We reported last week on how prominent Ron DeSantis critic Rebekah Jones was once and for all thoroughly discredited courtesy of an exhaustive investigative report done by NRO senior writer Charles C.W. Cooke. The report thoroughly nuked the fake “data scientist’s” most explosive claims and documented how viciously retaliating after rejection was one of Jones’ most notorious hallmarks.
One big thing that should not be forgotten in the aftermath of Jones’ rather dramatic fall from grace is in just how far the mainstream media was willing to go in propping her up. CNN, in particular, was instrumental in elevating her profile, with anchor Chris Cuomo among those taking the lead in amplifying her false claims, abusing his CNN platform to try and make his big brother New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo look like a magnificent crisis leader in contrast to the popular Florida Governor.
But now that it’s inarguable that Jones is a fraud, some CNNers appear to be trying to memory hole their prior coverage. As Fox News noted yesterday, Respectable Journalist™ Jake Tapper has now taken to tweeting and RTing criticism of Jones (including tweeting out a link to Cooke’s piece) despite his own (unacknowledged) role in lending credence to her claims last year:
On Tuesday, the CNN anchor retweeted commentary from local Florida reporter Jay O’Brien.
“The thing about the Rebekah Jones saga: there’s no evidence to support what she’s claimed. Simply none and we’ve all looked,” O’Brien tweeted. “But, that won’t stop people on Twitter from taking her at her word. So, this will never truly be over until people just stop paying attention.”
Additionally, Tapper retweeted O’Brien’s responses to other Twitter users, stressing that reporters “aren’t on ANY side” and that “all we’ve asked for is hard evidence.”
[…]
[In prior coverage] Tapper did acknowledge complaints made by her “detractors” about her “history with law enforcement.” But the next day, he drew attention to the judge who approved the search warrant and how it was a DeSantis appointee, fueling the narrative that the police visit to her home was politically motivated.
Tapper’s apparent about-face on Jones did not escape the attention of Gov. DeSantis’ new press secretary Christina Pushaw, who landed this direct hit on CNN’s “The Lead” anchor this morning, suggesting he and his network admit their coverage was slanted and acknowledge the inconvenient reality of DeSantis’ handling of the COVID crisis in his state:
People wonder why so many Americans distrust the media. Look no further than stuff like this. But trust can be redeemed; everyone makes mistakes—why doesn’t Tapper just admit he made a mistake & explain to CNN viewers that Florida’s COVID stats are real?https://t.co/0l9j3pm99u
— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) May 19, 2021
Though Tapper has not responded to Pushaw as of this writing, her new role in DeSantis’ office has thoroughly triggered Jones, who is now trying to smear her as well with bogus charges in part because Pushaw, too, made a powerful case against Jones back in March . Not surprisingly, Jones’ latest attempts have already been debunked by Cooke and persistent Jones critic Max Nordau:
Montgomery County, Md., has an unusual restraining order system that is absolutely ripe for abuse. And you’ll never guess who has been abusing it. Kafka himself would have been proud. https://t.co/r0aiKfxkhi
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) May 17, 2021
Upon hearing that Pushaw is DeSantis’s new press secretary, Jones calls Pushaw a stalker and falsely states that Pushaw is facing criminal charges for violating a restraining order.
She’s not. The false peace order was denied, so the false criminal charge will be dismissed too. pic.twitter.com/0iwzHrxxvY
— “Max Nardou” (@MaxNordau) May 17, 2021
Read Nordau’s extensive thread shredding Jones’ deceitful campaign against Pushaw here, and never forget that Jones was revered by the MSM for months all because DeSantis had the nerve to choose a different path for his state during the coronavirus pandemic than blue states like New York and California, a path that looks to have been the right one, as even some of DeSantis’ critics have reluctantly admitted.
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