CNN's Jeffrey Lord Uses False Claim On Air To Justify Trump's Apathy In Disavowing White Supremacists
Published
CNN political commentator and Trump sycophant Jeffrey Lord dubiously claimed that, “Hillary Clinton was endorsed by the Communist Party chairman,” a story that originated on a fringe right-wing outlet and that the Communist Party has formally rejected.
On the November 23 edition of CNN's New Day, Lord pushed the false claim that the Communist Party chairman endorsed former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in order to argue that the media are exaggerating the relationship between white supremacists and president-elect Donald Trump. According to Snopes.com, a website that tracks fake news, the claim that Clinton was endorsed by the Communist Party originated with NewsBusters, a right-wing outlet, which distorted an article by the Communist Party chair John Bachtell in which he “urges progressive voters to cast their ballots for the Democratic ticket.” As Snopes.com notes, “it is not a formal endorsement of Clinton, but a call to vote against Trump.” Additionally, the Communist Party denied endorsing Clinton in a statement, explaining that the coalition “does not issue endorsements of candidates of other parties.”
The presence of fake news and misleading stories was a serious problem during the 2016 presidential election. CNN anchors have used their shows to explore the epidemic of fake news on Facebook and Google, but they also have an obligation to address falsehoods when they slip into mainstream news. Camerota's failure to push back on Lord's false claim serves as a perpetuation of the problem and aids in the spread of misinformation.