CNN's "Facts First" motto isn't being applied to the wave of protests against the death of George Floyd in police custody. CNN personalities feel compelled to support the protests, even tout them as "beautiful" and "necessary." That happened on Tuesday afternoon's Newsroom with anchor Brooke Baldwin.
After witnessing several days of rioting and looting in cities from one coast to the other, a peaceful protest in the middle of the afternoon just delighted her, and reporter Shimon Prokupecz on the scene in New York City. They want the political momentum of "peaceful" protests not to be ruined by looting and violence. "Real change" is the goal of the "news" network.
SHIMON PROKUPECZ: It is a peaceful demonstration....But a lot of people cooped up in their homes, and they have come to their windows in some cases to bang pots and pans to show their support of these marchers, as they go through the street marching. And you're hearing, "no justice, no peace" now. And everyone is just together. There are people giving out water. Most of the people have been wearing masks. I saw people giving out masks, giving out water, giving out food. And they're just continuing to march.
We're now heading north through here. You see water and snacks being given out. And that's what we're seeing here. It's very peaceful. It's beautiful to see. I have to tell you, after what I witnessed last night, seeing this, really, it's a good feeling, because what went on last night was so awful. And you can tell that everyone here--
BALDWIN: Let me jump in, Shimon. Let me ask you about that.
PROKUPECZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: Let me ask you about that.
But I do -- again, just to underscore -- underlining, underscoring your point, this is a beautiful scene. And this is necessary, right? This is necessary to bring about real change.
While Baldwin was sharing her opinion regarding the situation, the chyron across the bottom of the screen read: “Thousands of protesters marching through New York City” above the line of text adding: NYC curfew to go into effect at 8 pm, last for rest of the week.”
Baldwin then noted "I live in SoHo" and saw looting with her own eyes. "They were not demonstrators. We need to be clear about that. These were criminal elements, people who got together in some fashion, whether it's through social media, whether it's through some other channels of communications. We have heard a lot that these groups have been communicating in encrypted apps. It's possible, but they were organized."
After discussing how the police were "exhausted" trying to respond, they shifted back to separating looting and "beautiful" protesting:
PROKUPECZ: But this, here, what's going on here, in many ways is so much more important.
BALDWIN: That's a beautiful thing, where you are.
PROKUPECZ: Yes. It is.
BALDWIN: It's a beautiful thing.
PROKUPECZ: And I don't want to lose sight of this, of course, but I think the other parts of this are important. And it's important to distinguish between this group and what went on last night, because, last night, they were not demonstrators. They were criminals who came here to do exactly what they did, as you saw yourself, Brooke.
Baldwin wasn't making fine distinctions when the protests were conservative -- like the gun-rights protests in Richmond in January, where CNN projected some kind of Charlottesville racist repeat.
As NewsBusters previously reported, the weekday mid-afternoon host isn’t the only person in CNN’s staff to promote liberal ideals over what's actually happening that's negative.
For example, Chris Cuomo -- host of the Cuomo Prime Time program – bizarrely stated on Tuesday evening: “And please, show me where it says that protesters are supposed to be polite and peaceful.”
That might very well happen the next time ”beautiful” protesters attack the CNN headquarters in Atlanta… again.
