CNN is finding itself under intense scrutiny as the network ramps up its efforts in an ongoing feud with President Donald Trump.
…scrutiny the cable news network is failing to live up to.
CNN posted a series of quotes on Twitter on the Fourth of July and even a casual eye could see some were directed at the president, to include one attributed to Abraham Lincoln and one to Benjamin Franklin.
The quotes come on the heels of the media’s horrific reaction to Trump retweeting a tongue-in-cheek meme of him body slamming the CNN logo — the president’s critics said he was inciting violence against reporters.
Happy #FourthOfJuly from CNN Politics!
Celebrate America and its freedoms this Independence Day. pic.twitter.com/x4XAdWEOl2
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 4, 2017
#FourthOfJuly pic.twitter.com/F2kpqGTy5U
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 4, 2017
But are the quotes accurate?
With the network already facing credibility issues over Trump’s insistence that they produce fake news, the quotes CNN tweeted are being slammed as “fake quotes.”
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Turns out, after some digging by Quote Investigator, the Lincoln quote is a somewhat modified version of what was said, with the word “facts” being substituted for “truths” — an important distinction, given that CNN questioned the “facts” Trump shared in a recent tweet about the network’s ratings.
https://twitter.com/QuoteResearch/status/882457624528269316
Yoni Appelbaum, Washington bureau chief of The Atlantic, appeared to confirm the findings in a tweet of his own:
Oh, that’s very well done. The original ran in the Boston Daily Journal, April 17, signed “E.K.” pic.twitter.com/ydCdFCEdIt
— Yoni Appelbaum (@YAppelbaum) July 5, 2017
“The conflation of ‘facts’ and ‘truth’ is perfect,” The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway wrote. “Facts can be manipulated. Truth is much more difficult to attain.”
Hemingway also pointed out that CNN “misattributed” the Franklin quote, saying the quote “actually came from British writers John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, authors of Cato’s Letters.”
The reaction on social media was intense, with social media users ripping CNN for its hypocrisy of celebrating America’s “freedoms” while threatening to expose the private citizen who created the comical WWE meme showing Trump body-slamming the CNN logo.
This Benjamin Franklin Quote is FAKE NEWS.
It was written by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon. But don’t expect @CNN to fact check anything— Bank Fraud Bernie (@notalemming) July 5, 2017
Guess what @CNN
That's a #Fakenews quote – one never uttered by Honest Abe.https://t.co/uqmFkL6Cf5 https://t.co/tjwYODLldy— Tom T. ن®💎 (@VRWCTexan) July 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/LIBSRSCUM/status/882753010908221440
@cvpayne @CNN trying to salvage their rep from #CNNBlackmail row, gets quotes either wrong or heavily out of contexthttps://t.co/HerTksHzmS https://t.co/VbnLOQpGIE
— Anonamouse (@hachizenki) July 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/SMSDeplorable/status/882713357098381313
Quote is not accurate…does that mean you do #FakeQuotes as well as #FakeNews?@CNNPolitics #CrybabyNewsNetwork https://t.co/EgvHblKKFJ
— Judy CONSERVATIVE (@jstines3) July 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/Melly_FL/status/882505326179778560
Wrong quote you hacks pic.twitter.com/oxFnRI0YXQ
— Jackson (@DallasJacked) July 5, 2017
IIRC This is not the first time CNN has been caught producing lying & putting out fake quotes, misquotes, etc. in a propaganda effort.
— FlameCCT (@FlameCCT) July 5, 2017
Ya, we all saw how you stepped all over the meme creators freedoms..Then threatened him! Keep changing/spinning story! How’s that working?
— Trryc (@trryc) July 5, 2017
If your going to quote someone, do your research and quote the “truth” not you so called “facts”?
— Lee Jones (@leeatcherrylee) July 5, 2017
Is this why @CNN is so salty about that wrestling gif that @POTUS tweeted? Somewhat hypocritical here don’t you think @CNNPolitics ???
— Shane Norman (@ShaneDallas) July 5, 2017
President Trump’s unconventional song choice at Independence Day event has critics seeing red
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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