Media

CNN And MSNBC Cover Paul Ryan’s $1.50 Tweet 74 Times More Than Pelosi ‘Crumbs’

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Amber Athey Podcast Columnist
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According to a new study, CNN and MSNBC covered Speaker Paul Ryan’s perceived tax reform slip-up 74 times more than House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s faux pas.

The networks excoriated Ryan this week for celebrating a high school secretary getting an additional $1.50 in her paycheck each week thanks to tax reform.

“A secretary at a public high school in Lancaster, PA, said she was pleasantly surprised her pay went up $1.50 a week … she said [that] will more than cover her Costco membership for the year,” Ryan tweeted, and then deleted after the backlash.

According to a study by the Media Research Center, CNN and MSNBC spent a combined 21 minutes and 3 seconds covering Ryan’s tweet from February 4 to February 5.

Yet the same networks were relatively mum on Pelosi calling $1,000 worker bonuses “crumbs” during a January 11 press conference, giving just 17 seconds to the comment in the first week after it happened. (RELATED: Trump Trashes Pelosi For Calling Bonuses ‘Crumbs’)

MSNBC didn’t cover Pelosi’s “crumbs” comment at all in the first week, and the only mention on CNN came from conservative commentator Carrie Sheffield.

MSNBC’s Joy Reid was particularly harsh on Ryan, mocking on February 4, “That’s like an extra dollop of gruel for Oliver Twist! Quickly someone fetch me my monocle and top hat! I think little Oliver is dancing and dancing with joy for the extra dollop of gruel!”

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