CNN went from writing headlines to making headlines this week with a now-deleted social media post about the attempted ISIS bombing in New York City that was shockingly dishonest even for the outlet’s low standards.
Two Islamists tried to slaughter a group of protesters worried about Islamic terrorism outside Gracie Mansion with homemade explosives. Shouting “allahu akbar” during the attack and pledging allegiance to ISIS in the aftermath, the perpetrators only validated the concerns of the protest they attempted to squash through violence.
Let’s check in with CNN on its telling of the story.
‘PATHETIC’ CNN AND MEDIA ATTEMPTED TO COVER FOR ‘ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS’: JOE CONCHA
“Two Pennsylvania teenagers crossed into New York City Saturday morning for what could’ve been a normal day enjoying the city during abnormally warm weather. But in less than an hour, their lives would drastically change as the pair would be arrested for throwing homemade bombs during an anti-Muslim protest outside of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home.”
Those poor Pennsylvania teenagers, whose lives will be drastically changed! Give me a break — this is just the latest installment of last year’s “Maryland man” framing. Worse yet, the post was ambiguous about the target of the attack. By saying the bombs were thrown during the protest, the implication is that the demonstration was violent or in some way connected to the attempted bombing. In reality, the protesters were the would-be victims.
After receiving well-deserved mockery for the post, CNN retracted it with a curious apology.
“A post regarding the two individuals arrested for throwing homemade bombs outside of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home failed to reflect the gravity of the incident thereby breaching the editorial standards we require for all our reporting. It has therefore been deleted.”
I suppose going from “two Pennsylvania teenagers” to “two individuals” is somewhat of an improvement. But the dishonest ambiguity of the target in the attack is still present — this time, they make it appear as if Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Muslim, was the target. Even on air, CNN’s Anna Navarro and Abby Phillip falsely called the attack an “attempt against Mayor Mamdani.” The terrorists could not have been clearer about who the bombs were made for: “Die in your rage yu [sic] kuffar!” The term “kuffar” is Arabic for non-believer or infidel.
So much for CNN’s so-called “editorial standards.” The outlet may have deleted its sympathy-invoking description of the terrorists, but its sinister sleight-of-hand in trading the victims for the culprits cannot be overlooked. Mamdani engaged in similar victim-blaming rhetoric in the wake of the attack, accusing the protest organizer of being a “white supremacist” and saying the demonstration was “rooted in bigotry and racism.” He went on to vaguely characterize the attempted Islamic terrorist attack as “violence at a protest,” as if the allegedly hateful protest provoked the bombing when, in fact, it was the violent ideology being protested that incited it.
MAMDANI DECRIES ISLAMOPHOBIA AFTER ISIS-INSPIRED PROTEST BOMBING
This much is expected of Mamdani, a radical leftist who, along with his wife, has a history of publicly supporting Islamic terrorists while justifying their actions by blaming the victims. But CNN’s slogan is that it’s “the most trusted name in news.” The outlet claims to be objective pursuers of the truth, therefore, it has a responsibility to engage in honest reporting, yet its Twitter Taqiyya shows why people don’t trust the outlet anymore.
The idea behind the protest was that an “Islamic takeover” of America might produce more people who take Muhammad’s commands to slay infidels “wherever you find them” and to maim or kill anyone who makes “mischief in the land” seriously. The two “Pennsylvania teenagers” did take those commands seriously, but apparently, CNN is hell-bent on covering that up.