CNN, CBS Zero In on Breitbart's Role in Spreading Word of Weiner Scandal
Both CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday's AC360 and CBS's Nancy Cordes on Thursday's Early Show highlighted conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart's early part in spreading news of the lewd photo Tweeted from Rep. Andrew Weiner's Twitter account. Cooper played up Breitbart's supposedly "questionable credibility," while Cordes reported how "supporters of Weiner note that it was [the] right-wing blogger...who broke the story."
The CNN anchor raised Breitbart's involvement 15 minutes into the 10 pm Eastern hour as he introduced the second part of an interview of the New York Democrat conducted by his colleague Wolf Blitzer:
COOPER: We're talking about a tech-savvy Democratic congressman, Anthony Weiner, and the photograph that was posted on his Twitter account- but also, about one his conservative Twitter followers, who re-Tweeted the photograph after Tweeting weeks before, hinting at an upcoming sex scandal involving the congressman, and the blogger with questionable credibility, Andrew Breitbart, who has taken the story and run with it. At the end of the day, however, fair or not, many of the questions and most of the talk- they're being fueled by Congressman Weiner himself and how he's been handling this.
Over nine hours later, just after the bottom of the 7 am Eastern hour, the CBS congressional correspondent actually aired a clip from the right-of-center blogger himself as she noted the accusations of the pro-Weiner camp:
CORDES (voice-over): Supporters of Weiner note that it was right-wing blogger, Andrew Breitbart, who broke the story. But Breitbart tells CBS News he had nothing to do with the supposed hack.
ANDREW BREITBART, BIGGOVERNMENT.COM: It's certainly not true that I'm behind this. I was at my kitchen island on Friday night when I was notified
Speaking of the liberal politician's supporters' attention on Breitbart, Salon.com's Joan Walsh not only tore into the blogger on Wednesday's Hardball, but also launched accusations against unnamed online conservatives. Host Chris Matthews himself criticized the Democrat's handling of the scandal:
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Joan, every time he's asked a question, he changed to Boehner or something else or something else or something else. He never simply said this is ridiculous. I had nothing to do with it. Simply, I had nothing to do with it. This has nothing to do with me. Drop it. Why doesn't he just do that?
JOAN WALSH, SALON: You know, I don't know, Chris. I- you know, I'm a good Irish Catholic girl. I'm not going to sit here and talk about what pictures he may or may not have of himself on his computer. It's none of my business. But, you know, he said that he didn't send the pictures out, and, you know, my position from the beginning has been, I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt because this originated with Andrew Breitbart, who, you know, released the selective-
CHRIS MATTHEWS: No- go ahead.
WALSH: The deceptive- deceptively-edited ACORN tapes that, you know, people tried to use-
MATTHEWS: Well, it wasn't that- no, it wasn't deceptive. That's what everybody's saying about it. I saw the first version of it and it told pretty much the whole story of how that woman had gone through an epiphany of understanding how race works (unintelligible)-
WALSH: No, no, no- now you're talking about Shirley Sherrod, you and I disagree about this, Chris. We had that out last year....Shirley Sherrod was smeared. She was depicted as a racist when she was not a racist, and that was the point of her story. So twice, this person has put these-
MATTHEWS: Okay- all right, fine. But we're changing the subject again here to- what is going on with this guy?
WALSH: I am changing- you know what? There's- I'm giving out context, and I'm giving you why a lot of people were inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. Now, the benefit of the doubt that something odd may have gone on is sort of dwindling as he continues to say, I'm not going to answer questions, then answer questions, then he can't really answer with certitude.
I agree that this starting to look weird, but the larger issue of how this came into the public- into the mainstream, I think that context matters and also think that a 21-year-old girl has been smeared here-
MATTHEWS: Right-
WALSH: We have no evidence of wrongdoing on her part. She may have received some naughty photos that she didn't even want, and conservative bloggers smeared her- not just her name, multiple photos, where she goes school-
MATTHEWS: Right-
WALSH: The paper she writes for, so the- something really stinks about this whole thing. I'm not going to exonerate Representative Weiner because I have no idea. I just think that this is kind of a disgusting place to be in politics right now.
MATTHEWS: Okay. Well, it's strange. I think that politicians are the ones responsible for their own story, and there's something strange about a guy who spends the whole afternoon doing unilateral interview after interview after interview with one reporter after another, giving different stories, finally to the point of saying something like, I don't know if it's my picture, and I think that's a strange thing to say. I'm sorry. We're on different planets on this one. I think the whole thing is strange- why he doesn't just say I had nothing to do with this- blame it on Breitbart or anybody else- but just say, this isn't about me. I had nothing to do with it at all.
- Matthew Balan's blog
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Comments
It took them 6 months to
Submitted by Thoreau on Thu, 06/02/2011 - 10:42pm.
It took them 6 months to acknowledge the Tea Party even existed. Nothing new here.
CNN's Jeffrey Toobin started it off bt accusing Breitbart
Submitted by Rush Fan on Fri, 06/03/2011 - 12:37am.
of "pushing" the story. CNN's Toobin:
See my original post with Breitbart's response to Toobin with videos HERE.
D'oh I gotta pay more attention
Submitted by Injest on Fri, 06/03/2011 - 5:37am.
"CNN, CBS Zero In on Breitbart's Role in Spreading Word of Weiner Scandal"
So CNN, CBS are crying fowl cuz Breitbart was the 1st to published the story of a US congressman being hacked?
Strange I thought being the 1st to break a story was a badge of honor among Journalists I wounder how I got that one wron................................... Wait........... I get it CNN, CBS are JurNOlist!
D'oh I gotta pay more attention.
CNN and CBS are actually
Submitted by kg on Fri, 06/03/2011 - 7:55am.
CNN and CBS are actually turning into MSDNC.
"DumbAssity of Dope"
Yep, MSM, more people get their news from
Submitted by johnsonl on Fri, 06/03/2011 - 6:12am.
conservative sources. More importantly, they BELIEVE what Breitbart is reporting.
And so?
Submitted by Red Jeep on Fri, 06/03/2011 - 6:55am.
The leftist MSM would never have reported on it unless Breitbart broke the story.
Seems the MSM were sitting on the Bill and Monica story until Drudge broke that.
Oh it's much worse!
Submitted by stunned on Fri, 06/03/2011 - 9:57am.
They sat on the Edward's story for months after the Enquirer wrote about his fathering a child out of wedlock until AFTER he was the nominee for Vice-President. Now they are still wondering aloud ON THE AIR if this is a private matter even though it looks like he may be indicted for mis-using campaign contributions to hush up the affair. Come on now, we all know if he had been the Republican he never would have been the nominee we would be awash in coverage of the story week in and week out and the Enquirer would have won the Pulitzer prize for breaking the news.
tired of liberal lies
How true.
Submitted by Red Jeep on Fri, 06/03/2011 - 10:34am.
Forgot about him. Edwards should be a chapter in the textbook about media bias. If the MSM got him elected they would be defending him. It was a private matter....blah, blah, blah...and a beautiful thing happened, a child was born, and now that Elizabeth has passed this other woman in John's life can comfort him, etc
It is just sick what the MSM has become.
Someone needs to stick a
Submitted by Van Halen on Fri, 06/03/2011 - 8:45am.
Someone needs to stick a weiner-shaped mic in the Weiner-wife's face and ask what she thinks of her Weiner chatting up dozens of young, single, good looking girls - one in high school. Oh, and porn stars too.
→ Shoot the messenger
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Fri, 06/03/2011 - 9:53am.
This is the Bernie Madoff defense to his son. "None of this would have happened if you hadn't told on me".
oscar mayer Weiner
Submitted by jessieH on Fri, 06/03/2011 - 9:59am.
Don't you just love how the left try to "redirect" stories about liberals to someone else. Weiner is a member of Congress. Congressmen are supposed to be role models for our children, to, someday, become a member of Congress. But, the way Congressmen act these days, the way all polititians act, I wouldn't want my children to even be close to them. They may have more diseases than we know about, what with the way they screw around. They screw each other then they screw the people. Porn stars are cleaner than they are.
joan walsh
Submitted by scarletandgold on Fri, 06/03/2011 - 10:42am.
joan walsh touting herself as a christian?? thats an oxymoron...well in her case.. just another progressive moron
Breitbart
Submitted by AgentAmerican on Fri, 06/03/2011 - 10:48am.
You know that this is a legitimate story when the lead hacks are "questioning" Andrew's credibility. Anderson Cooper is a Vanderbilt and never lived in poverty, which leaves his credibility questionable.
Remember, Wiener is a understudy of Fchuk Schumer, and that slimiest of the slimy is probably working the phones at the Soros media. If this could lead to bigger fish, Schumer is in trouble.
I've been wanting to watch Schumer fall for decades.
Brietbart - on taking a story and running on it..
Submitted by Gary Hall on Fri, 06/03/2011 - 11:17am.
.. well, if he did - good for him. And the national MSM (CNN & CBS, noted) should send him a thank you note. After all, now they're fixated on it.
When the NY Times broke the story of the NSA wiretapping - oh yea, I remember CNN and CBS taking them to task. LOL
If Brietbart would have broken the story on Sen. John Ensign's scandal, would the MSNBC, CNN and CBS be taking him to task?
Of course not.
Breaking news is only a scandal when it is by a conservative and the news is about a liberal. Otherwise, it is considered a news story and they all get their shorts in wad going after it.
(;~/ gary
It's Anthony Weiner
Submitted by NL207 on Fri, 06/03/2011 - 2:11pm.
Not Andrew Weiner. Keep making mistakes like this and Weiner will calim it's actually Breibart's weiner in those pictures.
Surprised Joan didn't blame
Submitted by AngryInOhio on Fri, 06/03/2011 - 5:49pm.
Surprised Joan didn't blame Bush.
Blah, blah, blah, Bush,
Submitted by AngryInOhio on Fri, 06/03/2011 - 5:52pm.
Blah, blah, blah, Bush, blah,blah,blah Sarah Palin, blah, blah, blah Breitbart. Give it up Joan, the American people aren't buying your lame excuses.
conservative sources. More
Submitted by bagtree on Thu, 03/29/2012 - 5:42am.
conservative sources. More importantly, they BELIEVE what Breitbart is reporting.
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