Conservative talk-radio host and author Mark Levin wrote an open letter Saturday to Associated Press reporter Jonathan Lemire, who wrote a slanted article about President Trump's media diet that smeared Levin in with birtherism and InfoWars on the "edges" of the conservative movement:
What he was seeing on Twitter and conservative websites like the Drudge Report and the conspiracy-laden Infowars helped forge his political persona — and his public misinformation campaign questioning whether Obama was born in the United States....
That wasn't the only time last week when Trump put the White House stamp on a theory that originated on the edges of the conservative movement. Radio host Mark Levin voiced without evidence the idea that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower. That accusation was picked up the next day by Breitbart News, the site formerly run by Trump's current chief strategist Steve Bannon.
As everyone who can read knows by now, Levin read from a front-page New York Times story from January 19 and other liberal-media content. Would Lemire smear InfoWars and birthers with The New York Times? See Andrew McCarthy at NRO for a quick summary of how the media-Democrat complex is flailing on the Trump-Russia collusion scandal they're trying to create...one might call it a "public misinformation campaign."
Here's what Levin wrote to the AP reporter:
Mr. Lemire:
You falsely reported in your wire story yesterday, in part, that "Radio host Mark Levin voiced without evidence the idea that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower." I sent you an email yesterday asking: "Are you going to correct this?"
I never said that Obama had Trump Tower wiretapped. You not only misstated what I said, but you ignored the entire purpose and context of that Thursday's (March 2) radio program. I addressed this methodically again on yesterday's radio show. Still, you are silent.
It is one thing to make an honest error in your reporting. AP and other news outlets make mistakes all the time, for which they publish corrections or make apologies. However, you persist in your false reporting, which is repeated by others since you write for a wire service. This reveals your intent on driving a partisan, ideological agenda — e.g., your additional statement in the story about "the edges of the conservative movement." This is why your profession has already been severely damaged with the public and, may I add, now your reputation, or lack thereof, for integrity.
Lemire's story blasted Trump from the opposite direction of George W. Bush. Whereas Bush was depicted as a dummy for allegedly not watching cable news, Trump is depicted as a dummy for watching too much cable or treating it as reliable information! This passage was odd:
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, a frequent Trump critic, told The Associated Press that she finds it "unsettling" that Trump "may be getting most of his understanding of the world based on whatever he stumbles upon on cable."
While pleased that Trump is following the media, Maddow noted that "the White House is designed as an instrument to feed the president of the United States expertly curated and highly selective, well-vetted information from every corner of the world."
