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.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Drew Holden

Drew Holden Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @DrewHolden360

Apr 24
🧵THREAD🧵

Do you remember how bad the media’s “Covid lab leak” - the hypothesis that the virus came from a lab - coverage was?

I thought I did. But it was a more dramatic example of uniform media malpractice than even I remembered.

So I revisited it. Buckle in, it’s long. ⤵️
It started in Feb 2020 when @SenTomCotton suggested looking into the CCP lab studying bats near the initial cases in Wuhan.

The media were outraged. In a since-updated piece, @washingtonpost said the idea was a “conspiracy theory that has been repeatedly debunked by experts.”
Image
Image
It wasn’t just WaPo. Shortly thereafter, @nytimes trotted out a similar allegation, calling the lab leak hypothesis a “fringe theory” and a “tale” designed to inflame social media.

@CNN’s @ChrisCillizza said Cotton was “playing a dangerous game” with his suggestions.

Image
Image
Image
Read 28 tweets
Apr 22
It's always interesting to me, the tweets outlets never bother to delete.
The reason I take screenshots is that I'm always paranoid that an outlet or journalist will scrap the evidence of a bad take. Maybe I should be giving folks more credit for standing by their inaccuracies.
Every so often I check back in on this, perhaps my all-time favorite headline from @NPR, only to see that it still exists in its original form, from April 2020. Image
Read 10 tweets
Apr 17
🧵Thread🧵

I launched a newsletter, called Holden Court, about the media, what they get wrong & why it matters. The goal is to reach beyond what my 🧵s have on Twitter & to build a better recent history of media & media criticism.

You can sign up at the link in my bio. More ⤵️
At that link you can read my launch piece and get a better idea of what it is that I’m trying to do.

The piece also walks through a recent example of bad media coverage that I worry we’re already forgetting about: the start of Covid. Image
My general premise for the newsletter is that media criticism could be a lot better; more driven by what the media actually does and says and more set in recent context, rather than an impressionistic sense that the media is hopelessly off-track.
Read 8 tweets
Apr 16
I’m launching something new, so naturally I figured the best explainer was a 🧵thread🧵.

Introducing Holden Court, my Substack about the media, what it gets wrong, and why it matters.

You probably know the drill, but more details & links to sign up in the tweets below. ⤵️ Image
Holden Court aims to unpack media failures, particularly when the media misses in unison on important political topics. But I’ll also have one-off content, Q&A opportunities, a mailbag and maybe virtual (or even in person) happy hours, too.

Sign up here: open.substack.com/pub/drewholden…
That doesn’t mean the threads are going away. But the amount of context and nuance I can capture in a thread is limited. So the Substack will (hopefully) provide that more robust analysis, aiming ultimately at *why* the media misses the way that it does.
Read 8 tweets
Mar 19
🧵THREAD🧵

“15 days to slow the spread” kicked off four years ago Saturday, sending the media into perhaps its most deranged cycle of my lifetime.

I dove back into some of the worst lockdown media coverage from those early days.

Buckle in, this one’s long. ⤵️
The real worst of the coverage was when states started reopening. The media outrage was palpable. Republicans wanted people to die, we were told.

Remember @TheAtlantic’s “Georgia’s Experiment in Human Sacrifice”? You may’ve forgotten how wild the text of it was. I did.
Image
Image
But that wasn’t a one off sentiment. The belief four years ago among the media was that allowing people to leave their homes was tantamount to killing people.

@washingtonpost called it a “deadly error” — not in an opinion piece, mind you, but in a “health” news headline. Image
Read 23 tweets
Mar 12
🧵THREAD🧵

Another media conspiracy, this time that Trump attacked a Secret Service agent on Jan 6, imploded yesterday.

Remember when the media—in unison—reported the “bombshell” allegations as fact?

I do. And I’ve got screenshots.⤵️
You’re familiar with the story I suspect but just in case: when former aid Cassidy Hutchinson testified Trump had “lunged” for a secret service steering wheel on Jan. 6, the media rushed to print the salacious (& false) claims as true.

Here’s @NBCNews @CNN @ABC @washingtonpost


Image
Image
Image
Image
Trump was allegedly going to drive himself to the Capitol to take part in the riot.

That’s what @CBSNews @Independent @NPR @NewsHour said.


Image
Image
Image
Image
Read 18 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(