion. Thank you.”
Stelter disagreed with the caller’s statement that the network is “the enemy of the truth.”
“No American is an enemy of another American,” he said. “No news outlet is an enemy of America.”