(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) The hive mind hosts of MSNBC and CNN used the same two words when describing the industry impact of ABC News’s $16 million settlement with President-elect Donald Trump.
Talking heads from CNN’s Jim Acosta to MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle echoed the “chilling effect” of ABC News’s costly payoff rewarded to Trump over anchor George Stephanopoulos’s defamatory remarks about rape.
Realizing she needs to do her job to see another paycheck from the tanking MSNBC, Ruhle emphasized Thursday the importance of accurately reporting on Trump going forward.
“For the media environment for the rest of the world, when they see a settlement like this, there is a chilling effect, right?” she said after mentioning how the Disney-owned ABC News will be just fine forking over millions.
Stephanie Ruhle warns that the ABC defamation settlement has shown the media that *now* they need to be accurate when reporting news about Trump:
Stephanie Ruhle: "For the media environment for the rest of the world, when they see a settlement like this, there is a chilling… pic.twitter.com/yxXW71RH6H— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) December 20, 2024
Ruhle mentioned Trump’s subsequent election interference lawsuit against the Des Moines Register over a bizarre poll suggesting the Republican would not win the red state, which he soared to victory in by 13 points.
The MSNBC host complained that tens of thousands will be lost in legal fees before a judge intervenes, not noticing the irony of her statement in the context of the four nullified criminal prosecutions against Trump.
“If you’re local news organization and you’re saying, ‘I want to accurately cover this administration like all of us are going to,’ it’s a scary time,” Ruhle told The Daily Beast Podcast.
She added, “So, for all of us, this is a warning. You better have your ts crossed, you better have your is dotted, which I actually think is a positive because we need to do that.”
In March, Stephanopoulos incorrectly said Trump was found “liable of rape” in an on-air segment shaming sexual assault survivor Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C. Before going on air, Stephanopoulos was reportedly warned not to use the word “rape” but did not listen to his executive producer, according to the New York Post.
“They don’t really care that he goes on there and says it and he probably will do it again…” @VDHanson on how George Stephanopoulos was repeatedly warned not to use the word 'rape'… but didn't listen.
Watch below, and download:https://t.co/F96HgI8fyu pic.twitter.com/PpxVDWrfnq
— The Megyn Kelly Show (@MegynKellyShow) December 19, 2024
CNN’s Acosta appeared to have received the same talking points as Ruhle when he asked an agreeable Brian Stelter the following question: “I have to ask you whether or not you think there’s just going to be a chilling effect on the news industry as just as he is coming into office because of this. I mean, I suppose it’s almost a rhetorical question because the answer is yes.”
MSNBC commentator Barbara McQuade was another media mockingbird, according to RealClearPolitics. She bemoaned the “the chilling effect it might have on people who otherwise would be critical of Donald Trump.”
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and the American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.
