TV News LIES

CNN is coming under heavy criticism after two of its top anchors failed to offer real-time fact checks of false statements made by former President Trump and President Biden as they moderated Thursday night’s presidential debate.

During the highly-anticipated and nationally televised clash, both Trump and Biden made a number of misleading or false statements about topics ranging from crime to immigration to the economy.

Moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash on multiple occasions offered follow up questions when a candidate had not used up all of their allotted speaking time or had not answered a question directly.

But neither, however, offered any fact checks to the two men’s assertions during the 90-minute broadcast.

“CNN’s decision to abrogate its journalistic responsibilities by not fact checking Trump’s firehose of lies is unforgivable,” wrote former cable news host Keith Olbermann in one social media post.

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In a speech to union workers today in Philadelphia, the vice-president, Kamala Harris, said the use of the term “unified reich” in a video posted by Donald Trump was “appalling”.

“In this moment, extremists are trying to divide our nation, and we see them as they encourage xenophobia and hate,” Harris said.

“This kind of rhetoric is unsurprising coming from the former president and it is appalling. And we’ve got to tell him who we are. And once again it shows that our freedom and our very democracy are at stake.”

Joe Biden was also asked about the remark as he campaigned in New Hampshire.

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Democrat Angela Alsobrooks will face off against former Republican governor Larry Hogan in the Maryland Senate race this November, setting up an unexpectedly competitive election in the reliably Democratic state. Republicans have a rare opportunity to flip a Senate seat in Maryland, and the outcome of that race could determine control of the upper chamber in November.

Alsobrooks and Hogan won their parties’ Senate primaries on Tuesday, as Maryland voters cast ballots in the presidential race as well as congressional elections. Joe Biden and Donald Trump easily won the state’s primaries after already securing enough delegates to capture their parties’ nominations.

Leaders of both parties were closely watching the results of the Senate contests, as the retirement of Senator Ben Cardin has created an opening for Republicans to potentially capture the seat, thanks to Hogan’s late entry into the race. A Hogan victory would mark the first time that a Republican has won a Maryland Senate election since 1980, and it could erase Democrats’ narrow majority in the chamber.

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Fifteen prominent historians filed an amicus brief with the US supreme court, rejecting Donald Trump’s claim in his federal election subversion case that he is immune to criminal prosecution for acts committed as president.

Authorities cited in the document include the founders Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Adams, in addition to the historians’ own work.

Trump, the historians said, “asserts that a doctrine of permanent immunity from criminal liability for a president’s official acts, while not expressly provided by the constitution, must be inferred. To justify this radical assertion, he contends that the original meaning of the constitution demands it. But no plausible historical case supports his claim.”

Trump faces four federal election subversion charges, arising from his attempt to overturn his defeat by Joe Biden in 2020, fueled by his lie about electoral fraud and culminating in the deadly attack on Congress of 6 January 2021.

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