Trump’s ‘BULLSHIT’ Tweet Is Pushing Vulgarity Into CNN’s Daytime Broadcast (Again)
A “BULLSHIT” tweet by President Donald Trump is loosening CNN’s usual restrictions against exposing viewers to vulgar language.
The president, continuing his furious response to a House impeachment inquiry that began last week, on Wednesday posted this tweet accusing Democrats of “wasting everyone’s time and energy”:
Although the fiery tweet features an eight-letter variant of a four-letter word, CNN executives reportedly signed off on quoting what the president said, according to New York Times reporter Michael M. Grynbaum.
CNN didn’t immediately respond to HuffPost’s inquiry.
These screenshots from CNN’s live coverage and website suggest the report isn’t full of it.
CNN and most other major media outlets have policies discouraging expletives in news reports. They also make exceptions for the words of a president or other important newsmakers, whose choice of language becomes news.
Trump, who has made coarse comments and nasty nicknames trademarks of his presidency, often challenges efforts to keep media audiences safe from foul language.
In 2018, for example, when Trump railed in a White House meeting against “shithole countries,” CNN and The New York Times reported the president’s words. And rare was the media outlet that didn’t report Trump’s infamous “grab them by the pussy” comment from the “Access Hollywood” tape, and his “son of a bitch” reference to NFL players who kneel during the national anthem.
Although CNN on Wednesday was simply quoting the president’s tweet, the decision caused a bit of pearl-clutching from conservative Erick Erickson:
Of course, a few Twitter users thought Erickson was playing the blame-the-messenger game.
CNN’s decision to quote Trump’s foul-mouthed tweet comes just days after the network was criticized for letting Robert De Niro drop anti-Trump F-bombs during an interview.
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