#CNNisTrash – villainmarks

On Twitter, #CNNisTrash began trending after the January Democratic Debate moderated by CNN, and it is well-earned.

CNN’s moderators, especially Abby Phillip, showed very obvious bias against Bernie Sanders, sometimes in almost cartoonish ways. I’ll repeat their loaded questions, with highlights added:

Wolf Blitzer: Sen. Sanders, in the wake of the Iran crisis, Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei has again called for all U.S. troops to be pulled out of the Middle East, something you’ve called for, as well. Yet when American troops last left Iraq, ISIS emerged and spread terror across the Middle East and, indeed, around the world. How would you prevent that from happening again?

Bernie couldn’t help himself but chuckle a little as Wolf made this comparison between him and one of the US’s enemies. Wolf has always been a buffoon.

Logical Fallacy Referee: “Attempted guilt by association: just because two items share one trait does not mean they share all traits”

Abby Phillip: Let’s now turn to — let’s now turn to an issue that’s come up in the last 48 hours. Sen. Sanders, CNN reported yesterday that — and Sen. Sanders, Sen. Warren confirmed in a statement, that in 2018 you told her that you did not believe that a woman could win the election. Why did you say that?
Bernie Sanders: Well, as a matter of fact, I didn’t say it. And I don’t want to waste a whole lot of time on this, because this is what Donald Trump and maybe some of the media want. Anybody knows me knows that it’s incomprehensible that I would think that a woman cannot be president of the United States.
Bernie Sanders: Go to YouTube today. There’s a video of me 30 years ago talking about how a woman could become president of the United States. In 2015, I deferred, in fact, to Sen. Warren. There was a movement to draft Sen. Warren to run for president. And you know what, I said — stayed back. Sen. Warren decided not to run, and I then — I did run afterwards.
Bernie Sanders: Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 3 million votes. How could anybody in a million years not believe that a woman could become president of the United States? And let me be very clear. If any of the women on this stage or any of the men on this stage win the nomination, I hope that’s not the case, I hope it’s me. But if they do, I will do everything in my power to make sure that they are elected in order to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of our country.
Abby Phillip: So Sen. Sanders — Sen. Sanders, I do want to be clear here, you’re saying that you never told Sen. Warren that a woman could not win the election?
Bernie Sanders: That is correct.
Abby Phillip: Sen. Warren, what did you think when Sen. Sanders told you a woman could not win the election?

Even the audience erupted in laughter at this blatant bias, essentially ignoring anything Bernie just said and considering him simply a liar. I’ll address Warren’s response in another post, because I think it deserves its own topic.

Abby Phillip: Let’s turn to health care, the top issue for Iowa Democrats. Donald Trump is trying to repeal Obamacare, including the protections for pre-existing conditions. We all know that each of you vigorously opposes that. Still, there are some questions about what each of you would do. Sen. Sanders, you have consistently refused to say exactly how much your Medicare For All plan is going to cost. Don’t voters deserve to see the price tag before you send them a bill that could cost tens of trillions of dollars?
Bernie Sanders: Well, what I will tell you is Medicare For All, which will guarantee comprehensive health care to every man, woman and child, will cost substantially less than the status quo. Medicare For All will end the absurdity of the United States paying by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs and health care in general, while we have 87 million uninsured — uninsured and underinsured, and while 30,000 people die each year.
Bernie Sanders: Under Medicare For All, one of the provisions we have to pay for it is a 4 percent tax on income, exempting the first $29,000. So the average family in America that today makes $60,000 would pay $1,200 a year, compared to that family paying $12,000 a year.
Bernie Sanders: We save money, comprehensive health care, because we take on the greed and the profiteering and the administrative nightmare that currently exists in our dysfunctional system.
Abby Phillip: Vice President Biden, does Sen. Sanders owe voters a price tag on his health care plan?

First of all, Bernie has answered this question numerous times. Second, it’s like she refused to hear anything Bernie just said that answered her question on M4A’s price tag when she shifted over to Biden. I’ll repeat Bernie’s words: the average family in America that today makes $60,000 would pay $1,200 a year, compared to that family paying $12,000 a year in insurance premiums as they currently do.

Abby Phillip: Sen. Sanders, your campaign proposals would double federal spending over the next decade, an unprecedented level of spending not seen since World War II. How would you keep your plans from bankrupting the country?

“Bankrupting the country?” I’d reasonably accept that kind of language from one of Bernie’s opponents, but the moderator is supposed to act as a neutral party. This is a rehash of a Republican talking point against progressive policy.

This was just a disgraceful performance from CNN. Shame on the entire company, and especially on Abby Phillip for her terrible moderation. Wolf is unfortunately inescapable, but I hope to never see her taint another Presidential debate. CNN very clearly had an agenda to smear Bernie and did what they could to tip the scales in their own favor.

I’m glad to see their lack of journalistic integrity did not go unnoticed. I pulled this sampling off the top of Google: