CNN's Dana Bash: How Dare You Say That CNN Attacked Anyone Who Dissented With Fauci and Deliberately Spread Fear for Ratings (and Access)

She says this while pushing fear about measles outbreaks.

BTW, she's highly selective about which outbreaks she chooses to freak out over. When monkeypox was spreading like wildfire, Biden's health advisor refused to even tell gay men not to go to anonymous gangbang/urination parties, and Dana Bash thought that was Sound Science.

But measles? That must be Trump's fault.

This is CNN:

RFK Jr torches CNN anchor Dana Bash for 'press malpractice' over COVID coverage in explosive clash Kennedy told Bash she was 'scaring people' and accused her of punishing people who distrusted Fauci during the pandemic

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Dana Bash she was "part of the problem" and accused CNN of frightening viewers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bash pushed back and defended the network's coverage of federal health guidance.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accused CNN anchor Dana Bash of COVID-era media malpractice Sunday, saying she failed to challenge public health authorities and helped marginalize dissenters during the pandemic.

"You were part of the problem. There was absolute press malpractice. Your job -- your job -- is a fierce skepticism toward authority, and you weren't doing that," Kennedy said on "State of the Union."

"You were beating up on people who were dissenting," the HHS secretary added.

Kennedy leveled the attack after Bash asked how HHS would prepare for another pandemic and tried to move him away from re-litigating the prior federal response.

Bash pushed back, saying she was trying to ask how Kennedy would prevent another public health crisis.

"I also don't want to use this interview to allow you to say things that aren't entirely true," Bash said. "You're talking about therapeutics. Fine. It is also factually true that the COVID vaccine worked. The COVID vaccine prevented deaths. There is data, upon data, upon data."

CDC and Harvard researchers estimated in 2023 that primary vaccination could have prevented at least 232,000 deaths among unvaccinated U.S. adults.

After Bash acknowledged the frightening nature of the pandemic and said officials made mistakes, Kennedy accused CNN of contributing to public fear.

"You were scaring people," Kennedy said.

Bash asked why he believed CNN had frightened viewers, prompting Kennedy to point to its pandemic chyrons.

"Because that was the job of CNN," Kennedy said.

Bash said the network had been covering government officials, including President Donald Trump's daily White House briefings.

"We were listening to the leaders in this country, including the president, who had a daily press conference explaining what was going on," Bash said.

...

Kennedy later accused Bash of punishing people who distrusted Fauci, claiming he lied about masks, social distancing, natural immunity, vaccine transmission and COVID-19's origins.

"We know that Anthony Fauci, who was the expert, was lying about everything," Kennedy said. "He was lying. And you were punishing people for not trusting the experts."

SilentPatriot47 @ShadowPatriotUS

🚨 THE CLIP THAT BROKE THE INTERNET

Dana Bash: "You're the HHS Secretary and you're leading to vaccine hesitancy."

RFK Jr.: "Do you see your job as ending vaccine hesitancy... or telling the truth?"

Bash: "The truth is that there is study after study..."

RFK Jr.: "You're repeating it like a parrot. I've actually read the science. Let's debate the science."

Bash: "I'm not debating this with you."

RFK Jr.: "Of course you won't. Because all you know how to do is repeat what you're told and say 'trust the experts.'

That's what you did during COVID.

Now we know Fauci was lying about everything -- about masks, social distancing, natural immunity, vaccine transmission. He was lying... and you were punishing people for not trusting the expert."

Kennedy also asserted that the government took away our right to free speech during this period, which permitted Fauci's mismanagement and lies to take even more lives.

Dana Bash and Politico, of course, believe that if a (left wing) government bureaucracy wants to exert tyrannical control due to a "health crisis," only a right-wing nutter would object and talk about his constitutional rights.

During an appearance on "State of the Union" that Bash herself described as "contentious," Kennedy argued that Fauci, who served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases during the Covid-19 pandemic, was to blame for the millions of Americans who were sickened or killed by the respiratory virus.

Bash challenged Kennedy's assertions -- pointing out that public health experts say it was a combination of factors that led to such high death rates, including gaps in health care and misinformation -- and noted that Fauci served under President Donald Trump in the first Trump administration. Still, Kennedy held firm that it was Fauci who set the Covid response.

"Experts say the experts were right and even when they were wrong they were just great guys doing the best job anyone could."

What would we do without experts?

"Anthony Fauci was mismanaging the Covid pandemic and was doing it under the Biden administration. President Trump wanted to end the lockdowns," Kennedy said.

The exchange grew tense as Bash pressed Kennedy on how the nation should prepare for a future pandemic.

"I mean, I think we did virtually everything wrong the last time," Kennedy said, adding that the "primary obligation" in any future health crisis must be to "protect our constitutional rights."

"You're talking about rights, and I'm asking about a potential public health crisis that is coming," Bash replied.

Dana Bash can't wait for total government lockdowns again. Her cooter is vibrating over the possibility.

"One of the mistakes we made in the last time was suppressing those rights," Kennedy said. "So people weren't being heard. Doctors who are saying you're doing it wrong were being marginalized and vilified."

As Bash attempted to pivot, Kennedy accused her and CNN of being "part of the problem."

"Your job is a fierce skepticism toward authority," he said before accusing Bash of attacking him.

"I'm not attacking you. I'm asking questions about how to prevent the next pandemic," Bash replied. "But I also don't want to use this interview to allow you to say things that aren't entirely true. You're talking about therapeutics -- fine. It is also factually true that the Covid vaccine worked. The Covid vaccine prevented deaths. There is data upon data upon data."

Kennedy, however, dismissed those studies.

"You are saying nonsense. You are saying something that you cannot show me a single study that says that," Kennedy said, accusing Bash of "scaring people" about Covid "because that was the job of CNN."

"We were listening to the leaders in this country, including the president, who had a daily press conference explaining what was going on and trying to listen," Bash said before shifting over to the current measles outbreak.

Bash asked Kennedy if he accepted some responsibility for the current measles outbreak, labeling him as "one of the leading voices questioning vaccine efficacy."

"Absolutely not," Kennedy responded before again laying the blame at Fauci's feet. "The reason we're having a measles outbreak is because of the Covid lockdowns, because people didn't -- children during that period did not get vaccinated."

Bash then challenged Kennedy to stare into the camera and vouch for measles vaccines -- he did vouch for the vaccines -- before asking about researching a link between vaccines and autism.

Kennedy responded by discussing concerns around consuming Tylenol while pregnant, appearing to echo Trump's unsubstantiated claims of an unproven link between acetaminophen and autism. At that, Bash appeared visibly annoyed.

"You're rolling your eyes, Dana," Kennedy said.

"I am because I don't want to have you use our air to say this," she replied.

"Our air."

"Yeah you know, you probably don't understand this because you're not a scientist," Kennedy said.

"Neither are you," Bash shot back.

I don't understand why he would say that CNN wanted everyone to be afraid of covid!

I mean, Jake Tapper said "it's okay to be afraid of covid" and their medical "expert" Sanjay Gupta said it was "gross" for Trump to urge people not to let covid dominate their lives, so it's just a total lie that CNN wanted people to be afraid.

I can't believe Dana Bash allowed this lie on "our air"!

CNN was all about the truth. And also, pleasing its huge advertiser Pfizer.

Matt Orfalea put together this compilation of CNN scaring the hell out of people, telling them that covid would kill their 5-year-old children if they didn't get them fake-vaccinated:

Western Lensman
@WesternLensman

The strategy CNN management chose was silence. Just say nothing, and hope the controversy fades away.

It's been almost 10 days since Fauci diary entries revealed that two of CNN's top anchors were private pals with the man they were supposed to be objectively covering.

From "friendship building" dinner parties, backchanneling interview questions, to texting insults about Republicans, none of it has been addressed by Tapper, Bash, Stelter or anyone else at CNN.

Just pretend like it never happened.

And to many people who aren't on 𝕏 or don't consume right-leaning media -- it never did.

Ethics. Transparency. Journalism.

This is CNN.

Even Bill Maher, who is a buffoon, can see through this:

RedWave Press @RedWavePress

Bill Maher: "[Dr. Anthony Fauci] was caught in ACTUAL LIES... The big issue to me is the origin of [COVID], which is very important... and he was telling people up front... it was from the wet markets. 'That's a conspiracy theory if you say it -- escape from the lab.'"

"And he KNEW better because we have him in his diary telling us what he was saying to other scientists. Who were saying, 'No, absolutely.'"

"And the REAL ISSUE here is the gain-of-function research."

"We make everything about race... You couldn't say it escaped from the lab because that was the RACIST point of view somehow. That the entire Asian continent would have been somehow complicit in this because it escaped [from the Wuhan lab in China]."

"It was ridiculous!"

posted by Disinformation Expert Ace at 04:15 PM

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