On Wednesday, our friends at the Daily Caller flagged a blistering appearance by former CBS News journalist host Lara Logan on Tuesday’s Ingraham Angle schooling her former establishment media colleagues for their “depressing” display of infatuation with the Iranian government and hatred for President Trump.
An exasperated host Laura Ingraham teed Logan up by stating how, in 2020, “[t]he liberal media [are] acting more like state-run TV at times than, you know, David Brinkley or any of the greats, like Peter Jennings” by “carrying the water for the Iranian regime” against Trump.
Now a Fox Nation host, Logan replied that “it’s kind of depressing” to hear how her colleagues have behaved “because that's not in my experience — I've been a journalist for more than 30 years, and I've honestly never seen anything like it.”
She also wondered:
I mean, what about the voice of the Iraqi people? What about the voice of the Yemenis and the Syrians and all of the people across the region who have been celebrating Qasem Soleimani's death? Yet you won't see them out on the streets of Tehran, right? You’re not going to see this great display because they are afraid. They are still afraid of what Iran's proxy forces and what the Revolutionary Guards are capable of.
Ingraham then read two of the more absurd, pro-Iran tweets from the liberal media (one from The New York Times, the other being that infamous Time magazine tweet) and praised Logan for having not only “spent so much time in the region” but “sacrificed personally at the hands of some of these brutal thugs.”
Logan reiterated her disappointment, ruling that “perhaps what American journalists are forgetting at this moment is things like, for example, when I was living in Baghdad for five years right” when, at one point, “[o]ne of the Revolutionary Guards proxy forces, one of the Iranian militias in Iraq” were tasked with “hunt[ing] down every Iraqi pilot that flew missions in the Iran-Iraq War.”
All told, she recalled that they killed “according to the U.S. embassy, 2,500 Sunnis.”
She then added in graphic detail (click “expand”):
[Their] preferred method to kill them was to drill holes in their heads while they were alive. We would go into mosques, Shiite mosques where there would be meat hooks on the wall that the Iranian militias used to hang people there...I lost count of the number of bodies that we covered, you know, turned up in dumpsters all across Baghdad. I mean, so — so it’s — what's odd to me is that there are many of reporters who have worked in the region, there are reporters who have been to Syria who know what the people of Syria have suffered and Qasem Soleimani, you know, one of the things he did, Chris Matthews said he wasn't operational. What is that based on? Based on what? Because Qasem Soleimani like to put out pictures of himself. The Iranians released pictures of him on the battlefield of Syria, on the battlefield in Yemen, on the battlefield in Iraq. You know, this was part of it.
There wasn't an Iraqi or a person in the Middle East that didn't know the name of Qasem Soleimani and perhaps, you know, the strength of the reaction from Iran is kind of an indication of how significant he was, because they — the Iranian government uses terrorism as a — as a form of statecraft, right? They're the only government in the world that does that to that degree. That is why they were designated as a foreign terrorist organization. Why designate them if you're not going to treat them as terrorists?
Leading up to that discussion, Ingraham aired a slew of clips pointing how, as we’ve done at NewsBusters, the liberal media have spent the week acting as “American propagandists” for the anti-America, anti-LGBTQ, anti-Semitic, and undemocratic Iranian regime.
Ingraham added that “the media [are] validating Trump's criticism” about hatred for the President “because their analysis, basically the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Her were a smattering of her takes between clips (click “expand”):
How does Martha Raddatz not challenge the Iranian foreign minister's assertions there? It's ridiculous. Last November, thousands of Iranians were in the streets protesting their government, the biggest civil demonstration in 40 years. 1,500 of them were killed by Iranian forces, including Revolutionary Guard forces led by Soleimani himself, but now we’re supposed to believe that the whole country is united over the death of someone who, not only ended up helping engineer the deaths of Americans in Iraq, but who oppressed the Iranians. Well, yeah, you will think that if you watch CNN and MSNBC.
(....)
Amazingly, though, despite Iran's brutal repression of true democracy, the left is portraying Trump as the tyrant.
(....)
They are actually now parroting Iranian talking points.
(....)
Is this really journalism? Maybe the phrase “the enemy of the people” is harsh. Yeah, it's harsh, but ignoring inconvenient facts isn't what real journalists are supposed to do. If they're loathe to give Trump the benefit of the doubt, why are they so willing to afford Iran that luxury?
To see the relevant transcript from FNC’s The Ingraham Angle on January 7, click “expand.”
FNC’s The Ingraham Angle
January 7, 2020
10:49 p.m. EasternINGRAHAM: As the Iranian missiles fly, a look at their American propagandists. That's the focus of tonight's Angle. For as long as he has been on the political scene, Donald Trump has been jousting with the media, because they pose, after all, as the gatekeepers of democracy, but he exposes them as left-wing pundits masquerading as reporters.
[CLIPS OF TRUMP VS. THE MEDIA]
INGRAHAM: Now, media elites saw it as their duty to take out this President, and they considered his criticism a threat to their fiefdoms.
JULIE PACE [on CNN’s Inside Politics, 01/06/20]: This idea that the press is not just covering him unfairly in his eyes but that he actually sees us as the enemy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE CTV REPORTER: Harsh words usually reserved for tyrants.
CNN’s JIM ACOSTA [on CTV]: It started off as an act where he would taunt and troll us and call us fake news and even the enemy of the people has really spiraled out of his control.
NEW YORK TIMES CEO MARK THOMPSON [on 06/19/19]: Calling journalists traitors or calling them enemies of the people is, inevitably, going to increase the risk of violence and hostility towards journalists and it's irresponsible and he shouldn't — he shouldn’t do it.
INGRAHAM: You know what has really increased hostility towards journalists is that Americans are sick and tired of only getting their news from people who hate the President and can't set aside their own biases at The New York Times, CNN, NBC, et cetera. But in the wake of Soleimani hit and on tonight's missile attacks on U.S. facilities in Iran, the media is validating Trump's criticism because their analysis, basically the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
JUJU CHANG [on ABC’s Nightline, 01/07/20]: On the ground, his image everywhere. More than a million united in their cry for revenge.
UNIDENTIFIED IRANIAN MALE [on ABC’s Nightline, 01/07/20]: Revenge must happen, and it is certain.
MARTHA RADDATZ [on ABC’s Nightline, 01/07/20]: What is your message to America?
UNIDENTIFIED IRANIAN MALE [on ABC’s Nightline, 01/07/20]: I'm saying, we love Americans, but not your president.
RADDATZ [on ABC’s Good Morning America, 01/07/20]: I asked if civilians would be taken off the target list.
JAVAD ZARIF [on ABC’s Good Morning America, 01/07/20]: Iran has never put U.S. civilians on its target list to take them off its target list. We obey rules of international law.
INGRAHAM: How does Martha Raddatz not challenge the Iranian foreign minister's assertions there? It's ridiculous. Last November, thousands of Iranians were in the streets protesting their government, the biggest civil demonstration in 40 years. 1,500 of them were killed by Iranian forces, including Revolutionary Guard forces led by Soleimani himself, but now we’re supposed to believe that the whole country is united over the death of someone who, not only ended up helping engineer the deaths of Americans in Iraq, but who oppressed the Iranians. Well, yeah, you will think that if you watch CNN and MSNBC.
GEOFF BENNETT [on MSNBC’s MTP Daily, 01/07/20]: Tens of thousands of Iranians flooding the streets. It would appear that the U.S. has lost the hearts and minds, to use the phrase, lost the hearts and minds of the Iranian people.
BROOKE BALDWIN [on CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin, 01/07/20]: The scenes inside Iran, the sea of people not just to mourn this man, who was beloved by so many, but really they are rallying around a regime that had been unpopular, Jamal. To me, it looks like a message of unity.
INGRAHAM: Amazingly, though, despite Iran's brutal repression of true democracy, the left is portraying Trump as the tyrant.
MASSOUMEH EBTEKAR [on CNN International/PBS’s Amanpour & Company, 01/07/20]:The American president made a serious miscalculation. He made a serious mistake by assassinating, by taking this terrorist action against Commander Soleimani.
CHRIS MATTHEWS [on MSNBC’s Hardball, 01/06/20]: Here we are in the assassination business again. I'm sorry, this is a top general. He wasn't operational. He was a leader. We killed this guy. A President of the United States, they used to hide from assassination responsibility. This president is bragging about it.
INGRAHAM: Oh, take a breath, Chris. They are actually now parroting Iranian talking points. Let's compare the words used by Iran's foreign minister with those of the leftist media.
ZARIF [on CNN, 01/07/20]: He is showing to the international community that he has no respect for international law, that he is prepared to commit war crimes.
MAX BOOT [on CNN’s New Day, 01/07/20]: And I can't imagine our military targeting cultural sites in Iran in defiance of international law, but that doesn't seem to matter to Donald Trump. He doesn't seem to care about international law.
ZARIF [on CNN, 01/07/20]: But has he made the U.S. more secure? Do Americans feel more secure?
ROBERT MALLEY [on CNN Newsroom with Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto, 01/06/20]: Of course, Americans are less safe today than they were before Qasem Soleimani was killed.
INGRAHAM: Is this really journalism? Maybe the phrase “the enemy of the people” is harsh. Yeah, it's harsh, but ignoring inconvenient facts isn't what real journalists are supposed to do. If they're loathe to give Trump the benefit of the doubt, why are they so willing to afford Iran that luxury? And that's The Angle. [INTRODUCES PANEL] Lara, let's start with you. The liberal media is acting more like state run TV at times than, you know, David Brinkley or any of the greats, like Peter Jennings. So why are they carrying the water for the Iranian regime on this one?
LARA LOGAN: You know, it’s kind of depressing, Laura, to listen to the Angle and see that, because that's not in my experience — I've been a journalist for more than 30 years, and I've honestly never seen anything like it. I mean, what about the voice of the Iraqi people? What about the voice of the Yemenis and the Syrians and all of the people across the region who have been celebrating Qasem Soleimani's death? Yet you won't see them out on the streets of Tehran, right? You’re not going to see this great display because they are afraid. They are still afraid of what Iran's proxy forces and what the Revolutionary Guards are capable of.
(....)
10:56 p.m. Eastern
INGRAHAM: And the Twitter accounts for two American news outlets also pushed to the Iranian line. The New York Times tweeting this sympathetic testimonial, “‘Knowing Soleimani was out there made me feel safer,’ said a student about the commander killed in the American drone strike. ‘He was like a security umbrella above our country.’” Time magazine writing something similar. “If you need help talking with the children in your life about the aftermath of Iranian General Soleimani's killing, [Time For Kids] has a guide to explain the topic.” Lara, you've spent so much time in the region. You've sacrificed personally at the hands of some of these brutal thugs. Is this imaginable to you? We do have people in the media who have integrity, but this is just, as Dinesh said, the marinating in the hatred of Trump subsumes everything else.
LOGAN: Well, you know, perhaps — perhaps what American journalists are forgetting at this moment is things like, for example, when I was living in Baghdad for five years right. One of the Revolutionary Guards proxy forces, one of the Iranian militias in Iraq, their task was to hunt down every Iraqi pilot that flew missions in the Iran-Iraq War and that commander who was trained in Iran, who was loyal to Iran, who was run by Qasem Soleimani, he killed, according to the U.S. embassy, 2,500 Sunnis and his preferred method to kill them was to drill holes in their heads while they were alive. We would go into mosques, Shiite mosques where there would be meat hooks on the wall that the Iranian militias used to hang people there and, you know, I remember interviewing a young Iraqi boy whose father was taken in the night by an Iranian militia, an Iranian backed militia, and I will never forget him holding my hand and saying, when they took his father from his bed, he had no shoes. And he ran and got his father's shoes and he ran after him. And the Iranian militia who were leading his father out said he won't need shoes where he's going and the body of their father and a number of other Iraqis, like so many, you know, turned up in a dumpster the next day. I lost count of the number of bodies that we covered, you know, turned up in dumpsters all across Baghdad. I mean, so — so it’s — what's odd to me is that there are many of reporters who have worked in the region, there are reporters who have been to Syria who know what the people of Syria have suffered and Qasem Soleimani, you know, one of the things he did, Chris Matthews said he wasn't operational. What is that based on? Based on what? Because Qasem Soleimani like to put out pictures of himself. The Iranians released pictures of him on the battlefield of Syria, on the battlefield in Yemen, on the battlefield in Iraq. You know, this was part of it. There wasn't an Iraqi or a person in the Middle East that didn't know the name of Qasem Soleimani and perhaps, you know, the strength of the reaction from Iran is kind of an indication of how significant he was, because they — the Iranian government uses terrorism as a — as a form of statecraft, right? They're the only government in the world that does that to that degree.
INGRAHAM: Right.
LOGAN: That is why they were designated as a foreign terrorist organization. Why designate them if you're not going to treat them as terrorists?
