"False news." That accusation is definitely not appreciated by CNN. And it seems to bother them even more when that claim is made by a foreign official. In this case it was made on March 2 by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in response to accusations that the Russian ambassador to the United States is a spy master. Zakharova forcefully told CNN by name to stop spreading false news.
That response with the "false news" accusation by Zakharova really got under the skins of CNN anchors Poppy Harlow and John Berman as you can see. They quickly suggested that Team Trump and the Russians sound like echoes of each other.
POPPY HARLOW: To Russia now, to Moscow, as we wait for House minority leader Nancy Pelosi to speak at any moment. Right now, Russia responding to all of this news, saying when it comes to controversy swirling around the Attorney General and the meetings with the Russian ambassador, quote, ‘It is not their headache.’ Keep in mind, according to current and former U.S. officials, U.S. intelligence considers ambassador Kislyak a Russian spy master.
JOHN BERMAN: I want to bring in CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance who is in Moscow. Matthew, you just got finished interviewing the spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry. I’m sure she had some interesting perspective on what’s going on here today.
MATTHEW CHANCE: She did. And she, along with other Russian officials are not happy at all with the way this political situation is developing in the United States. Toxic hysteria is what they’re calling it, the idea that Russia intervened someway in the U.S. elections. They’re rejecting that, of course. Specifically the foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova pushed back strongly on the idea that the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, was in any way related to espionage. Take a listen to what she said.
[clip starts]
MARIA ZAKHAROVA: I mean, Mr. Kislyak is a well-known — I mean, world class diplomat who was a deputy minister of foreign affairs in Russia, who has communicated with his American colleagues for decades on different fields. CNN accused him of being a Russian spy?!
CHANCE: It was U.S. officials that accused him of that.
ZAKHAROVA: Stop spreading lies and false news. This is a good advice for CNN.
CHANCE: “Are you concerned that the investigations into Russia are going to turn up more secret meetings?”
ZAKHAROVA: Please stop spreading lies and false news.
[clip ends]
And now for the CNN whine about the "false news" accusation.
CHANCE: Stop spreading lies and false news, a refrain we’ve heard elsewhere and we’re hearing it now repeatedly from Russian officials as well.
HARLOW: An interesting similar line coming from the Trump administration about false news and from the spokeswoman there for the Russian foreign ministry.
BERMAN: Same language.
Would it make CNN feel better if the Russian official instead of accusing them of spreading false news, accused them of spreading fake news?
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