Following MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell’s apology for airing non-vetted claims about President Trump’s finances, editor for The Federalist Mollie Hemingway called his actions “embarrassing” and accused the media of prolonging the Russia collusion narrative on purpose.
“Blockbuster stories were promised that would show definitively that Donald Trump was a traitor who had colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election,” she said Thursday on “Fox & Friends.”
“They were frequently based on anonymous sources — very thin sourcing. The stories always fell apart under scrutiny,” she continued. “It was so sad to see it for years, this daily drumbeat before the Mueller report ended. To see that some people are still doing it months after is embarrassing and sad.”
MSNBC’s O’DONNELL RETRACTS TRUMP-RUSSIA STORY, APOLOGIZES
O’Donnell, the host of “The Last Word,” admitted to making an “error in judgment” after airing an unverified report, claiming Trump had loans co-signed by Russian oligarchs.
“Last night I made an error in judgment by reporting an item about the president’s finances that didn’t go through our rigorous verification and standards process. I shouldn’t have reported it and I was wrong to discuss it on the air. I will address the issue on my show tonight,” O’Donnell tweeted Wednesday afternoon.
He also made a statement on his show Wednesday night and apologized for failing to follow protocol.
“Last night on this show, I discussed information that wasn’t ready for reporting,” O’Donnell said. “I repeated statements a single source told me about the president’s finances and loan documents with Deutsche Bank. Saying ‘if true’ — as I discussed the information — was simply not good enough. I did not go through the rigorous verification and standards process here at MSNBC before repeating what I heard from my source. Had it gone through that process, I would not have been permitted to report it. I should not have said it on-air or posted it on Twitter. I was wrong to do so.”
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Hemingway said it has become a common trend among the media to paint Trump as a villainous traitor and claimed many Democratic voters are buying into a false narrative, and rewarding journalists for biased reporting.
“Polls have shown that a majority of Democrats believe false things about Russia’s involvement with the U.S. election,” she said. “These specific stories alleging treason on the part of the Trump administration or Donald Trump or people close to him — there is not evidence to support this and yet the stories have been happening, and it’s not just MSNBC.
“You had multiple failures at multiple media outlets and rather than seeing any self-examination, or looking at why they were able to fall for such a ridiculous story, people got awards for their reporting,” she said.
