Trump administration excoriates CNN, MSNBC for not airing Patty Morin's appeal to journalists at White House
"SHAMEFUL that @CNN and @MSNBC refuses to take Angel Mom Patty Morin as she recounts the terrible tragedy of how an illegal killed her sweet daughter, Rachel," Steven Cheung, assistant to the president and White House director of communications, posted on X Wednesday.
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk replied to Cheung's post on X with a "100" emoji.
In another post on X quoting Cheung's post, Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy and Homeland Security advisor, said, "CNN's and MSNBC's contempt for the victims of migrant crime is reprehensible."
Patty Morin joined White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt at a Wednesday White House press briefing to talk about her daughter Rachel Morin's August 2023 murder by Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez.
CNN and MSNBC did not carry the briefing with Morin live. CNN did play a clip of Patty Morin from the briefing on Thursday afternoon.
According to a Grabien Media search, CNN mentioned Rachel Morin on the air each day this week, while MSNBC hasn't mentioned her at all, including on flagship morning show "Morning Joe."
Rachel, a Maryland mother of five children, was jogging when Martinez-Hernandez beat, raped and strangled her to death. On Monday, a Maryland jury found Martinez-Hernandez guilty on all counts of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, third-degree sexual offense and kidnapping.
Patty Morin begged journalists in tears to "tell the truth, tell how violent it really is," and said the conversation about immigration "is about protecting our children. It's more than just politics or votes or just anything. It's about national security, protecting Americans, protecting our kids."
She also called out Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who traveled to El Salvador on Wednesday "to show solidarity" with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant and suspected MS-13 gang member who lived in Maryland before the administration deported him to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center.
Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, went so far as to say that "Comcast outlets spent days misleading the American public—implying that Abrego Garcia was merely a law abiding U.S. citizen, just a regular 'Maryland man.' When the truth comes out, they ignore it."
MSNBC is owned by NBCUniversal, a Comcast subsidiary, and CNN is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.
Carr added that "Comcast knows that federal law requires its licensed operations to serve the public interest. News distortion doesn't cut it."
According to a study published Wednesday by the Media Research Center, ABC, CBS, and NBC spent zero seconds on the Martinez-Hernandez trial, but 64 minutes were spent on Abrego Garcia between April 1 and 15.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment as well as CNN and MSNBC, but did not immediately receive a response.
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