Reliable Sources host Brian Stelter stopped by The View Wednesday to continue hawking his anti-Fox News, anti-Trump book and shamelessly defend the corrupt network he works for. Along the way, he played dumb about how much the media hates conservatives and actually pretended his Sunday show delivered the news instead of being an anti-Trump, anti-Fox vent session.
The liberal hosts started the interview giving Stelter an open forum to do his routine whining about Fox News and their relationship with President Trump. After that, co-hosts Meghan McCain and Sara Haines then made Stelter go on the defense for his own network.
Haines brought up how Stelter writes about the lack of distinction between opinion and journalism on Fox. She pressed him to incorporate his own network in that criticism as well. Referring to all cable news, she asked, "Do you think that lack of clarity or that confusion contributes to the misinformation and the extreme divisiveness we're seeing in politics today?"
The CNN anchor laughably claimed he was careful to make sure his show wasn't "part of that problem." After seemingly denying he was an opinion host, he went on to defend bashing Trump in his monologues as “cutting through the noise and getting to the news.” So it is "news" to call the President a fascist? That “noise” he argued, was conservatives calling out his network’s extreme bias against the right:
The reason we have these monologues is it's the best way to cut through all the noise and get to the news. To say, for example, the media is not the enemy of the American people or the enemy of Republicans. It's the enemy of liars, and we can debunk lies through these essays. It's an issue, and it sometimes all sounds like opinion even though I think what we're doing is trying to get perspective on the news, trying to defend truth and decency and democracy which frankly wasn't as necessary five years ago as it is today.
This was the same whiny defense Stelter used with C-SPAN callers who called out CNN's bias. He could've also been directing this comment to McCain, who said last week the media's "the enemy of Republicans."
She made CNN's media critic own up for his own network's problems as well. She called him out for blasting Fox News so much when CNN has been embroiled in its own ethical controversies with Jake Tapper, President Jeff Zucker, and the Cuomo brothers joking around during the COVID crisis in New York. She asked, "So with the criticism of CNN, do you believe this is acceptable, and don't you think there's enough fair criticism to go all the way around right now in just how news networks are run?"
Stelter pathetically dodged answering this question by saying he "wasn’t a spokesperson" for his own network and deflected blame again onto Fox News (click expand):
First of all, I think you should write a book. You listed off all of these storylines. A lot of them though are cherry picked. Coming from these audio tapes Tucker Carlson has been airing. I do have a question about this that relates to my book. You know Michael Cohen says these audiotapes were only held by Trump, the Trump organization and the DOJ. So all of a sudden they’re airing on Fox News. You have to wonder if it's another example of this feedback loop?
I'm not a spokesperson for CNN or Fox. I’m not a spokesperson for CNN. It's not for me to comment on these tapes. Here's what I do think is sad though. I think it’s sad that private conversations get leaked out and get distorted and become polarized and weaponized. That’s the environment we’re in and that’s sad. If our text messages or my phone calls with friends were all of a sudden taken out of context and distorted, I feel like that's -- let me put it this way. I think the Trump age has ruined a lot of friendships. I think that's really sad, and I hope we can start to rebuild. I hope we can start to rebuild those friendships rather than, you know, all feel like we're at war with each other.
Sadly there was not a follow-up. Remarkably, the hosts didn’t ask even one question about the town hall CNN is hosting for Joe Biden, tomorrow.
Stelter’s shameless lies were paid for by CarShield and Liberty Mutual. You can contact them by following the links above.
Read the transcript below:
ABC's The View
09/16/2020WHOOPI GOLDBERG: So he did this town hall on ABC last night. I just wanted to ask you. What do you think he was doing? Why do you think he did it?
STELTER: He went outside the Fox News bubble, and I'm glad he did. It was incredible to hear these voters. I spoke with three of the voters afterward, and they were all mad because they feel like Trump didn't answer their questions. But at least they had a chance to try. I think once a while Trump is trying to appeal outside the Fox base, but look, Whoopi at the end of the day this is about the Foxification of America. He believes he needs Fox to win, and that’s why he started the day by calling into Fox & Friends.
JOY BEHAR:. Yeah, Brian. So Fox News and Trump they love to criticize stories that have, like, anonymous sources even though it's exactly what brought down Richard Nixon. But you say, I like this part of your book, you say that Trump is Hannity's number one anonymous source. So what is the biggest danger this country faces from that? Is he slipping him the information and not recording it?
HANNITY: Yeah I had to write this book because these guys are hypocrites! Sean Hannity is a hypocrite! He's blasting using anonymous sources and saying journalism is dead, when he uses an anonymous source in the form of President Trump. You know, the greatest hoax of all of the Trump years, is that Donald Trump has convinced one-third of the country to not believe anything but Sean Hannity and Fox and Trump. That’s the greatest hoax of all and frankly it's just sad, I think, Joy.
BEHAR: Dangerous!
SUNNY HOSTIN: Well, Brian, you interviewed -- yeah, it is. Brian, you interviewed over 250 current and former Fox News staffers and were shocked at how many of them miss Roger Ailes despite the toxic work environment and sexual harassment. Why do you think that is?
STELTER: Yeah. Because they said they missed having a really strong leader. Yes, he was a disturbing boss. He was a sexual predator. Ailes abused his staff and abused the company, but everybody knew who they were working for. They knew what the boss wanted and when Ailes was thankfully forced out, there was this power vaccuum, and you know what happened? Trump filled the vacuum. That’s how Fox has became Trumpier and Trumpier. So even if none of us--even "View" watchers who don't ever watch Fox, they're still affected by what they hear on Fox because then the rest of us are talking about it. It's incredible how much power Fox has, and frankly it's being used in the wrong ways. If the president was being informed very carefully with the highest quality information from the best journalists in the world, then I wouldn't have written written the book, but Fox is misinforming the president about everything from North Korea, you know, to the weather, and that's fundamentally the problem.
MEGHAN MCCAIN: Brian, we know each other, and I echo what you just said. I used to work under Roger Ailes, and he was a maniacal tyrant but he was also a genius and there’s something incredible about working for a genius so I guess I'm one of those cliches. Mad genius, yes. You work for CNN obviously. You have a big show on Sunday. There are some ethical questions that are being thrown around by CNN lately. There's a 2016 audio of your president Jeff Zucker offering debate advice to President Trump. Jake Tapper was recently caught allegedly trying to influence a congressional election. I have serious problems with the way Chris Cuomo had a reoccurring primetime sort of comic routine with his brother instead of asking about policies that were literally sending my friend Janice Dean’s older relatives to die in nursing homes. So with the criticism of CNN, do you believe this is acceptable, and don't you think there's enough fair criticism to go all the way around right now in just how news networks are run?
STELTER: First of all, I think you should write a book. You listed off all of these storylines. A lot of them though are cherry picked. Coming from these audio tapes Tucker Carlson has been airing. I do have a question about this that relates to my book. You know Michael Cohen says these audiotapes were only held by Trump, the Trump organization and the DOJ. So all of a sudden they’re airing on Fox News. You have to wonder if it's another example of this feedback loop? I'm not a spokesperson for CNN or Fox. I’m not a spokesperson for CNN. It's not for me to comment on these tapes. Here's what I do think is sad though. I think it’s sad that private conversations get leaked out and get distorted and become polarized and weaponized. That’s the environment we’re in and that’s sad. If our text messages or my phone calls with friends were all of a sudden taken out of context and distorted, I feel like that's -- let me put it this way. I think the Trump age has ruined a lot of friendships. I think that's really sad, and I hope we can start to rebuild. I hope we can start to rebuild those friendships rather than, you know, all feel like we're at war with each other.
MCCAIN: I agree with that.
HAINES: Brian, you write about the struggle between the journalism side of Fox News and the opinion side. Something that has always bothered me across all cable news is the blurred line between what's news and what's opinion. Like we are an opinion panel here at The View. Do you think that lack of clarity or that confusion contributes to the misinformation and the extreme divisiveness we're seeing in politics today?
STELTER: I do. I do. I talk about it with my staff at Reliable Sources, and I always want to make sure I'm not part of that problem. But I do think CNN--You know there are some hours at CNN that have a lot more point of view these days. Some of the anchors, including yours truly. I'll start with a monologue talking through the president's lies and trying to debunk them. I now there are more points of view these days, though we'll never top The View I think. The reason we have these monologues is it's the best way to cut through all the noise and get to the news. To say, for example, the media is not the enemy of the American people or the enemy of Republicans. It's the enemy of liars, and we can debunk lies through these essays. It's an issue, and it sometimes all sounds like opinion even though I think what we're doing is trying to get perspective on the news, trying to defend truth and decency and democracy which frankly wasn't as necessary five years ago as it is today.
WHOOPI: True that. Our thanks to you, Brian Stelter. Your book, "Hoax" is out right now.
