CBS Show Tweets List of 'Target Words,' Including 'President,' 'Trump' and 'Assassinate'
CBS is under fire for a tweeted list of “target words” from the account of the CBS All Access show “The Good Fight.”
CBS insisted that the incident was not an attempt to threaten the president’s life, but an inadvertent error.
In the most recent episode of the highly political series starring Christine Baranski, a spinoff of the CBS show “The Good Wife,” the character of Diane played by Baranski joins a female resistance group that wants to tarnish President Donald Trump’s approval ratings, Fox News reported.
As part of the show’s plot, a list of target words has been created by the show’s version of the National Security Agency to help identify potential terrorists. The words are organized in columns that go from red to orange to yellow, with red being the most potentially dangerous.
At the top of the “red” list were the words “assassinate,” “president” and “Trump.” At the top of the second list were the words “Mar-a-Lago” and “eliminate.”
Last week: CBS crime drama The Good Fight tweeted an image that included the phrases “Assassinate President Trump” and “Eliminate Mar-a-Lago.” pic.twitter.com/YcHyIUDuqK
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 14, 2019
The list’s context was clear to viewers who watched the episode, but it was not explained in the tweet, which has since been deleted. Instead, Twitter users were asked to find an Easter egg, a reference to the name of a “The Good Wife” character in column two.
Twitter objected vehemently to the tweet.
Threatening the life of President @realDonaldTrump is not only despicable, it’s a felony.
I hope the Secret Service investigates this. https://t.co/jLNvXH9iIm
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) April 15, 2019
This is abhorrent and inexcusable–are Americans really going to stand for this outrage? CBS drama ‘The Good Fight’ sparks outrage after tweeting ‘Assassinate,’ ‘President,’ and ‘Trump’ https://t.co/f0seARum11 #MAGA @realDonaldTrump #AmericaFirst #Dobbs
— Lou Dobbs (@LouDobbs) April 15, 2019
Leftwing CBS Television Show ‘The Good Fight’ Tweet ’Assassinate Trump’ Sparks Calls for Secret Service Investigation: Just like the Democrats in the 19th century, today’s Democrats are itching for a civil war. They were fighting for slavery. They want… https://t.co/O1p4mzmw3B pic.twitter.com/6hEIMF6mmk
— Pamela Geller (@PamelaGeller) April 14, 2019
CBS later responded to clarify that is had no evil intent, Deadline reported.
“A social media post for ‘The Good Fight’ displayed show content that, when presented in isolation, outside of the context of the show, created an impression and provoked a reaction that was not intended,” a spokesperson from CBS All Access said in a statement.
“The tweet showed a screengrab from the show’s fictional NSA office, including a list of standalone ‘target words’ the series’ NSA characters should look out for while conducting anonymous wire taps in an effort to protect the President and the public.”
The spokesperson added that it was a mistake to post the tweet.
“However, the tweet was regrettably posted without that context, in an effort to direct fans to find an ‘Easter Egg’ clue, in reference to a past character on ‘The Good Wife,’ Kalinda, listed in the second column of the list, and the fact that the NSA is still monitoring her in the fictional world of the show.
“The post was perceived very differently than the intended result and has since been removed,” the statement read.
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