Just like four years ago, The Atlantic magazine is running the claims of anonymous gossips that Donald Trump hates the American military, and he wishes he had generals like Adolf Hitler had. CBS Evening News jumped right on this garbage barge, leading its newscast with unproven allegations. MRC senior research analyst Bill D'Agostino shares his thoughts.
CBS anchor Norah O'Donnell touted "a new report that Trump, while president, used the F word to describe a murdered Mexican-American soldier. That story is that Trump scoffed at the price of a funeral he offered to pay for Private Vanessa Guillen, something Trump’s team tonight denies."
Denial barely matters. What matters is making sure there's always time for a negative Trump story, and whether it's true or false isn't the primary concern.
The networks also touted a new New York Times interview of former Trump chief of staff John Kelly. They captured the audio so the clips could air on national TV. ABC's George Stephanopoulos hyped Kelly “speaking out with things you have never heard before from someone who has served a president.”
As in? “He says Donald Trump fits the definition of a fascist. He says Donald Trump praised Adolf Hitler, demeaned American war heroes, calls Donald Trump a man who would govern like a dictator if allowed.”
Fact-check: Pants on fire. Curtis Houck did a simple internet search, which revealed Kelly first leveled these claims in August 2022 in a book for liberal Peter Baker and Susan Glasser, and doubled down in March 2024 to CNN host and former Obama official Jim Sciutto.
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