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Here Are Five Fake Stories CNN Pushed

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

[Shutterstock - f11photo]

Justin Caruso Contributor
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President Trump tweeted about “fake news” Tuesday morning, saying it is at an “all time high,” and demanding an apology:

In response to that assertion, CNN’s Chris Cillizza tweeted:

Here are five examples of CNN reporting or pushing false stories:

False Story 1: CNN Reports Hands Up, Don’t Shoot

In December 2014, a CNN panel consisting of Margaret Hoover, Sally Kohn, Sunny Hostin and Mel Robbins all put their hands up and displayed a sign saying, “I Can’t Breathe,” a reference to the slogan “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot,” which is based on the idea that Michael Brown had his hands up when shot by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri in August 2014.

Sally Kohn said that “thousands of Americans are marching in New York and Washington and across the country, demanding a justice system that applies the same to everybody and honors our values, and we want you to know our hearts are out there marching with them.”

This isn’t the first time CNN’s Kohn has repeated the claim that Michael Brown had his hands up before being shot:

However, this claim has been proven to be untrue. Barack Obama’s Justice Department investigated the shooting and concluded that the use of force was not unreasonable and that Brown charged at Officer Darren Wilson before being shot.

The Washington Post ran an article in early 2015 on its’ “Fact Checker” blog entitled, “Hands up, don’t shoot’ did not happen in Ferguson.”

False Story 2: CNN Falsely Claims Sherelle Smith Was ‘Calling For Peace’

Sherelle Smith, the sister of Sylville Smith, a black male shot by a black police officer in August spoke to news reporters after his shooting. CNN deceptively edited the clip to make it sound like she was calling for peace in response to the shooting, when in fact she was encouraging violent behavior in the suburbs of the city.

CNN correspondent Ana Cabrera said that Smith was “calling for peace,” and showed a clip of Smith saying, “Don’t bring the violence here and the ignorance here.”

In the full video, Smith also says, “Stop burning down shit we need in our community. Take that shit to the suburbs. Burn they shit down. We need our shit. We need our weaves. I don’t wear it. But we need it.”

When called out, CNN later updated a video clip on their website, saying, “An earlier version of this story mischaracterized what the victim’s sister was trying to convey.”

Rioters in Milwaukee attacked police, even hitting one in the head with a brick. Eight businesses were burned and a squad car was destroyed. (RELATED: Growing Number Of Race Riots Leave A Dark Mark On Obama’s Legacy)

False Story 3: CNN Says It’s Illegal To Look At Wikileaks

In one baffling moment from October 2016, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo claimed that it was illegal to look at Wikileaks.

“Also interesting is, remember, it’s illegal to possess these stolen documents. It’s different for the media. So everything you learn about this, you’re learning from us,” Cuomo said during on television.

During that time, Wikileaks was dumping hacked emails from John Podesta’s inbox on a day-to-day basis, many of which reflected negatively on the Clinton campaign. (RELATED: The 44 Most Damning Stories From WikiLeaks)

Emails released by Wikileaks also showed that CNN collaborated with the DNC to make interview questions for Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

Of course, this isn’t true. It is not against the law to view Wikileaks or possess hacked documents, as long as you are not involved in breaking the law by hacking them.

False Story 4: CNN Says Rape Is Pre-Existing Condition Under ACHA

A headline on CNN.com from early May read, “Rape and domestic violence could be pre-existing conditions.” CNN argued that the American Health Care Act (AHCA) could make sexual assault a pre-existing condition, preventing women who survive rape from getting health care.

This claim was contested by many fact checkers.

The Washington Post posted an article on its “Fact Checker” blog saying, “Despite critics’ claims, the GOP health bill doesn’t classify rape or sexual assault as a preexisting condition.”

Polifact, which has previously displayed some liberal-leaning bias, said the claim that “[u]nder the House Republican health plan, sexual assault is a pre-existing condition” was “misleading” and “mostly false.”

False Story 5: CNN Had To Correct False Comey Report

An example most closely related to Trump’s comments Tuesday can be found in CNN recently having to correct their reporting about James Comey.

CNN reported on June 6th that Comey was going to contradict President Trump’s claim that he wasn’t under FBI investigation in his Senate testimony, a report which obviously was going to make Trump look like a liar.

The article, originally titled, “Comey expected to refute Trump,” featured in its byline Jake Tapper, Gloria Borger, Eric Lichtblau, and Brian Rokus.

Of course, this isn’t what Comey said in the Senate. Instead, Comey did not dispute Trump’s claims that he told the president that he was not under FBI investigation. (RELATED: Comey Confirms: Trump Wasn’t Under FBI Investigation)

The post was later updated with a correction, reading, “This article was published before Comey released his prepared opening statement. The article and headline have been corrected to reflect that Comey does not directly dispute that Trump was told multiple times he was not under investigation in his prepared testimony released after this story was published.”

CNN wasn’t the only media outlet to misrepresent facts leading up to Comey’s testimony, as many other sites had misleading reporting to make Trump look bad. (RELATED: MEDIA CRITICISM: James Comey’s Testimony Puts These 6 News Outlets On The Spot)

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