Journalist Glenn Greenwald slammed CNN host Brian Stelter on Twitter Monday for his softball interview with White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
“Somehow Brian Stelter managed to take his humiliatingly ‘tell-me-why-I’m-bad-Jen’ start to his interview and get even more sycophantic from there,” Greenwald said. “Even Psaki had to be thinking: ‘oh my god, the intensity of his adoration is…. uncomfortable.'”
Greenwald pointed out two specific questions Stelter asked Psaki, which included inquiring about how the media can better cover President Joe Biden’s administration and asking if conservatives were “ruining the country” for young children. (RELATED: Glenn Greenwald Blasts Brian Stelter Over CNN’s Low Ratings)
“I’m not using hyperbole when I say the ‘interview’ that @brianstelter did with Jen Psaki yesterday should be studied in journalism school,” he continued. “It’s one of the most sycophantic interviews of a state official you’ll ever see. This is how state TV functions.”
I’m not using hyperbole when I say the “interview” that @brianstelter did with Jen Psaki yesterday should be studied in journalism school. It’s one of the most sycophantic interviews of a state official you’ll ever see. This is how state TV functions:https://t.co/jhsvhOSpJQ
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 7, 2021
“What does the press get wrong when covering Biden’s agenda, when you watch and read the news, what do you think we get wrong?” Stelter asked Psaki, beginning the interview on his CNN show Reliable Sources.
The press secretary said that she would leave it to Stelter to critique the way that the media was covering Biden, but added that “sometimes we forget how strange the last four years were.”
Prominent conservatives including Monica Crowley and Mollie Hemingway criticized the interview. Crowley pointed out that the media never asked former President Donald Trump the same question, and Hemingway called the interview “propaganda.”
No such question was ever asked of Trump Press Secretaries because 1) the press believed they were always right when, in fact, they were consistently wrong, & 2) the response would have taken days https://t.co/CKM09g3xCQ
— Monica Crowley (@MonicaCrowley) June 6, 2021
Our corrupt media are absolutely nothing more than propagandists and should be treated as such. https://t.co/qwxAz40Eyj
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) June 6, 2021
Stelter also asked what questions bothered Psaki at press briefings and why she bothered calling on outlets like Fox News and Newsmax.
Psaki said Biden needed to communicate to all Americans, which involved calling on a wide range of outlets.