Drew Holden Profile picture
Oct 19, 2020 47 tweets 35 min read Read on X
🧵THREAD🧵

Another Russian-related lie was exposed today, this time the allegation that @nypost’s Biden coverage was “Russian disinformation,” something that every corner of the media & Democratic Party assured us was the case.

Don’t believe me? Well, take a look👇 Image
Getting us started is @CNN, who had chief Russian conspiracist James Clapper on the program to talk about how the Post story was “classic textbook Soviet Russian tradecraft” (his words) and then did an “anatomy” of the “dubious” story. ImageImageImage
But right behind them was @nytimes, who ran a similarly incredulous story, and whose chief political reporter @maggieNYT doubled down on the Russian disinformation angle. ImageImage
But the real leader - as with all things Russian hoax related - was @MSNBC.

They also managed to pull in @CongressmanRaja, @PhilipRucker, and @McFaul (who was all aboard this idea already). ImageImageImageImage
And of course their top talent got involved in the act. Here’s @MSNBC’s leading Russian conspiracy theorist, @maddow. ImageImageImage
But she continues to be rivaled for that top spot by @JoyAnnReid. ImageImage
There were plenty of others.

I wonder if we’ll get a follow up from @PBS / @NewsHour about the DNI shooting this reporting down? ImageImage
Or maybe we’ll hear more from @NPR and @Yamiche? ImageImageImage
Perhaps the organization that looks the worst in all this is @CBSNews. One of their reporters, @BoKnowsNews, dared ask Biden about the allegations and was shot down on twitter by his own news director (and that may not even be the worst of it). ImageImage
We’ve got a lot to get through on this one, so we’ve gotta start doubling up early. Here we’ve got:
@washingtonpost
@businessinsider
@Newsweek (wtf guys) and
@USATODAY ImageImageImageImage
And of course media’s most consistent Russian truther, @DavidCornDC, checked in on behalf of @MotherJones.

I could do an entire thread just on Corn honestly. ImageImageImageImage
And where could these news outlets be getting their stories?

Well, as it happens, many of them are from elected officials paid by your tax dollars.

You’ll be stunned, but leading the charge on the latest rash of Russian related hysteria was @RepAdamSchiff. Image
As ever, he wasn’t alone.
@ChrisMurphyCT did a whole thread on it. Here’s just a few of them. ImageImage
Plus we had this bogus from @BillPascrell. Image
@davidcicilline may fly under the radar on it but he’s been a died in the blood Russian collusion guy, too. Image
But it was the bluechecks who really outdid themselves on this one. You’ll see many of the same names here as who pushed the Russian collusion hoax way back when. Here’s @Amy_Siskind ImageImage
@neeratanden went full black helicopters on this one. ImageImageImage
One of the loudest voices in all of this continues to be @brhodes, which is pretty incredible when you consider that the only reason we know his name is because he duped a media establishment that loved his boss. ImageImageImageImage
So many hacks, so little time. We’re combining all the @crookedmedia podcast bros into one tweet to save space. So we’ve got:
@jonfavs
@TVietor08
@jonlovett ImageImageImageImage
Obligatory mentions of both @SethAbramson and @kurteichenwald. ImageImage
As ever, the former Republicans found a way to outdo themselves on this one. Here’s @MaxBoot checking in with the four-boxer, and also bringing @CNNTonight along for the ride. ImageImageImageImage
I will never forgive myself for once speaking positively of @EvanMcMullin. ImageImage
There’s no way to fit all of the NeverTrumpers, so we’re bundling them together. Here we’ve also got @BillKristol, @davidfrum and @WalshFreedom ImageImageImageImage
Space and patience are almost gone. Here we’ve got:

@joelockhart (go figure)
@mitchellreports
@kylegriffin1
@danielsgoldman ImageImageImageImage
It is ENORMOUSLY dishonest for anyone to pretend that a politically inconvenient story is disinformation from a hostile foreign power.

Our entire media establishment just did this - AGAIN - along with elected officials and thought leaders.

Shameful. Just all around shameful.
We can’t live in a world where everything the left doesn’t like magically becomes “Russian disinformation.” No one even bothered to show this was disinfo - all they had to do was say it & it built the narrative on the left and in the mainstream media.
Okay, follow up. There was just too much to cram in.

You had to know that @ThePlumLineGS would be all over a good Russian conspiracy theory. ImageImageImage
@NatashaBertrand and @politico thought it would make sense to quote **a Biden adviser** about whether or not the Russian disinformation allegations were legit.

Are you kidding me. Image
@kyledcheney was quick to share that same @politico story. ImageImage
The various political hack outfits got involved. Here we have @TheDemCoalition and @swingleft ImageImageImage
It just keeps going.
Anyway, more of the same from @mattmfm ImageImage
“Actively pushing Russian disinformation” to hear @svdate tell it. ImageImageImage
I couldn’t do one of these and not include @atrupar. Image
Lmao OF COURSE @petestrzok is here too. Image
I hope @CNN and @MarshallCohen revisit this one. Image
Speaking of @CNN here is @sam_vinograd with a very normal take that Trump and Giuliani are actively working with Russia.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. ImageImage
I don’t think that these are “the only takes that remains,” @juliettekayyem Image
This one didn’t age well, @AshaRangappa_. ImageImage
I don’t even know what to say about this one from @waltshaub. Image
This take looks dubious in retrospect, @rgoodlaw. Image
This one is likely my longest and perhaps most savage threads. So much - too much - to tee off on.
Also @Twitter can you let me know how to flag potentially misleading tweets about the 2020 Election? I’ve got some recommendations.
Also, of course, these are the same people who shouted about the Steele dossier and the “pee tape” and everything else related to “Russian collusion” for the last four years.

I’ve got a separate thread with some of the worst offenders.
Still going. Image
Now seems like a good time for some apologies.
I’m usually more measured on here but these people and outlets - all of them - should all be ashamed of themselves.

If they have one iota of self respect or patriotism they’ll apologize.

I don’t have my hopes up.

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More from @DrewHolden360

Dec 2
🧵Thread🧵

Biden’s pardoning of his son Hunter says an enormous amount about the president’s views of justice.

But it also says a lot about the willingness of the mainstream media—the nation’s noble fact checking corps—to repeat bogus claims that suit Democrats.

Remember? ⤵️
For starters, let’s revisit the coverage of how Biden wouldn’t do what he just did.

Biden said he wouldn’t pardon his son, no way. He would trust our legal system.

The media repeated it at every turn, without a shred of incredulity.

Here’s @washingtonpost Image
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Seemingly every outlet did the same. @CNN had a couple of my favorites.

Look at the lede in on this first one.

The media’s job isn’t to simply repeat what politicians tell them. Whatever happened to “defenders of our democracy” and all that? Image
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Read 27 tweets
Nov 26
🧵THREAD🧵

The news that MSNBC may soon have a new owner (and that it might be a certain X power user) compelled me to finally open my “MSNBC conspiracy theories” screenshot folder and, woo boy, there are a lot.

If you’d like to revisit them, buckle up, and follow along. ⤵️
There’s nowhere better to start than with Russiagate.

Do you remember the promotion from @chrislhayes, @MalcolmNance, @maddow and others at @MSNBC that perhaps Donald Trump was a Russian agent?

I, for one, will not be forgetting. Image
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But there was plenty of other insanity from the gang at MSNBC about Russiagate.

Here are just a couple.

The first seems apropos with Trump again picking a cabinet. Image
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Read 32 tweets
Nov 20
Whatever happened to Harris and Biden’s “strongest economy ever” that the media spent so much time hyping up in the lead up to the election?

I revisit the claims, and explain why they were off the mark about the economy all along, in my latest @AmerCompass.

Quick🧵thread🧵⤵️
It can be easy, in the wake of an election, to forget just how dominant a media narrative was.

One that’s already fading from view was how “great” the economy was, and why it would benefit Harris on Election Day. americancompass.org/its-still-the-…
As a refresher, check out this headline from @axios about the data.

@YahooFinance upgraded Biden’s economic grade to an A. That captures the press sentiment at the time quite well. Image
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Read 15 tweets
Nov 18
🧵Thread🧵

In recent days, the mainstream media has taken nakedly ridiculous claims about the tattoos of @PeteHegseth, Trump’s SecDef nominee, to spin up a story alleging he’s an extremist.

It’s an egregious example of politically driven “journalism.” I unpack why. ⤵️
The story really started with @AP, who ran an article claiming that two tattoos that @PeteHegseth has have ties to extremism, citing an extremely thin (and downright suspect) report.

They used that to label him a potential “insider threat” in their headline. Image
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It wasn’t until 3 paragraphs in that a reader was told what that claim rested on: a tattoo of a Latin phrase. They’d go on to mention “concerns” about a cross tattoo as well.

Really. @AP Image
Read 21 tweets
Nov 14
Would be great if Trump’s unconventional picks for his cabinet inspire the media to consider a nominee’s credentials.

They might want to look at the current HHS Secretary, Xavier Becerra, who brings to the table the medical experience of being in Congress for 12 terms. Image
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Or perhaps Obama’s former HHS Secretary, Sylvia Matthews Burwell, who had just finished her stint lobbying for Walmart. Image
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Or Donna Shalala, Clinton’s former head of HHS, whose credentials were as a university administrator and feminist. Image
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Read 4 tweets
Nov 4
🧵Thread🧵

Mere days before the election the media, en masse, invented a conspiracy theory alleging Trump threatened Liz Cheney with violence.

Below you’ll see what Trump actually said, and how outlets decided to report it.

Maybe the most dishonest coverage I can recall. ⤵️
The quote comes courtesy of @PhilipWegmann, who does fantastic, real journalism.

Look at the quote. Then look at this headline from @washingtonpost.

Does one follow the other?

No. Trump is making a theoretical point about politicos who cheer for war from the sidelines. Image
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And of course it wasn’t just WaPo. Here’s @nytimes doing the same thing.

I’m sticking with the side-by-side format throughout, because I need you to understand the extent of the fabrication. Image
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Read 23 tweets

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