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

Aug 26
🧵Thread🧵

A single poll has bootstrapped a media narrative that DC residents are outraged by Trump’s takeover.

I poked around the cross tabs of the poll — of 600 or so of DC’s more comfortable residents — and I think it’s pretty suspect.

How come? Follow along: ⤵️
Let’s start with the poll. The @washingtonpost talked to 604 people, of whom 90% — 90%! — self-described as living in “very good” or “good” neighborhoods.

So, fine. 80% of people who like where they live in DC are upset. Image
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But even beyond that, it’s worth asking whether this poll really captures DC’s opinion.

In the poll, only 31% describe crime as a “serious” or “very serious” problem in DC.

When @washingtonpost asked this same question in May, *50%* said it was a serious problem.

What gives? Image
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Read 23 tweets
Jul 15
🧵Thread🧵

I feel like I’m losing my mind about the Biden autopen pardons.

The former president said he made every decision. His staff says that he didn’t actually make the final call on thousands of them.

We’re supposed to treat this as normal?

I try to unpack. ⤵️
This got new life from a Biden interview w/ @nytimes.

NYT leads by repeating Biden’s claim that he made the calls…burying the admissions that 1) he really didn’t & 2) where he allegedly did, the aids sending details to the autopen weren’t in the room when the call was made… Image
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…instead, they relied on what senior staff had allegedly heard, which was then passed along.

The piece ends with the revelation that Biden’s then-chief of staff gave the final sign off.

Given what the former admin has lied about, why should we trust this reporting of events? Image
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Read 20 tweets
Jun 11
🧵Thread🧵

The coverage of the anti-ICE riots in LA is perhaps the clearest example of advocacy “journalism” in Trump’s second term.

Reading the reporting, you would never know the most significant fact: the American people support Trump’s deportations.

Follow along ⤵️
First, the facts about the riots.

You’ve seen the burning cars, looting & clashes between police & protestors.

Demonstrators blocked the freeway, attacked ICE agents, all in an effort to prevent the deportations of illegal aliens. Trump deployed troops to allow ICE to operate. Image
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As @MarkHalperin and @seanspicer discussed, the situation in LA is so tranquil that the mayor has instituted a curfew for the city.
Read 25 tweets
May 29
🧵Thread🧵

The new book “Original Sin” from Jake Tapper & Alex Thompson recounts the effort to cover up Biden’s cognitive decline ahead of the election. The authors point to many guilty parties.

The one glaring omission? Their colleagues in the corporate press. Follow along ⤵️ Image
There are numerous dramatic reveals. The Biden team considered condoning him to a wheelchair? Maybe in his fog he forgot about the border?

But as I worked on a review for @commonplc, the one thought that I kept coming back to was that you can’t tell this story without the press.
Perhaps no one was more vital to the continued fiction that Biden had it together than the media.

Tapper and Thompson even highlight some of the telling moments.

Did they forget what the media reported?
Read 21 tweets
May 20
🧵THREAD🧵

Biden’s cancer diagnosis is a tragedy I know first-hand.

But our sympathy can’t silence questions about Biden’s cognitive decline, clarified just days ago by the Hur tape.

The media tried to bury the story then. They’re trying again now.

I’ve got the receipts. ⤵️
When the report first came out in 2024, outlets rushed to demean Hur, accusing him of serving as a Republican hatchet man.

Just look at this take from @USATODAY, who assembled sympathetic voices to make the case that Hur “crossed the line.” They found an expert to call it a “disgrace” and then featured the obviously unbiased Eric Holder to lead a section titled “Way too many gratuitous remarks.”

The audio makes clear that Hur, if anything, played down how alarming the claims were.Image
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(If you haven’t listened to the Hur audio yet, you should.)
Read 26 tweets
May 15
It should go without saying, but the media cultivating this type of baseless hysteria about an admin for partisan reasons is much more of a threat to the underpinnings of our democracy than anything Trump has actually done.

Quick 🧵⤵️ Image
A couple quotes:

“If you think that there’s this thing out there called America, and it’s exceptional, that means you don’t have to do anything” to stop fascism.

What? What does that even mean??

That if you, like millions of Americans!, believe in American exceptionalism…you’re a fascist?

Really?
“The powers that be can do whatever they want to you”

Trump can’t even deport people who have deportation orders against them without a federal judge stepping in.

This is firmly out of touch with reality.
Read 13 tweets

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