CNN Analyst Ignites Furor with Completely Fabricated Impeachment 'Scoop' on Twitter
This isn’t just “fake news,” it’s outright fraud.
CNN political analyst and former Clinton White House press secretary Joe Lockhart confirmed the worst suspicions of conservatives about the honesty of mainstream media figures on Wednesday by using his Twitter account to post a completely fabricated conversation he originally claimed to have overheard between Republican senators about the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.
And had the gall to take a jab at Fox News while he was doing it.
WARNING: The following tweet contains vulgar language that some readers may find offensive. Viewer discretion is advised.
Lockhart originally published the post about an hour after the opening of Wednesday’s proceedings, claiming the senators were reacting to information from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (who is himself known to be willing to lie to make a political point).
“Overheard convo between two Republican Senators who only watch Fox News,” Lockhart wrote. “‘[I]s this stuff real? I haven’t heard any of this before. I thought it was all about a server. If half the stuff Schiff is saying is true, we’re up sh–’s creek. Hope the White House has exculpatory evidence.’”
Overheard convo between two Republican Senators who only watch Fox News. “is this stuff real? I haven’t heard any of this before. I thought it was all about a server. If half the stuff Schiff is saying is true, we’re up shit’s creek. Hope the White House has exculpatory evidence
— Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart) January 22, 2020
That would be quite a scoop if it were true.
As it turns out, it wasn’t. About 10 minutes later, Lockhart posted a follow-up, admitting he had made up the quotes, but claiming it represented actual Republican thoughts.
Ok maybe I made up the convo, but you know that’s exactly what they’re thinking.
— Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart) January 22, 2020
“Ok maybe I made up the convo, but you know that’s exactly what they’re thinking,” he wrote.
Actually, no, since nobody knows what anyone is thinking about the Democrats’ sham effort to overturn the results of an election now 3 years in the past.
And they certainly won’t learn it from CNN personalities using Twitter posts to deliberately spread lies about the gravest decision a Congress can make short of declaring war.
Even some Trump foes were disgusted:
That is so not cool Joe! Your tweet doesn’t have a hint of fiction or humor. Why in the F would you “make up a conversation? What purpose did it serve?
It’s hard to stay focused with the GOP’s & Trump’s lies now you’re joining them!
— ?ChicoCat? (@ChicoCat3) January 22, 2020
Trump supporters were disgusted, too, even if they weren’t surprised at the tactics. They’ve seen it before.
So following the @RepAdamSchiff playbook of if there’s nothing there there than make something up to fit our scenario. No wonder why CNN has no credibility.
— MazMan (@MirEgal21) January 23, 2020
Well you do/did work for @CNN and the Clinton Crime family so you wouldn’t know the truth if you actually happened to step into it. I bet it bothers you when you’re called “fake news” yet you publicly reinforce that moniker daily. ?
— PN_II (@PN_II_) January 23, 2020
Wow… so now journalists at CNN have given up being investigators, now they are trying to join the ranks of “mediums” that know “exactly what they’re thinking.”
This is literally “Fake News” Joe.
— Rightminded (@WhiteTallon) January 23, 2020
After getting a taste of the public reaction, Lockhart stooped even further to advise critics to “relax” — and took another idiot swipe at Fox News.
Everyone relax. This is satire. Satire to make the point that Senators that are deciding the President’s fate who only watch Fox News have never heard this stuff before. Because Fox is part of the coverup. https://t.co/ktCxCg1Irt
— Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart) January 22, 2020
Seriously? Fox News is part of a cover-up of a scandal so thin it requires members of Congress to make up quotes from the president to strengthen their case?
So weak that it takes a political hack who served in a White House steeped in lies to report a fabricated conversation between Republican senators?
And this is from a political movement that just a year ago descended into the gutter to dredge up ludicrous lies about a Supreme Court nominee that literally no one with an ounce of sense could have believed — yet the Democratic Party wants the American people to trust it with the presidency come November.
Even in an American media filled with “news” outlets that have been at war with the Trump administration since even before it officially began, CNN has been a leader in “fake news” attacks on the president and his supporters.
On Wednesday, thanks to an alumnus of the Bill Clinton White House, it descended into outright fraud.
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