What a strange 72 hours it has been for ABC News as the network engaged in some good old-fashioned fake news.
On Friday, ABC News reported that former national security advisor Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI investigators and will fully cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe. This is the biggest part of the tale: Flynn will testify that then-candidate Donald Trump “directed him to make contact with the Russians.”
In summary, it was then-Candidate Trump who ordered Flynn to make contact with Moscow, and NOT President-Elect Trump. Big difference.
This report was plastered all over the media, and the entire anti-Trump crowd rejoiced and joined in the “I told you so.” Even the stock market plunged nearly 400 points on the news. But was the story even correct?
Nope.
Hours later, ABC News’s Brian Ross, who initially reported the story, issued a clarification that this was an inaccurate report, stating that it was President-Elect Trump, NOT Candidate-Trump. He wrote:
“[A] clarification tonight on something one of Flynn’s confidants told us and we reported earlier today. He said the president had asked Flynn to contact Russia during the campaign. He’s now clarifying that saying, according to Flynn, candidate Trump asked him during the campaign to find ways to repair relations with Russia and other world hot spots. And then after the election, the president-elect asked him to contact Russia on issues including working together to fight ISIS.”
Soon afterwards, ABC News published a correction on Twitter.
CORRECTION of ABC News Special Report: Flynn prepared to testify that President-elect Donald Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians *during the transition* — initially as a way to work together to fight ISIS in Syria, confidant now says. https://t.co/ewrkVZTu2K pic.twitter.com/URLiHf3uSm
— ABC News (@ABC) December 2, 2017
Ostensibly, this wasn’t enough for the network executives. On Saturday, ABC announced that they would be suspending the veteran chief investigative correspondent for four weeks without pay “effective immediately.”
ABC said in a statement on Saturday evening:
“It is vital we get the story right and retain the trust we have built with our audience — these are our core principles. We fell far short of that yesterday.”
.@ABC News statement on Michael Flynn report: https://t.co/sd9TeFiiLQ pic.twitter.com/UtHFHeuwcM
— ABC News (@ABC) December 2, 2017
President Donald Trump wants to take it one step further on Sunday morning: sue the network.
“People who lost money when the Stock Market went down 350 points based on the False and Dishonest reporting of Brian Ross of @ABC News (he has been suspended), should consider hiring a lawyer and suing ABC for the damages this bad reporting has caused – many millions of dollars!” he tweeted.
People who lost money when the Stock Market went down 350 points based on the False and Dishonest reporting of Brian Ross of @ABC News (he has been suspended), should consider hiring a lawyer and suing ABC for the damages this bad reporting has caused – many millions of dollars!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2017
Now that Trump has gotten personally involved in the ABC fake news fiasco, the mainstream media will jack it up to a 10 on the Richter scale.
Let’s be honest: 2017 has been a bad year for the mainstream media, and this is even after declaring for months that Hillary Clinton would win the 2016 election in a landslide. Fake news is more prevalent than ever before.
No wonder why CNN wants to retire the term.
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