Media Headlines October 22
In today’s media, Cnn’s Biden City Hall answers questions from 7 Democrats and just 2 Republicans, Associated Press releases correction on photo of Netflix counter-protester, and CNN hits back at Joe Rogan for his ivermectin coverage
President Biden answered questions for about 90 minutes at a high-profile, albeit poorly rated, CNN town hall event on Thursday, but no one bothered to question the Commander-in-Chief about the pullout. botched US troops from Afghanistan.
“How Anderson Cooper – who won awards for his reporting on war zones, including Afghanistan – didn’t feel the need to ask a single question about Afghanistan is revealing. Former CNNer Jen Psaki and the current chief communications advisor of this were to be thrilled, “Fox News contributor Joe Concha said.
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“The White House clearly got what it wanted from CNN, which is not at all a shell of the once proud news brand it was,†Concha added.
President Joe Biden attends a CNN town hall at the Baltimore Center Stage Pearlstone Theater on Thursday, October 21, 2021, in Baltimore, with moderator Anderson Cooper. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)
(AP Photo / Evan Vucci)
Critics criticized Biden for meeting an arbitrary August 31 deadline for the withdrawal of US troops, even though it seemed unlikely that the military would be able to withdraw all troops and civilians by then.
Biden sadly assured Americans that the Taliban would not storm the American embassy in Kabul in the same way the North Vietnamese stormed the American embassy in Saigon in 1975. However, events refuted this confident prediction, as the images of Kabul eerily echoed Saigon.
Retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, Fox News contributor and former acting national security adviser to President Trump, told Fox News at the time that Biden was the owner of the Afghanistan withdrawal disaster and that the Afghan power vacuum left by Biden was “much worse” than the power vacuum in Iraq that spawned the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
However, Biden was hesitant to answer questions from reporters who might ask about the chaotic pullout. In August, he dropped a question about Afghanistan after offering to inquire at Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters when commenting on Hurricane Ida.
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“I’m not supposed to answer any questions, but go ahead,” Biden told the Bloomberg News reporter. Jennifer jacobs.
Jacobs began: “Mr. President, about Afghanistan …”
“I’m not going to answer on Afghanistan now,” Biden interrupted before stepping away from the podium.
CNN had the chance to question Biden about the ordeal on Thursday but apparently didn’t deem it necessary.
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
President Joe Biden was not asked about Afghanistan at a CNN town hall Thursday. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)
(AP Photo / Evan Vucci)
It was reported earlier this week that the State Department’s Inspector General was launching a series of investigations into the Biden administration’s latest diplomatic moves in Afghanistan. Reviews will focus on the State Department’s Special Immigrant Visa Program, Afghans processed for the admission of refugees to the United States, resettlement of refugees and visa recipients, and emergency evacuation. from the US Embassy in Kabul, according to an Oct. 15 memo to Secretary of State Blinken First reported by Politico and confirmed by Fox News.
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Of the 12 attendees who were able to ask questions at the CNN event, seven were identified as Democrats, three were identified as independents, and only two were identified as Republicans. The first Republican, who asked Biden why he hadn’t gone to the southern border, was only introduced by Cooper in the last 20 minutes of the event.
The Second Republican, who was the last participant to ask a question, asked the president how he would follow the Chinese military amid news of their hypersonic missile tests if he promised to protect Taiwan.
CNN’s town hall with Chairman Biden did not help the struggling network in the ratings department as the event averaged 1.2 million viewers to finish behind Fox News and 8 p.m. MSNBC at 9:30 p.m. ET Thursday. During the same period, Fox News averaged 2.8 million viewers and MSNBC averaged 1.4 million.
Joseph W. Wulfsohn and Tyler O’Neil of Fox News contributed to this report.
