During her 12 p.m. ET hour MSNBC show on Tuesday, host Andrea Mitchell interrupted her panel of guests to go to live coverage of House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi ranting about the resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn at a press conference. In her comments, the left-wing lawmaker cited a fake Twitter account purporting to be Flynn.
Pelosi proclaimed: “I didn't know until I heard from our colleague that the tweet of General Flynn today was ‘scapegoat.’ ‘Scapegoat.’ Do you know what a scapegoat is?...where people want to absolve themselves of guilt, they get a goat and they heap all of the ills onto the goat and then they run the goat out of town. So the inference to be drawn from his statement is that other people had blame that should be shared in all of this.”
Moments later, she added: “I have a tweet I'm going to make, I'm telling my staff right now, ‘It's not scapegoat, it's stonewall.’ And that’s exactly what the Republicans in Congress are doing.”
Pelosi was quoting a Tuesday tweet from a fake account, @GenMikeFlynn, that read: “But if a scapegoat is what's needed for this Administration to continue to take this great nation forward, I am proud to do my duty.”
But if a scapegoat is what's needed for this Administration to continue to take this great nation forward, I am proud to do my duty.
— Michael Flynn (@GenMikeFlynn) February 14, 2017
After the live coverage concluded and Mitchell continued her show, at no point did the veteran journalist offer any correction or call out Pelosi for propagating fake news.
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In fact, the fake Twitter account in question actually took to social media moments after the press conference to troll Pelosi for falling for the fraud: “The failing @nytimes, @NancyPelosi & @RepCummings issued statements based on 100% FAKE news. We expect more from our media & politicians!”
The failing @nytimes, @NancyPelosi & @RepCummings issued statements based on 100% FAKE news. We expect more from our media & politicians!
— Michael Flynn (@GenMikeFlynn) February 14, 2017
On CBS This Morning, New York Times reporter David Sanger cited the same fake account (which his paper also initially cited as fact) and was actually corrected by co-host Norah O’Donnell: “That tweet has not been verified. Not from a verified account.”
Here is a transcript of Pelosi’s February 14 comments:
12:53 PM ET
(...)
ANDREA MITCHELL: Let's just listen to Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Leader, and then we’ll get right back to you.
NANCY PELOSI: But I will say this, I didn't know until I heard from our colleague that the tweet of General Flynn today was “scapegoat.” “Scapegoat.” Do you know what a scapegoat is? That means in a community, where people want to absolve themselves of guilt, they get a goat and they heap all of the ills onto the goat and then they run the goat out of town. So the inference to be drawn from his statement is that other people had blame that should be shared in all of this.
The good news is that General Flynn is gone – because he was totally inappropriate, wrong for the job – but the questions that arise are even bigger. I have a tweet I'm going to make, I'm telling my staff right now, “It's not scapegoat, it's stonewall.” And that’s exactly what the Republicans in Congress are doing.
(...)
