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2024 proved to be a significant year in the annals of the history of our national press corps. An already compromised industry at the start, we saw remarkable behavior that defied so much of the journalism integrity they love to tout, and so we continue with our rundown of the worst offenders from the past year.
The Worst Journalism of the Year – THE TOWNHALL 50 2024, Part 1: #31-50
As in the first entry, we continue counting down (literally) in descending order of quality to the worst of the press last year. As we traverse down the list, the order of magnitude between the entries narrows, so the differences between the selections become close. So, strap in, pour yourself a stiff one, and let’s behold the badness in the press from last year.
30. Alex Wagner – MSNBC: Tasked with replacing Rachel Maddow for four days a week, it has been amusing to watch as she strained to earn approval at the network with ridiculous commentary. After Joe Biden only agreed to a debate when his laundry list of demands was met, Alex declared the bar for success was so much higher…for Biden. When JD Vance said in a speech his family would be buried on a family plot in Kentucky, she said this was a case of white and masculine supremacy. Ms. Wagner was knocked off balance when speaking with black voters who told her flatly they were not voting for Harris.
29. David Folkenflik – National Public Radio: David is NPR’s calmer version of Brian Stelter, less insistent maybe but no less biased. Its media reporter’s focus on Fox News is right on par, as is his hesitancy to be critical of the rest of the press. This was fully on display when longtime NPR producer Uri Berliner came out with his exposé on the liberal slant at the network, and Folkenflik was in full defensive mode. Amusingly, after revelations at the Trump trial, he complained about news outlets killing stories – as he works at the outlet that infamously declared it was ignoring the Hunter Biden laptop.
28. Mika Brzezinski – MSNBC: The co-hostess of “Morning Joe” and bride to the namesake is purely a vehicle for emotion-based ranting rather than insightful commentary. After spending the year declaring Trump is Hitler and promising he would execute his political opponents, they caught flak when they then went to Mar-a-Lago to visit with Hitler. She and her husband were the staunchest of Biden dementia-deniers while she claimed the press was sane-washing Trump. She blew up at Al Sharpton for comparing the campus riots to January 6, forgetting she had done exactly that two days earlier. She stated how Trump and Governor Ron DeSantis made Florida dangerous for women, forgetting apparently that she and Joe Scarborough reside in the city of Jupiter.
27. Kelly O’Donnell – NBC News: The longtime reporter and president of the White House Correspondents Association was at her supplicant best during this year’s Nerd Prom, fawning over President Biden. It was learned that we hear little criticism in the press over the nation of Qatar when the WHCA staged a dinner the night prior with that nation’s embassy. After Biden exposed, yet again, how he was fed questions prior to pressers, O’Donnell came out to deny the White House reporters do so. When Biden made a return to the Seth Meyers' talk show, Kelly declared this was a surprise appearance, despite it being announced earlier in the week and news of his visit was reported that afternoon. After weeks of Kamala Harris ducking the press, Kelly stacked out a spot inside the arena during the Democratic National Convention and cornered Harris…only to ask her in insipid fashion, “How do you feel tonight?”
We happened to chat with @VP Harris, Mr Emhoff, Gov and Mrs Walz briefly as they left the United Center tonight. pic.twitter.com/5S2nWsHvbE
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) August 23, 2024
26. Oliver Darcy – (Independent): The consistently fractured lens of the media reporter means he could have ranked higher, except Ollie was dispatched by CNN mid-year. (Okay, he was permitted to walk off to start his own subscription newsletter.) Before his exit, Darcy was among those angered by any outlet reporting on Biden’s sliding mental faculties. He pushed CNN debate moderators to full-on fact-check Trump and not Biden. When a vote for Mike Johnson in the House passed, Ollie was mad at Fox for influencing the vote, then complained about what Fox would have done had the network worked…against Johnson, we think? He tried shaming Ticketmaster to stop supporting Tucker Carlson’s live shows.
25. Molly Jong-Fast – Vanity Fair: It remains a mystery why Ms. Fast is regarded as a media figure, beyond her unwavering intolerance for anything departing leftism. She frequently displays a lack of deep thought while spitting out rehearsed bromides. In a column saying the press needs to cover Trump differently, her solution was to cover him in the exact same hysterical fashion. Molly informed people she experienced FBI harassment “firsthand,” when not only did she not personally experience it, the instance involved her grandfather – before she had been born. Her shining moment was when she insisted for some reason that JD Vance only wanted to see white kids – despite him being the father of biracial children. Fast hosted a celebration party after E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit victory with Trump.
24. Scott MacFarlane – CBS News: Scott is the resident January 6 obsessive at the network – so much so that when Kamala Harris was the new Democrat candidate, he had to dredge it up. However, when he saw a leftist protest in D.C. when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived, he only described it as “raucous.” When Trump visited hurricane disaster areas, while Kamala Harris was fundraising in California, Scott insisted residents were bothered by this, but he somehow never managed to get any on camera saying so. In laughable fashion, MacFarlane reported a capitol police officer was appearing before Congress as a rebuttal witness to January 6 complaints – except the hearing was not at all about that date. MacFarlane had to change his reporting – twice – and was supremely mocked by the committee as a result.
FAKE NEWS. https://t.co/rgoeDk3pIG
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) March 5, 2024
23. Chuck Todd – NBC News: Normally ranking higher, after abandoning his post on “Meet the Press,” he has mostly been shunted to the streaming platform these days. He declared former First Lady Michelle Obama as the best “non-political speaker in the country,” as he was gushing over her political speech at a political convention for her political party. He wailed about NBC News hiring former RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, while never uttering a complaint when former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, Symone Sanders, or other Democrats were hired. Amazingly, he seemed unaware of what he was saying when on his podcast Chuckles admitted to knowing about Joe Biden’s mental problems two years ago, while never reporting on the issue.
22. Glenn Kessler – Washington Post: The infamously bad fact-checker at The Post was at it in usual fashion. He defended Biden by showing immigrants cause less crime, ignoring that 100% of illegal immigrants break the law. He “disproved” the claim that Kamala Harris wants the government to curtail meat consumption by saying she suggested creating incentives to curtail the consumption of red meat. He idiotically said it was untrue that the federal government pays for the housing of immigrants by showing the feds give the funds to the states, which then pay for the housing.
21. Jonathan Capehart – Washington Post / MSNBC: One of our favorites just in the manner that he believes that delivering his commentary in a sedate and grave tone somehow erases the ludicrous nature of his words. He was not able to grasp that Trump won the election in a rational fashion. He later asked a bishop how we live among those who voted for Trump, in these dark times. He broke down sobbing on the air last January 6. (Was he going for an Emmy Award or maybe the Golden Globe for Dramatic Performance?)
20. Brian Stelter – CNN: Probably he would have ranked higher, except Brian operated in an outpost fashion for much of the year. CNN swapped out its dysfunctional media experts, bringing back in September the man who ground “Reliable Sources” in the ratings. Brian was among the media figures criticizing the video reports of Joe Biden’s mental slide. He later praised MSNBC for the sober coverage of Biden’s demise, despite describing them having a sinking feeling. He laughably claimed conservatives made Trump’s McDonald’s visit a multi-day event, so we showed him the press obsession over this story. After the election, he moaned the press may not be up to the task of covering Trump once again.
19. Joy Reid – MSNBC: An example of sliding down the list due to increasing irrelevance, Ms. Reid has grown from her perpetual racial outrages into sheer bat-guano-crazy territory at times. She claimed a Florida judge delayed Trump’s trial in order to get a SCOTUS appointment. She and Pramila Jayapal mocked reports of a 13-year-old rape victim. She complained that Trump wants to end anti-white racism – meaning she admits it exists, and therefore, supports racism because she doesn't want it to end. Facing the stats showing a large uptick in black voter support of Trump, she declared these POC voters guilty of anti-blackness. Tennessee blocking gender surgeries for minors was worse than Nazi Germany, of course.
The best was her unhinged rant about an IVF law in Alabama, where she seems to think this was done to create more child laborers in order to push out immigrant workers because Republicans want child slaves even though slavery and child labor are illegal, and this means she is in favor of retaining the immigrant slaves…we…guess?
WARNING - YOUR REACTION: @MSNBC's Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) EXPLODES, goes on a rant, asks why the US needs more kids when there are already more than 327 million people, attacks Senator Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville), says she can understand why Alabama needed more kids during… pic.twitter.com/JYB4zEisIb
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) February 26, 2024
18. Jonathan Karl – ABC News: The Sunday host was in full anti-Trump mode all year, including pushing his latest anti-Trump book, hoping to sway an election in a completely unbiased, non-partisan, journalistically, even-handed fashion. Mr. Karl is usually unwound because he is so set in ways he cannot grasp conflicting facts, like when Senator Tom Cotton educated him on Kamala Harris' positions on health insurance. Or when JD Vance straightened him out on the lie of wanting a national abortion ban. Or when Karl misrepresented Tim Walz on the matter of gender therapy for minors. Upon news that Joe Biden's handlers fed questions to reporters, Jon feigned offense at the move, as if he were unaware it has been a regular practice since Joe took office.
17. Garrett Haake – NBC News: After asking a question during the New Hampshire primary, the unbiased reporter began debating with a voter on the condition of the economy. On the trail with JD Vance, Garrett acts surprised that the politician was critical of his opponent. In his support of Kamala, Haake tried to suggest it was difficult for the Trump campaign to shift strategy toward a new opponent – Kamala launching a new campaign entirely was to be a breeze, we guess. He tried insinuating Vance was antisemitic by saying Kamala did not choose Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro as a running mate due to his being Jewish, even though Haake’s own network reported that this was the case. After being critical of the Arlington National Cemetery visit, Garrett was dressed down by the Gold Star mother who was part of the group that invited Trump.
16. Margaret Brennan – CBS News: The Sunday hostess was in stark form, displaying her bias on a near-weekly basis. Brennan debated the accuracy of a poll showing over 60% of Americans favored deporting illegals – even as it was conducted by her own network. Brennan defended Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, asking Speaker Mike Johnson why he wanted to impeach Mayorkas instead of working with him; his being criticized for not doing his job was not a consideration. In staggeringly oblivious fashion, on her show immediately after the Trump assassination attempt, Brennan was saying Republicans needed to tone down their violent rhetoric, then she dared deliver this type of condemnation toward Rep. Steve Scalise, himself a victim of gun violence.
15. Lawrence O’Donnell – MSNBC: On his late night show, the always stiff and ponderously speaking O’Donnell attempts to sound as if he is delivering import through his intentional intonations, but he is truly wandering off of the reservation. On election night, he brilliantly declared people deciding not to vote were being suppressed by the Electoral College. In the span of one month, Larry stipulated that Elon Musk wielded no power AND that Musk was effectively Trump’s employer. He explained that Michael Cohen admitting that he embezzled funds from Trump was something done to “rebalance” a bonus Cohen felt entitled to receive. Best of all from Larry was this creepy salacious rendition of watching the adult star Stormy Daniels as she entered the courtroom for the Trump Trial. For O’Donnell’s sake, we hope he scored a publishing deal from Harlequin Romance publishers.
Imagine simping for a Porn Star?
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) May 8, 2024
I hope she sees this bro. pic.twitter.com/BV4Dtw8pTi
14. Jake Tapper – CNN: Once regarded as one of the saner voices on the network, Jake has devolved into a reliably biased source these days. Jake moderated the debate that brought down Joe Biden’s career. After the Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, Jake suggested it meant presidents could now assassinate rivals. In an interview with JD Vance, Tapper had a temper tantrum over the issues. Jake had the late Senator John McCain’s son boost Kamala while condemning Trump’s visit to Arlington Cemetery – never mentioning Biden and McCain had their own photo-ops at the site. He had on his good friend Jeffrey Goldberg to support his fake story of Trump and the fallen soldier, never once defending Gold Star families as is his usual posture. His program is the focus of a potentially $1 billion defamation suit.
13. Norah O’Donnell – CBS News: Nightly news hostess gave a softball interview with Kamala, and throughout the election months, she spoke glowingly of her campaign while slamming Trump. O’Donnell allowed Kamala to challenge Trump to a cognitive test but never broached the topic of covering up Biden’s cognitive problems. Norah allowed Pope Francis to duck criticism of his leadership from inside the Catholic Church. She predicted that abortion could sway the election for Harris since wives are silent on the issue because of their husbands. Norah enthusiastically pushed the debunked story from Jeffrey Goldberg.
12. Chris Hayes – MSNBC: The 8:00 pm host truly operates with the satisfaction that there is no accountability or need for accuracy at his network. Chris loves to rail against the Electoral College, and he complains about threats to democracy at the same time. He expressed surprise that Gaza aid was stolen by Hamas. Hayes tried insulting a user over misspelling Laken Riley’s name while ignorant he was repeating Biden doing so. Chris thought Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito selling his falling Budweiser stock and buying the rising Coors was some type of scandal. The journalist accused Trump of lying that FEMA was out of cash while giving a billion dollars to illegals, even as DHS Secretary Mayorkas said the agency was out of funds, and internal docs show that the immigrant payouts took place. When there was the recent budget battle, he claimed cutting the resolution budget was taking money away from kids with cancer.
11. George Stephanopoulos – ABC News: He has become so reactive to Trump that George admitted the Deep State was real. George laughably caused a stir when approached on the street and admitted Biden could not serve another term. The Biden team tried to recover after the debate with a Stephanopoulos interview, and things went sideways. In a contentious interview with Rep. Nancy Mace, Georged shamed her as a rape victim while declaring on the air that Trump was a rapist. As a result, he and the network were sued by Trump, and ABC settled out of court once the realization was found that George had repeatedly been told not to call Trump a rapist repeatedly, but he defied those orders.
ABC’s George Stephanopoulos was repeatedly warned not to use word ‘rape’ by producer — but said it anyway: sources https://t.co/d9x1iKq1c2 pic.twitter.com/AvfRFfJmGZ
— New York Post (@nypost) December 19, 2024
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