CNN’s Jake Tapper slams Biden officials for implying that reporters are siding with America’s enemies
On Thursday morning, February 3, President Joe Biden announced that ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi had been killed the day before during a counterterrorism raid by U.S. forces in Syria. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki later discussed the raid with NPR reporter Ayesha Rascoe, and CNN’s Jake Tapper was highly critical of Psaki’s response to Rascoe’s question.
Rascoe told Psaki that “there may be people who are skeptical of the events that took place” — and Psaki asked, “Skeptical…. that they are not providing accurate information…. and that ISIS is providing accurate information?”
Tapper, commenting on Psaki and Rascoe’s conversation, told viewers, “That’s Jen Psaki squaring off with NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe, who is often at this table, suggesting that if you are skeptical of what the U.S. Pentagon claims, then you are on the side of ISIS.”
I was the reporter who asked about whether the U.S. would provide evidence to back up statements about a suicide bomb.https://twitter.com/feliciasonmez/status/1489322277430874118\u00a0\u2026— Ayesha Rascoe (@Ayesha Rascoe) 1643917822
Aboard AF1, a reporter asked WH press secretary Jen Psaki for evidence to back up the claim that Qurayshi denotated a suicide bomb. \n\nPsaki asked whether skeptics think the U.S. military is "not providing accurate information and ISIS is providing accurate information." 2/x— Felicia Sonmez (@Felicia Sonmez) 1643917075
The reporter did not back down:\n\n"But I mean, the U.S. has not always been straightforward about what happens with civilians," she said. "And I mean, that is a fact." 3/x— Felicia Sonmez (@Felicia Sonmez) 1643917227
Tapper went on to describe a different exchange in which Associated Press reporter Matthew Lee discussed the Biden Administration’s Russia/Ukraine policy with U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price at a press conference and said, “If you want to find solace in information that the Russians are putting out, that is for you to do.”
Then, at the State Department, spokesman Ned Price was repeatedly asked for evidence of the U.S. government's claim that Russia plans to create a "false flag" propaganda video as a pretext for invading Ukraine. 4/x— Felicia Sonmez (@Felicia Sonmez) 1643917335
Price responded: "If you doubt the credibility of the U.S. government, of the British government, of other governments and want to, you know, find solace in information that the Russians are putting out, that is for you to do." 5/x— Felicia Sonmez (@Felicia Sonmez) 1643917441
It's the job of reporters to ask for proof to back up government statements. Doing so does not mean one believes propaganda put out by U.S. adversaries. I imagine these officials know that. Are they simply throwing out these accusations in an effort to deter further Qs? 6/6— Felicia Sonmez (@Felicia Sonmez) 1643918071
Tapper, drawing a parallel between those two exchanges, stressed to his CNN colleague Abby Phillip that the “jobs” of journalists “are to be skeptical” and that the Pentagon “have not only gotten things wrong before — they have openly lied to the American people before.” And he added, “You have Psaki and Price saying: Oh, so you side with our enemies.”
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