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CNN Host Absurdly Judges The Mental Health Of Fox News

Betsy Rothstein Gossip blogger
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CNN’s Chief Media Correspondent Brian Stelter started off “Reliable Sources” with a dizzying mix of thoughts and accusations Sunday. One of them being this: Is Fox News mentally unhealthy?

He announced that Fox News has suspended Jeanine Pirro for questioning Rep. Ilhan Omar‘s (D-Minn.) patriotism. This came on the heels of several morning tweets from President Trump in which he praised Pirro and insisted that the network bring her back. So far, the network has said nothing about firing Pirro.

“For the record, if Tucker Carlson is watching, I don’t want Fox to shut down,” Stelter told his three-member panel, which consisted of a NYT White House reporter, a deafening liberal media reporter who has absolutely no volume control and an ex-President Obama official, all of whom vociferously agree with Stelter or otherwise suck up to him. He won’t bring on guests who disagree with him.

But please… let him continue.

“I just want Fox News to be a healthy part of the media ecosystem, and the spread of misinformation that happens on these programs is unhealthy,” he said. “I think it’s as simple as that.”

Hey Brian, please get over yourself. Number 1: Tucker, who consistently refers to you as a “eunich,” doesn’t watch your show. Whatever clips or information he needs, he gets from his staff. He doesn’t spend his Sundays hanging on your every word or your any word. He hasn’t watched TV in years. Number 2: Your degree from Towson University in mass communication and working on the school paper don’t qualify you to assess anyone’s psychological fitness. Number 3: Your brand of journalism  on a daily, weekly basis is biased. You have no business presenting yourself as otherwise. Number 4: Has it ever dawned on you that you may want to get yourself psychologically evaluated?

I’m sure CNN’s actual MD, Sanjay Gupta, could arrange it.

“Stelter is a cancer in the media ecosystem,” said a journalism industry veteran. “He is a ridiculous figure and helps spreads misinformation while kissing up to everyone outside of Fox.”

For the past few years, Stelter has been relentlessly questioning Trump’s sanity and mental stability. He’s not a psychiatrist. He has no degree in any field even touching on psychology. He’s totally unqualified to diagnose anyone, let alone an entire news network. But he bloviates. He pretends to have some mental prowess as he runs around to all the shows playing CNN’s resident psychiatrist and uttering CNN President Jeff Zucker‘s talking points. (RELATED: CNN Chief Media Correspondent Declares Trump Untrustworthy)

Each week Stelter routinely insults Fox News. He makes it part of his mission. Part of the reason he spouted off on Fox News’s so-called “mental health” on Sunday was that he couldn’t bear Trump’s morning tweets. Former State Department Secretary Hillary Clinton favored MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, who swoons in the presences of Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren, who also prefers MSNBC. (RELATED: ‘Madness’ — CNN’s Brian Stelter Claims Trump Is Mentally Unfit) 

Do any left-wing media reporters like Stelter criticize them for their preferences?

“Bring back @JudgeJeanine,” Trump tweeted. “The Radical Left Democrats, working closely with their beloved partner, the Fake News Media, is using every trick in the book to SILENCE a majority of our Country. They have all out campaigns against @FoxNews hosts who are doing too well. Fox ….must stay strong and fight back with vigor. Stop working soooo hard on being politically correct, which will only bring you down, and continue to fight for our Country. The losers all want what you have, don’t give it to them. Be strong & prosper, be weak & die! Stay true …to the people that got you there. Keep fighting for Tucker, and fight hard for @JudgeJeanine. Your competitors are jealous – they all want what you’ve got – NUMBER ONE. Don’t hand it to them on a silver platter. They can’t beat you, you can only beat yourselves!”

Not sure which words got under Stelter’s skin most — losers, Fake News Media, Tucker or Judge Jeanine.

“So that’s where we are, the President telling his favorite network to stick it out,” Stelter told viewers.

His panelists all provided stuffing for Stelter’s views.

Katie Rodgers, a White House reporter for the New York Times, said Trump is a Pirro fanboy, which is news to no one.

“He watches it every week,” she said of Pirro’s Saturday night show. “We know he tunes in every week. It’s a prime time Saturday night thing for him. …To cut this sort of oxygen off is a big deal for him.”

Baltimore Sun media critic David Zurawik was very ZURAWIK, if you know what I mean. He didn’t really finish all his thoughts, but here’s what came roaring out of his mouth.

“I’M NOT SURPRISED,” he shouted.”I THINK THEM SUSPENDING HER AND THE PRESIDENT SENDING OUT THESE REMARKABLE, JUST UTTERLY REMARKABLE FOR THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TELLING THE CABLE CHANNEL WHAT TO DO WITH THREE TWEETS IN A ROW. .. I REALLY THINK IT’S A BOTTOM LINE EFFECT. …LOOK YOU TAKE ADS OUT OF PRIMETIME AND YOU MOVE THEM TO ANOTHER DAY PART, YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT A SMALLER AUDIENCE. YOU CAN’T KEEP DOING THAT FOREVER.”
The final panelist for Stelter’s anti-Fox News segment was Nayyera Haq, a former senior director in Obama’s White House. Can you even imagine what she might say? She despises Pirro and the network on which she appears.
“Judge Pirro’s show is not a news show,” she said. “It is an opinion show. …It would be shocking, I think, if, after her comments about Muslims having not being part of the fabric of American life, and not being able to be loyal to America, …if she was on air having to either apologize, which I don’t think that anybody at Fox is ready for her to do publicly, or, for her to double down,” Haq said. “Either way, the comments she had made last week about Ilhan Omar were part of a broader fabric of how people are justifying the attacks on immigrants, the attacks on immigration policy and are part and parcel of a white nationalist rhetoric. So probably better for all involved that she wasn’t on TV last night.”
Zurawik soon got all riled up about Carlson paying back lefty watchdog group Media Matters for digging up years old remarks he made to shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge. (Full disclosure, Carlson founded The Daily Caller.) On his program, Tucker reported that Media Matters President Angelo Carusone used to write a blog that made disparaging remarks against gays and Jews, including his Jewish boyfriend, who he said was attractive despite being Jewish. Carusone claimed it was satire that didn’t quite work.
Stelter wanted to know if Carlson’s segment on Carusone was “just a distraction.”
Zurawik had a lot to say:
“BRIAN I THINK IT’S MUCH WORSE THAN A DISTRACTION. …I LOOKED AT IT AND I THOUGHT, I WAS SO DISPIRITED,” he said, adding that it reminded him of the fights that used to occur between ex-FNCers Keith Olbermann and Glenn Beck, which he said was a “LOW POINT” for cable news.”I THOUGHT OF 2009 … IT WAS ALMOST AS IF THEY WERE PUTTING A BOUNTY ON EACH OTHER. …THAT’S EXACTLY WHERE TUCKER CARLSON WAS TAKING THIS THING.”
But getting back to Carlson, Zurawik shouted, “WHAT HE SAID ON BUBBA THE LOVE SPONGE IT’S SICKENING, IT’S DISGUSTING, IT’S VILE AND SAYS SO MUCH ABOUT WHAT KIND OF PERSON HE IS.”
Stelter played a clip of Carlson saying most outlets want to shut down Fox News.
“That’s not what I want,” Stelter emoted to his panel, looking painfully distressed. “Do you want that?”
Actually for Zurawik, who never misses a chance to kiss up to Stelter, yes, that’s precisely what he wants. He said if this gets rid of the likes of Carlson, then so be it. He also said Trump is clearly lecturing Fox News.
Which eventually led to Stelter’s sublimely ridiculous quote about Fox News’s mental health.
“For the record, if Tucker Carlson is watching, I don’t want Fox to shut down. I just want Fox News to be a healthy part of the media ecosystem, and the spread of misinformation that happens on these programs is unhealthy. I think it’s as simple as that.”