Suddenly we are seeing a softer, sympathetic side to Dave Mastio, deputy editor of USA TODAY‘s editorial page. He’s defending Fredricka Whitfield, a weekend anchor who’s getting her ass handed to her this week for calling a Dallas gunman “courageous and brave.”
Mastio, whose softer side appears to be buried under a thorn bush with a hornets nest, recently attacked Jake Tapper for daring to interview ex-President Bill Clinton. The interview ran on Sunday as part of Tapper’s debut as host of CNN’s “State of the Union.”
USA Today‘s sleuth tried to paint the whole thing as Tapper having some sort of George Stephanopoulos problem, even after he was told that Tapper was interviewing the former president and not participating in a Clinton Global Initiative event. The ABC “GMA” host continues to catch heat for donating $75K to the Clinton Foundation. He has since apologized.
Like a dog with a bone, Mastio wouldn’t let his Tapper-Clinton theory go. Even Bill Sternberg, USA Today‘s newly promoted editorial page editor defended Mastio to the death, saying there was nothing questionable about what his deputy asserted — since it was, ahem, opinion.
When The Mirror exposed this, Mastio publicly (well, cowardly in whispers that got back to me) tried to badmouth me all over town and on Twitter. “You’re so cute when you’re wrong,” he wrote defiantly on social media with no proof to the contrary.
And now Mastio’s defending Whitfield?
When a fellow tweeter questioned him, remarking on the so-called liberal CNN, Mastio again surrendered. “It’s just that she works for CNN, so I think I know what she really meant,” wrote Greg Jones (a.k.a @DrunkRepub). Mastio replied, “And maybe you are right, who knows.” (Just to put this all in some context, Breitbart News calls CNN the “Hate Network.”)
Kudos to Mastio for suddenly finding leniency after dismissing Tapper as a liberal leaning reporter with a possibly serious conflict of interest when covering Hillary Clinton‘s presidential candidacy.
Whitfield has since apologized for her remarks on Sunday and Monday, saying she “misspoke” and doesn’t actually think the gunman is brave. But maybe USA Today‘s editorial page wants to save its softness for someone who really deserves it?
The apology came after Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick sent a letter to CNN President Jeff Zucker calling for her firing.
“Her shameful remarks are not acceptable in Texas or anywhere else in this nation,” the governor wrote. “As Lt. Governor of the state of Texas I am calling for CNN to remove Fredricka Whitfield as news host immediately and permanently.”
Mastio may want to take guidance from “Evil Jeff Zucker“, Zucker’s alter ego fake Twitter account, who kicked the network in the shins. “Really low standards of integrity at @cnn if Brooke Baldwin is the only anchor to apologize for on air mistake,” the writer tweeted, referring to the anchor’s April apology for saying veterans return from war “ready for battle.” Like Whitfield, she too said she “misspoke.”
EJZ added, “If Fredricka Whitfield worked at @msnbc she would be suspended. CNN on air anchors to say what they want with no consequences.”
Somewhere, someplace Joan Rivers is looking down and getting a laugh. About three months before her death, Rivers appeared on CNN to discuss her book, Diary of a Mad Diva, where she stormed out of an interview with Whitfield after she didn’t like her questions. At the time, Whitfield told Mediaite that Rivers was a comedian who could “dish it but couldn’t take it.”
During the interview, Whitfeld asked Rivers about her brutal fashion critiques.
“You are not the one to interview a person who does humor, sorry,” Rivers snapped and walked off. Whitfield asked, “Are we serious?”
How brave of USA Today for calling the dogs off Whitfield. More courageous would be a retraction for that bogus editorial piece about Tapper.