Since the so-called “fact first” Cable News Network was busy ignoring the bombshell report from Special Counsel John Durham finding evidence the Clinton campaign was spying on then-President Trump, they needed to fill their airtime with SOMETHING. That’s why they called up chief media reporter Brian Stelter to defend Whoopi Goldberg (stage name) and suggested it was the “wrong answer” for ABC to have suspended her from The View over their anti-Semitic comments about the Holocaust.
After host Kate Bolduan played a soundbite of Whoopi announcing her return on The View earlier that hour, she brought on Stelter and wondered: “What else did she say and what did you think of this return?”
Stelter found it notable that “she didn't say anything specifically about her suspension or why she was suspended in the first place.” But he then pivoted to defending her, suggesting she was having the correct conversation at the time. “The context for this was the conversation about Maus, the comic about the Holocaust,” he argued.
After peddling the debunked lie that the book was “banned by that Tennessee school district” (it was removed from the eighth-grade reading rotation and it could return), Stelter suggested that was “the bigger scandal here because that is continuing to happen in different parts of this country.”
So, according to Stelter, it was okay for Whoopi to falsely state that the systemic extermination of the Jews wasn’t based on race because she said it “in that context” of “having a conversation about Maus[.]”
And while those of us living in reality saw people calling for Whoopi to be fired, Stelter suggested the public thought her suspension was “extreme”:
She then – as you acknowledge, she apologized. She seemed sincere in the apology. So, even though there was a lot of energy inside ABC saying, “what are you going to do about Whoopi?”; as soon as she was suspended, there was all this external energy, all members of the public saying, “This seems extreme, why is she suspended for two weeks?”
“Maybe it's just my Valentine's Day spirit, Kate, but it feels to me like we should be having – you have openness to having tough conversations, especially on talk shows,” Stelter clownishly added.
Bolduan then hinted that Whoopi was the victim of a “different standard of the application of what can get you suspended, what can get you canceled and how different networks and shows handle it.”
Noting how rapper Eminem had taken a knee during the Super Bowl Half Time Show the previous evening, Stelter recalled how former NFL player Colin Kaepernick was once the subject of a kneeling controversy but now the NFL didn’t care.
Stelter willingly exposed which side he took in the debate by suggesting the league finally got to the “right answer” on kneeling after taking “a long windy road to get to [get there.]” “But when companies get to the right answer, I think they should be recognized,” he added.
“With Whoopi, maybe this was the wrong answer by ABC, but now she’s back,” he touted ahead of a commercial break.
CNN’s obfuscation of the Durham investigation with a defense of Whoopi Goldberg was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Liberty Mutual and Prevagen. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s At This Hour
February 14, 2022
11:53:39 a.m. EasternKATE BOLDUAN: CNN's Brian Stelter joining me with more on this. What else did she say and what did you think of this return?
BRIAN STELTER: Notably, she didn't say anything specifically about her suspension or why she was suspended in the first place.
BOLDUAN: Okay.
STELTER: The context for this was the conversation about Maus, the comic about the Holocaust. It was banned by that Tennessee school district. To me that is the bigger scandal here because that is continuing to happen in different parts of this country. And Whoopi was having a conversation about Maus and in that context said the Holocaust was not about race.
She then – as you acknowledge, she apologized. She seemed sincere in the apology. So, even though there was a lot of energy inside ABC saying, “what are you going to do about Whoopi”; as soon as she was suspended, there was all this external energy, all members of the public saying, “This seems extreme, why is she suspended for two weeks?”
So, now she's back. She didn't explicitly acknowledge why she was off in the first place but I think the key is the end there. The last thing she said, “We're going to keep having these tough conversations.” Maybe it's just my Valentine's Day spirit, Kate, but it feels to me like we should be having – you have openness to having tough conversations, especially on talk shows!
BOLDUAN: Well, it also speaks to – we were talking about this during the break – what seems to be different standard of the application of what can get you suspended, what can get you canceled –
STELTER: Right. Right.
BOLDUAN: -- and how different networks and shows handle it.
STELTER: Depending on the place, depending on the organization, depending on the boss, depending on the year.
BOLDUAN: Yeah.
STELTER: Years ago, a lot of controversy about Colin Kaepernick kneeling, then last night at the Super Bowl, Eminem very visibly kneels. I e-mailed the NFL spokesman. I said, “Any comment, any controversy, is this something you expected?” He said, “Yeah, we knew this. He did this in rehearsal. We don’t mind. Anyone’s allowed to kneel.”
Seemed to me like --- No look, the NFL took a long windy road –
BOLDUAN: Yeah, years of getting there.
STELTER: -- to get to that right answer – to get to that right answer. But when companies get to the right answer, I think they should be recognized. With Whoopi, maybe this was the wrong answer by ABC, but now she’s back.
