On Monday’s New Day, CNN co-host Alisyn Camerota played senior political analyst John Avlon’s newest “reality check” clip. The clip was far from a “reality check,” as Avlon hypocritically accused the Republican Party of promoting extremism and conspiracy theories through discussing the QAnon conspiracy theory.
Avlon began the clip by associating the Republican Party with the conspiracy theory:
Normally the last thing I would ever do is talk to you about QAnon. It's a nonsense conspiracy theory, and trying to track its web of lies will only make you dumber, but these are not normal times. According to Axios, there are 11 GOP nominees who support or defend this bogus claptrap. GOP Oregon Senate nominee, Joe Rae Perkins, Colorado congressional nominee, Lauren Boebert, and Georgia's Marjorie Taylor Greene.
This was ironic coming from a CNN analyst. CNN has promoted multiple “nonsense” conspiracy theories about Trump including the Russia pee tape, Russia collusion, and the abuse of power allegations which resulted in his impeachment. Despite how these conspiracy theories have been debunked, CNN has continued to push such stories. CNN has even gushed over Mary Trump’s and John Bolton’s new books about the President, which have no evidence to back their outrageous claims.
CNN was also involved with awarding the bogus 1619 Project a Pulitzer. The alleged history project was basically leftist fan fiction which molds history to match the left’s anti-America agenda. CNN has even lied about and celebrated the project, despite many of its debunked claims. This anti-Americanism was not surprising coming from CNN, as one of its reporters called Mount Rushmore a “Monument of Two Slave Owners” on July 4th weekend. While conspiracy theories fester on fringe websites of all sides, CNN pushes conspiracies on its network in order to assist the Democratic agenda.
Avlon then accused Trump of assisting the conspiracy theory:
But it has seeped into the groundwater of Trump era hyper partisanship with Q paraphernalia sold out on Trump rallies, and appearing with disturbing regularity on his supporters. And although he hasn't spoke directly about QAnon, the president has fanned the flames, repeatedly retweeting QAnon supporting accounts, memes, and hashtags. The Trump campaign even included QAnon signs in an ad which was later taken down. This month, Business Insider published data showing the Trump campaign relies on a huge network of QAnon accounts to spread conspiracy theories and disinformation.
Trump was responsible although he has never “spoke directly about QAnon?” If Avlon was not a Democratic hack, he would discuss how Democrats have directly pushed misinformation and conspiracy theories. Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar “directly” played to anti-Semitic conspiracy theories by saying, “It's all about the Benjamins baby” when criticized for her hostility towards Israel. But Avlon was not interested in being an objective journalist, he wanted to smear the Republican Party with the November elections looming.
Most outrageously, Avlon attacked Republicans for accepting “unhinged extremist candidates”:
Now, Republicans may look at these likely nominees expressing support for QAnon and try to convince themselves they're outliers. After all, in 2018 the GOP found itself with strange bedfellows on their ballot as well. Fox News describing Illinois GOP congressional nominee, Arthur Jones, as, quote, "One of several Nazis, Holocaust deniers, or White Supremacists", who’ve elbowed their way on to the GOP ballot for November's midterm elections. But Republicans need to ask themselves just why so many unhinged extremist candidates feel comfortable clustering under the GOP banner.
For alleged "journalist," Avlon had done a terrible job keeping up with the news. The Democratic Party had embraced the radical Black Lives Matter Movement, which has ravaged cities such as Seattle and New York and has worked with another extemeist organization on the left, Antifa to set up violent autonomous zones. Two of BLM’s leaders were trained Marxists and the leader of the New York portion of the group stated “if this country doesn't give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it.” The group’s website has shown little actual concern for black lives, but instead has discussed destroying the nuclear family. BLM’s base has also been responsible for the tearing down of the statues of American heroes such as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington.
The Democratic Party has also made “unhinged extremist candidates feel comfortable clustering under” their “banner.” Omar recently called to “tear down” America’s economic and political systems. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who was being considered as a possible running mate for Joe Biden, said that “we should listen” to those who want to take down statues of George Washington. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who wrote much of Joe Biden’s policy platform, had honeymooned in the Soviet Union and praised communist Cuba. The idea of defunding the police has become popular among Democrats, with influential representative, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) leading the way.
If Avlon was not a Democratic shill, he would examine how extremism has become the mainstream in the Democratic Party. But at the end of the segment, Avlon could not resist one last shot at Trump:
In the case of QAnon and the current congressional candidates embracing its conspiracy theories, the answer lies at the top of the ticket, President Donald Trump.
CNN has become an enabler of dangerous, radical, far-left extremism, but will hide that fact by attacking a few extreme right wingers. Facts do not matter for the network, it has an election to win.
This far from “reality check” was brought to viewers by ClearChoice. Let them know here if you think they should be sponsoring such content.
Read the full July 20th transcript here:
CNN New Day
07/20/20
7:45:48 AM
ALISYN CAMEROTA: All right, how much do you know about the shadowy operation called QAnon? Well, John Avlon has looked into their conspiracy theories and believes the Q should stand for quacks. John Avalon has your reality check.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Normally the last thing I would ever do is talk to you about QAnon. It's a nonsense conspiracy theory, and trying to track its web of lies will only make you dumber, but these are not normal times. According to Axios, there are 11 GOP nominees who support or defend this bogus claptrap. GOP Oregon Senate nominee, Joe Rae Perkins, Colorado congressional nominee, Lauren Boebert, and Georgia's Marjorie Taylor Greene. So let's back up. What exactly is QAnon? I'm so sorry you asked. Get ready for some deep weirdness. CNN captured its broad contours by saying, quote, "It's a baseless theory. Followers of QAnon believe there's a deep state within the U.S. government that's controlled by a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles, and Trump is trying to take them down. Sounds weird, right? That's because it is. But it has seeped into the groundwater of Trump era hyper partisanship with Q paraphernalia sold out on Trump rallies, and appearing with disturbing regularity on his supporters. And although he hasn't spoke directly about QAnon, the president has fanned the flames, repeatedly retweeting QAnon supporting accounts, memes, and hashtags. The Trump campaign even included QAnon signs in an ad which was later taken down. This month, Business Insider published data showing the Trump campaign relies on a huge network of QAnon accounts to spread conspiracy theories and disinformation. And get this. A lot of these accounts are inauthentic. According to the tracking site Bot Sentinel, three of the top five bot amplified hashtags of 2020 are QAnon related. That's right. If you're a follower, you're probably getting duped by a bot. Meanwhile, Trump's former National Security Advisor and convicted felon, Michael Flynn, recently decided to go full Q and post a video reciting some of its slogans, which is not creepy at all. Here's the thing, and this is much more than a logically extreme extension of play-to-the-base politics. The FBI classified QAnon as a domestic terror threat in a 2019 internal memo, and QAnon followers have allegedly been involved in a foiled presidential assassination plot, a devastating California wildfire, and armed standoff with local law enforcement officers in Arizona. Conspiracy theories offer their followers special knowledge and confirmation bias. When I wrote a book called Wing Nuts, extremist groups and conspiracy theories were already defining the conservative resistance to the Obama administration, building on old foundations laid by the John Burks Society and patriot militia movements. Donald Trump's embrace of the racist birther conspiracy theory fit this pattern perfectly, and he's continued pumping up disinformation from the White House. Now, Republicans may look at these likely nominees expressing support for QAnon and try to convince themselves they're outliers. After all, in 2018 the GOP found itself with strange bedfellows on their ballot as well. Fox News describing Illinois GOP congressional nominee, Arthur Jones, as, quote, "One of several Nazis, Holocaust deniers, or White Supremacists", who’ve elbowed their way on to the GOP ballot for November's midterm elections. But Republicans need to ask themselves just why so many unhinged extremist candidates feel comfortable clustering under the GOP banner. In the case of QAnon and the current congressional candidates embracing its conspiracy theories, the answer lies at the top of the ticket, President Donald Trump. And that's your reality check.
