Latest news with #BrianStelter
Fox News
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
DAVID MARCUS: CNN's airing of ‘Good Night And Good Luck" proves it has learned nothing
It takes a lot for me to object to a television program that includes gratuitous smoking and jazz, but CNN found the exception Saturday night with its breathtakingly sanctimonious live telecast of Broadway's "Good Night and Good Luck." This was as shameless as it gets. Many are familiar with the 2005 hit movie that the play, starring George Clooney, is based on, in which brave 1950s CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow takes on the red scare baiting of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. CNN's message was clear, they are the heroic journalists and President Donald Trump is McCarthy. As if this metaphor wasn't already incessantly slamming us in the head like a giant inflatable hammer for two hours, CNN's resident media guru Brian Stelter wrote an entire column comparing McCarthyism to the current lawsuit against CBS News' "60 Minutes," whose extremely friendly (read: dishonest) edit of an interview with Kamala Harris could have tilted the 2024 election, according to Trump. "The real-life drama recounted in the play took place at CBS, the same network that is currently being targeted by President Donald Trump," wrote Stelter. "That's one of the reasons why the play's dialogue feels ripped from recent headlines." CNN's media expert basically left out the whole part about "60 Minutes" editing a Kamala Harris interview to make her incoherent answers seem somewhat sensical, because for Stalter and CNN fighting against Trump is more important than journalistic integrity every day of the week. Even if Stelter, who once championed the absurd Biden White House lie that videos of decrepit Joe Biden were "cheap-fakes," won't say it, "60 Minutes" disgraced itself and lied to the American people. But there was Scott Pelley, the "60 Minutes" anchor on CNN, after the show, with an air of gravity and profound conceit, insisting that, "if you have the courage to speak, we are saved. If you fall silent, the country is doomed." Do these people listen to themselves? Do they own any mirrors? CNN and most of the liberal legacy media spent the entirety of the first Trump presidential term fostering a fake Russian collusion story. They then spent the four years under Biden ignoring the fact that he was demonstrably unfit. Where on earth do these people get off lecturing us about journalism? Then, of course, there is the star of the show, George Clooney himself. This is the same George Clooney who lied about the president of the United States being a zombie until it became politically expedient to be honest. Just like CNN lied about Russiagate, just like "60 Minutes" lied about editing Harris, Clooney lied about Biden's fitness. Because to these people, any lie is justifiable as long as it hurts Donald Trump. I really wish that was hyperbole, but it's not. Clooney has no contrition over his lies, and neither does CNN, Jake Tapper, Brian Stelter, or Scott Pelley. They don't think they did anything wrong. If they did, they wouldn't be dressing themselves up as heirs to the courageous journalism of Murrow. After the play, there was an assemblage of journalists, speaking before journalism students about the importance of what they had just witnessed. Of course, the closest thing CNN had to a conservative was Brett Stephens, a nice guy, but widely acknowledged as the Washington Generals of conservative political punditry. Needless to say, they congratulated themselves on being so enlightened and brave and speaking truth to power, while the handful of people watching threw up a little in their own mouths. You almost have to admire the audacity of CNN. Just weeks after bombshell books and reporting finally confirmed the obvious about Biden's incapacity and the liberal media's lies, the network aired a play in which it dressed itself up as brave heroes of the newsroom. It's amazing. It's also informative. This bizarre effort by CNN to paint itself in historical glory is proof positive that the network has learned nothing from its lies over the past eight years, and there is no reason to believe it will start being honest anytime soon. This reckoning by the liberal press regarding their failure to tell the truth about Biden is over. In fact, it never really began, and if they had somehow dragged bag-a-bones Joe over the finish line and gotten him elected, we'd have likely never known a thing about it. There's an old saying, when people tell you who they are, believe them. On Saturday night, CNN showed America exactly what they are: a shameless, unrepentant, and unreliable source for news. And that's the way it is.
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Jon Stewart mocks CNN for cashing in on Biden cancer diagnosis
Daily Show host Jon Stewart shamed CNN on Monday for endlessly promoting a top anchor's new book about Joe Biden's cognitive decline while covering the former president's cancer diagnosis. Stewart, 62, blasted the network as 'f***ing weird' for touting the tome alongside news that Biden is battling an 'aggressive' form of prostate cancer. He framed the effort as not only self-serving, but poor journalism - saying CNN had its chance to report on news of Biden's mental state before the election. The book, Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, claims to detail a distinct Democratic 'cover-up' designed to allow Biden to run again. Ahead of the book's Tuesday release, it was plugged by co-author and CNN host Jake Tapper, Brian Stelter, and Kate Bouldan - leading Stewart to call out specific sound bites. 'You will not believe what we found out,' Tapper says in one clip, while holding up a copy of his book. 'Don't news people have to tell you what they know when they find it out?' Stewart sarcastically responded, suggesting CNN had the chance to air such reporting a year ago. 'Isn't that the difference between news and a secret?' Stewart ran through plethora of other CNN clips featuring talking heads flogging the book. 'Biden's health was very much in the news even before the cancer diagnosis was announced on Sunday,' Early Start host Rahel Solomon said in a segment. 'That's because of a new book by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios journalist Alex Thompson,' she added. The tagline was later repeated word-for-word by CNN International anchor Ben Hunte on CNN Newsroom. 'CNN's chief media analyst, Brian Stelter, looks at a controversy the book is already generating ahead of its release on Tuesday,' Hunte added, giving the floor to CNN's media reporter. Mere hours before, Stelter had appeared to question the timing of Biden's diagnosis, calling it 'extraordinary' and pointing out how it arrived on 'the same day audio clips of [Biden's] Robert Hur interview were all over the news.' 'The timing of former President Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis is certainly dramatic,' he said, speaking to Hunte and viewers in a clip also played by Stewart. 'Coming on the eve of a blockbuster new book about his health and his time in the White House. CNN Business correspondent Rahel Solomon was one of several CNN hosts to promote their coworker's new book 'That book is "Original Sin" by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson. 'The book has been getting a lot of pre-publication publicity and buzz, as well as a lot of preorders,' Stelter continued. '[It's] because of the damning new details it contains about Biden's time in office and his decision to seek reelection in 2024.' Another segment singled out by Stewart showed CNN News Central anchor Bolduan saying, 'This very tough news, this very challenging news,' while speaking on Biden's diagnosis. 'And at the same time, the backdrop of our colleague Jake Tapper's book with Alex Thompson coming out this week,' she quickly added. After showing a clip of anchor Dana Bash saying it's going to be a "tough week" while touting the book, Stewart couldn't resist. 'It's so hard, it's such a difficult time, so unfathomable in terms of the pain his family must be feeling and yet, if you act now, you use the code "backslash tap that book,"' he sniped. CNN stars Kate Bouldan, Van Jones, and Brian Stelter all shilled for the book as well This left an incredulous Stewart to find humor in the situation. He branded the 'pivot from excitedly promoting your anchor's book to somberly and respectfully promoting your anchor's book' a failure 'Forgetting about the fact how f***ing weird it is that the news is selling you a book about news they should have told you about a year ago for free.' 'Nothing could slow down this coming, feeding news frenzy about Biden's cognitive health, other than maybe a report on his actual physical health,' he added separately. 'Doing the story seems almost disrespectful.'
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Biden fans rage at Brian Stelter after CNN star said cancer revelation was conveniently-timed
Joe Biden supporters have branded CNN analyst Brian Stelter a 'disgrace' and 'vile human' after he claimed that the revelation about the former president's prostate cancer diagnosis was conveniently-timed. Stelter criticized Biden for waiting to publicly announce his health crisis until Sunday, even though he received the diagnosis on Friday. The CNN personality alleged the Biden camp chose to disclose his diagnosis in wake of the newly released audio recordings of Biden speaking to special counsel Robert Hur in 2023, which laid bare his declining memory lapses. 'The timing is just extraordinary,' Stelter said Sunday on CNN. 'We know from the statement from his personal spokesman that Biden learned of the diagnosis on Friday. 'Well, what was the biggest Biden story on Friday? It was the release of those audio excerpts from his conversations with Robert Hur back in 2023.' He also pointed the pending release of a book by his colleague Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson that features accounts of Biden's mental and physical decline, as well as alleged attempts to cover up is ailing health. Social media users were quick to attack Stelter for his 'insinuations', calling him a 'coward' and 'soulless ghoul' for trashing the Biden family during this difficult time. 'A human being reveals just how foul he is by suggesting that a fellow human's stage 4 aggressive cancer diagnosis is fake,' one X user wrote, while another questioned: 'What the f*** is wrong with you? This is sickening.' Biden, 82, was diagnosed with an 'aggressive form' of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. He received the diagnosis on Friday after experiencing urinary symptoms, and he and his family are reviewing treatment options with doctors. 'On the day that story was breaking, Biden was facing this personal news,' Stelter said during Sunday's broadcast, referencing the bombshell audio clips. The clips featured excerpts from Biden's conversations with Hurr that 'Axios obtained almost certainly from the Trump Administration', he said. Stelter pointed out how the audio showed 'memory lapses' and claimed that many people have said the clips were 'hard to hear, even excruciating to hear'. He claimed Biden was 'showing his age on those audio tapes that had never been heard by the public before'. 'So you have that as one element of the timing here,' he continued. 'And then you have … this book coming out, one of the biggest political books in several years,' Stelter added, referencing Tapper and Thompson's upcoming book Original Sin, which is scheduled to hit shelves this week. Skepticism has emerged over the timeline of Biden's diagnosis, with some medical experts claiming that he likely knew about his cancer much sooner than is being portrayed – especially considering its advanced stage just over a year after his last presidential physical. But regardless, Stelter's commentary has infuriated the American public, who seemingly think the allegations were inappropriate. 'You sir should be ashamed of yourself. Instead of empathy, dignity and compassion you've demonstrated your ignorance,' one X user posted. The user also criticized Stelter for turning off his replies on the his 'outrageous statement' about Biden. Stelter's commentary has infuriated the American public, who have branded him a 'disgrace' and 'vile human' 'Coward. No responses allowed. You are a disgrace to journalism,' echoed another. 'You have a privilege you squander and a responsibility you laugh at. 'What's extraordinary is you see nothing wrong with what you wrote and don't care. You are an extraordinary a**.' One added: 'This is really gross, Brian.' And another echoed: 'When I call members of the media "soulless ghouls" this is what I am talking about. What kind of awful human being would suggest Biden timed the announcement of his cancer diagnosis to take attention away from a selectively leaked audio clip. Stelter is a despicable POS.' 'Brian Stelter is a vile human,' added another angry user. Audio was published Friday from portions of interviews Biden gave to federal prosecutors in 2023, the latest in a stream of reports putting questions about Biden's health back in the spotlight A then-80-year old Biden fails to recall when his son Beau passed away and even when he left office as vice president under Barack Obama in an interview recorded seven months before the debate disaster against Donald Trump that effectively ended his re-election run. Hur asserted during the investigation over the mishandling of classified evidence that jurors would see the president as 'a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.' A then-80-year old Biden fails to recall when his son Beau passed away and even when he left office as vice president under Barack Obama in an interview recorded seven months before the debate disaster against Donald Trump that effectively ended his re-election run The audio shows Biden - who has long had a stutter - slurring his words, losing his thought process and not being able to recall important facts about his own life. At one point, he can even be heard asking: 'Am I making any sense to you?' Hur was appointed special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland in January 2022 to investigate the president's handling of classified files based on a range of areas including Afghanistan. The Biden administration had already released transcripts of the interviews taking place on October 8 and October 9, 2023 had already revealed that Biden's lawyer had to tell him what year his son Beau died of brain cancer and the president joked about the special counsel finding pictures of his wife in a swimsuit. 'What was happening though was... What month did Beau die?' Biden mused at one point, adding, 'Oh God, May 30th.' A White House lawyer then chimed in with the year, 2015. 'Was it 2015 he died?' Biden asked. He leads into the confusion by suggesting Beau died in either 2017 or 2018, or even earlier than that, as he's discussing his 2008 presidential run. Biden asks Hur: 'This is what, 2017, 18, in that area?' When Hur affirms, Biden says: 'Remember, in this time frame, my son is … uh … would've been deployed or is dying and so … it was … and by the way there were still a lot of people at the time, when I got out of the Senate, that were encouraging me to run in this period - except the president.' Beau deployed between 2008 and 2009, at the beginning of Biden's first term as vice president. Biden issued a statement on X early Monday morning, confirming his prostate cancer diagnosis. 'Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support,' he wrote. Cancers that have spread, or metastasized, are considered Stage 4, the most advanced. Most prostate cancers are detected at an earlier stage. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, of the 236,659 cases of prostate cancer diagnosed in 2021, 70 per cent were diagnosed before the cancer had spread beyond the prostate. About 8 per cent of new prostate cancer diagnoses that year involved advanced-stage disease. 'While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,' Biden's office said on Sunday. Biden's physical health and mental acuity drew scrutiny during his 2021-2025 presidency. He abruptly ended his bid for reelection last July, weeks after a halting performance during a debate against Republican Donald Trump prompted panic among his fellow Democrats. President Trump, who has repeatedly berated Biden since taking office in January, expressed sympathy on Sunday for Biden and his wife, Jill, in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. 'Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden's recent medical diagnosis,' he wrote. 'We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.' Biden's office said the cancer scored a nine out of 10 on the Gleason score grading system, which is used to help determine the aggressiveness of prostate cancer. Biden was the oldest person to win the US presidency at the time of his election in 2020. Trump, 78, broke that record when he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris last year. Some prominent Democrats have recently acknowledged that it was an error to advance Biden as the 2024 nominee, given widespread concerns among voters about his age. Long before the debate last summer, polls showed a majority of Americans, including most Democrats, believed Biden was too old to serve a second term. 'It was a mistake for Democrats to not listen to the voters earlier,' Democratic US Senator Chris Murphy told NBC News' 'Meet the Press' on Sunday morning, before Biden's diagnosis was announced. Biden has kept a low profile since leaving office, making only a handful of public appearances, including an April speech in which he defended the Social Security Administration against Trump's planned cuts. He has also defended his legacy in interviews and rejected reporting in two new books that he suffered from cognitive decline during his last year in office. 'They are wrong,' he said earlier this month on ABC's 'The View,' referring to the books' authors. Biden's diagnosis triggered an outpouring of supportive statements on Sunday from Democrats and Republicans alike. 'Joe is a fighter - and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership,' Harris said in a statement. Biden lost a son, Beau Biden, in 2015 due to brain cancer. In 2022, , seeking to reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50 per cent over the next 25 years.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
CNN host describes timing of Biden's cancer announcement as ‘extraordinary'
CNN host and media pundit Brian Stelter has questioned the timing of former President Joe Biden's announcement on Sunday that he has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, calling it 'extraordinary' as the news coincides with a series of negative stories about the Democrat's final years in the White House. Biden, 82, received the diagnosis on Friday, according to a spokesperson, after doctors discovered a 'small nodule' on his prostate that required additional evaluation and subsequently determined that the cancer is 'high grade' and has spread to the bone. His representative said the former president and his family are currently 'reviewing treatment options' with physicians. 'The timing is just extraordinary,' Stelter told his network colleague Jessica Dean in response to the development. 'Biden learned of the diagnosis Friday. Well, what was the biggest Biden story on Friday? It was the release of those excruciating audio excerpts from his conversations with Robert Hur back in 2023.' 'You have that [audio release] as one element of the timing here,' Stelter continued. 'And then you have this book coming out… one of the biggest political books in several years.' He was referring to the leaking of audio on Friday from Biden's 2023 interview with Justice Department special counsel Robert Hur about allegations that he improperly stored classified documents at his Delaware home, which revealed the president struggling to remember key dates and details, having to be prompted by his lawyers and speaking in a hoarse, whispering voice. The release of Hur's report on the interview in February 2024, in which he described Biden as a 'sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,' caused uproar among liberals at the time, who saw it as a calculated attack on the president and an attempt to encourage the perception that he was in a state of cognitive decline in order to boost Donald Trump's rival presidential campaign. The book in question is the forthcoming Original Sin by Dean's fellow network anchor, Jake Tapper, and Axios reporter Alex Thompson. It aims to illuminate the conversations behind the scenes that led to the president's historic decision last July to drop out of the 2024 race. This decision paved the way for his Vice President Kamala Harris to run in his stead and, ultimately, lose to Trump in November. Prior to the book's publication, Biden appeared to be attempting to reassert control over the narrative surrounding his legacy. He gave a major interview to the BBC earlier this month and appeared on ABC's The View alongside his wife, former first lady Dr. Jill Biden, much to the annoyance of Democratic strategists keen to move on from their party's humbling election loss. Stelter was not the only pundit to note the timing of the announcement: MAGA activist Laura Loomer wrote on X that she believed it was a 'PR strategy' to shield Biden from criticism arising from Tapper and Thompson's book. Others have reacted more sympathetically to the news, however. President Trump said he was 'saddened' and that he and his wife Melania Trump 'extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.' Former president Barack Obama, whom Biden served as vice president for two terms between 2009 and 2017, paid tribute to his friend's own track record of supporting cancer research since his son Beau Biden died in 2015, while Harris praised him as a 'fighter.'
New York Post
19-05-2025
- Health
- New York Post
CNN's Brian Stelter questions timing of Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis: ‘Just extraordinary'
CNN analyst Brian Stelter has questioned the timing of Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis — insisting it's 'extraordinary' the news broke just as the former president was battling an onslaught of criticism over his mental decline while in the White House. 'The timing … is just extraordinary,' the anchor said on the left-leaning network Sunday. 'We know from the statement from his personal spokesman that Biden learned of the diagnosis on Friday. Advertisement Brian Stelter discusses Biden's diagnosis on CNN. 'Well, what was the biggest Biden story on Friday? It was the release of those audio excerpts from his conversations with Robert Hur back in 2023,' he noted. The harrowing audio captured Biden rambling through an interview with special counsel Robert Hur in October 2023 — repeatedly losing his train of thought and struggling to recall key details of his political and personal life, including when his son died. Advertisement 'On the day that story was breaking, Biden was facing this personal news,' Stelter said. 'So you have that as one element of the timing here.' President Biden and Jill Biden appear for their first public interview since leaving office on ABC's The View on May 8, 2025. The View/ABC The CNN personality also pointed to the release of a bombshell book by his network colleague Jake Tapper, which includes troubling accounts of Biden's mental and physical decline, as well as apparent efforts to cover it up. Advertisement 'And then you have… this book coming out, one of the biggest political books in several years,' he said. Stelter's questioning about the timing comes as medical experts say it is 'inconceivable' that the cancer was not caught earlier — while first son Don Trump Jr. even suggested it's is part of a 'cover-up.'
