Drew Holden Profile picture
Sep 5, 2021 28 tweets 19 min read Read on X
🧵THREAD🧵

We’ve got to talk about the Rolling Stone invermectin article. Turns out the story about rural hospitals so flooded with ODs that they couldn’t treat other patients was made up, entirely invented.

A lot of people took the bait, and I’ve got the screenshots.⤵️
First, for context, here’s the original piece from @RollingStone and the follow up from the actual hospital saying the story was BS and that the one (one!) person the story quotes doesn’t work at that hospital anymore (and hasn’t in months). ImageImage
But it wasn’t just a single story out in the ether. Plenty of other places picked up the story, too, with no additional sourcing or research.

Here’s @BusinessInsider (@thecherylt) parroting the scoop that wasn’t true to begin with. Image
But the real champion of this tall tale was @MSNBC.

@maddow had a tweet about it that went viral.

She’s got an audience of millions of people and couldn’t be bothered to even look into a story that pretty obviously doesn’t pass the sniff test. Image
That @briantylercohen pushed a baseless lie on a show called “No Lie” is really just a little too on the nose. @NoLieWithBTC Image
We even had an executive producer from MSNBC push the story that wasn’t. @laurenpeikoff

You know what’s a good way to not be derisively referred to as “fake news”?

Stop pushing fake news. ImageImage
For some reason British outlets went all-in on this one, too.

Will we get any apologies from @guardian or @DailyMailUK? ImageImage
I just really don’t understand why seemingly real news outlets - like @Newsweek @NYDailyNews and @thehill - didn’t bother to even look into this story before they pushed this narrative?

Didn’t it sound odd? Wasn’t it worth investigating? Maybe a single phone call? ImageImageImage
Needless to say, a certain variety of Twitter bluecheck couldn’t help themselves on this story. Here’s @shannonrwatts of Moms Demand Action. Image
This sentiment was pretty widespread because it just fit the narrative perfectly - “look at these dumb hicks and their horse medication!” right, @dabeard? Image
@DrJasonJohnson took the conspiracy theory a step further, suggesting that Senator Inhofe was somehow profiting (?) from the situation that wasn’t actually taking place.

Dr. Johnson, I think you owe @JimInhofe an apology. Image
And plenty of actual bad actors got involved in pushing this one, too. I don’t know how @DrEricDing hasn’t been kicked off of Twitter by now. He’s a bottomless well of misinformation. ImageImage
He’s got me blocked but @joncoopertweets continues to be one of the worst, most dishonest people on this platform. Image
Obligatory @kurteichenwald mention. Image
I won’t pretend I expected much from either @dailykos or @OccupyDemocrats but both of these are pretty egregious. ImageImage
I don’t usually include people who aren’t verified but I couldn’t resist this one.

@RVAwonk is a postdoc studying “mis/disinformation” and had a whole thread *actively pushing disinformation* ImageImageImage
There were simply too many people to break each of them out as their own tweet.

Here we’ve got:
@justinbaragona
@PoliticusSarah
@georgehahn (again with the narrative)
@timmarchman ImageImageImageImage
See what I’m saying?

@mims
@EoinHiggins_ (quickly becoming a thread favorite)
@GidMK (“health nerd”)
@AngryBlackLady (this is definitely an illustrative example of something, just not the thing that you think it is) ImageImageImageImage
I’m running out of space and patience but one last four-box:

@rolandsmartin
@lanaveenker
@cruickshank
@johnpavlovitz ImageImageImageImage
It should go without saying, but inventing a narrative out of thin air simply because it confirms your priors is not going to help rebuild trust in the media.

It would’ve taken a single phone call to shoot this story down.

Why didn’t that happen?
And the same people who purport to be concerned about misinformation and how it spreads on platforms like Twitter will surely be silent on this.

Where’s the nashing of teeth from the “disinformation” reporters? Where are the Twitter content warnings? Where’s the outrage?
You won’t hear any. Because this is the acceptable type of political lie.

And none of these people or outlets will learn anything. They’ll keep doing this.

Because they care more about scoring cheap dunks on their opponents than getting the truth.
For new folks/those asking, I don’t have anything to sell or subscribe to.

But if you’re able, food banks remain in desperate need of support. For those in DC (or otherwise) I think Capital Area Food Bank does great work. give.capitalareafoodbank.org/give/324509/#!…
Okay a few points given some questions.

First, have seen folks say the response was just a random OK hospital. That isn’t true. It’s the hospital the doc quoted is publicly affiliated with. If he’s referring to another one, that would be a detail worth including/verifying. ImageImage
Second, yes, Rolling Stone issued an “update” on this story with the hospitals push back and even ran a new story on it.

I have no idea why they haven’t pulled the original story or found an actual example of the phenomenon they claim is so widespread. Image
And third, for those asking, I do have a Patreon profile. If you want to throw me a few bucks for the beer fund to help massage my sanity from staring at these kinds of bad takes takes all day, link is here: patreon.com/drewholden360
Latest “update” from @RollingStone completely shreds the premise of the original piece.

Why hasn’t it been taken down? Image
also *ivermectin lol

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More from @DrewHolden360

Oct 14
Quick 🧵thread🧵

With the news that Trump freed the hostages and brokered an Israel/Hamas ceasefire, I thought it would be a good time to check in on the folks who compared the president to Hitler over the last few years, for reasons that I hope are obvious to you.

Remember? ⤵️
You may think the “Trump is literally Hitler” phrase is just a silly joke.

But for years, media outlets and left-wing voices on the internet have insisted that, no, really, Trump is just like Hitler.

Few have done so with as much gusto as @CNN. Image
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Back in 2016, @CNN alleged that Trump rallies were just like Hitler rallies because…Trump had attendees raise their right hands.

That’s what inspired this headline. Image
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Read 24 tweets
Oct 8
🧵THREAD🧵

A newly declassified CIA report on Joe Biden & Ukraine blows the doors off claims from the legacy press, in the lead up to the 2020 election and beyond, that Trump was pushing a “conspiracy theory” about Biden’s corruption.

Remember how the press buried Burisma? ⤵️
First, the facts. The report unearths how Biden blocked the release of intel from Ukrainian sources validating allegations of bribery tied to Biden’s diplomatic push to oust a prosecutor there in 2015, tied to his son Hunter’s work with the gas company Burisma.

More details:
You may remember this story because Biden’s having helped oust a prosecutor in a foreign country to allegedly protect his family’s corruption came up in the 2020 election.

To hear @ABC tell it, that was a “debunked Ukraine conspiracy theory.”

Perhaps a good time to revisit? Image
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Read 24 tweets
Oct 2
🧵Thread🧵

The media are melting down about former FBI director Jim Comey’s indictment, calling it Trump’s “retribution.”

But if prosecuting a political rival is such an outrage, why’d they cheer along when Biden went after Trump, Bannon & Navarro?

Some side-by-sides ⤵️
I want you to help me spot the difference in tone.

With Comey, @CNN put five — five! — reporters on the byline to declare the indictment was an “escalation” in “Trump’s effort to prosecute his political enemies.”

Where was that when Biden’s DOJ indicted Bannon? “A victory” Image
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And @CNN wasn’t any better on Peter Navarro, another Trump aide indicted under Biden.

Rather than an “effort to prosecute…political enemies,” CNN quoted the prosecutor to tell the story.

Why is the claim of the government the framing of the piece under Biden? I have a guess. Image
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Read 24 tweets
Sep 18
🧵Thread🧵

The outrage over Kimmel’s canning is incredibly stupid, but it’s also enormously rich coming from the same media outlets who have cheered the government actually censoring people, particularly during COVID.

Let me know if you can spot the difference in tone? ⤵️
This @CNN headline made me think this story needed a thread.

Kimmel’s suspension is “straight from a European strongman’s playbook,” per @CNN’s @brianstelter.

When Biden cracked down on free speech during Covid, CNN hyped up the effort. Image
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Few promoted the government’s actual attack on free speech more aggressively than the same @brianstelter now calling a comedian’s shelving evidence of autocracy, or something. Image
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Read 18 tweets
Sep 3
🧵Thread🧵

I know there’s a lot going on but we just had a media conspiracy implode that I think captures something important about the corporate press.

Did you hear about how Trump was allegedly going after John Bolton as retribution for his criticism?

Well…follow along ⤵️
We saw a week straight of media suggestions that Trump was abusing the powers of the state to deal out “retribution” to John Bolton following the news that the FBI (“Trump’s DOJ!” headlines rang out) raided his house.

We were in “unsettling” times, to hear @nytimes tell it. Image
The *Editorial Board* at @nytimes put out an even more dramatic statement, asking who Trump’s next payback victim after Bolton would be.

They dubbed the raid “revenge.”

Democracy was in truly troubled waters. Image
Read 24 tweets
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 26 tweets

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