Sanders accused of trying to 'Hillarize' Warren by casting her as an elitist
Former Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin says Sen. Bernie Sanders and his team will 'play dirty' because they 'feel like they're holier than the rest'; reaction and analysis on 'Outnumbered.'
CNN's chief media correspondent Brian Stelter chose not to cover what was seen as the biggest media story of the week, the rare bipartisan backlash the network received for its handling of the controversial dustup between Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., at the network's presidential debate.
Stelter, the media guru and host of the Sunday program "Reliable Sources," appeared to have turned a blind eye from the uproar that was sparked by the way CNN correspondent and debate moderator Abby Phillip framed her questions toward the two candidates over a 2018 meeting where Sanders allegedly told Warren he didn't think a woman could win the presidency. Warren said it happened, while Sanders flatly denied it.
"CNN reported yesterday that -- and Senator Warren confirmed in a statement -- that in 2018 you told her that you did not believe that a woman can win the election. Why did you say that?" Phillip asked.
"Well, as a matter of fact, I didn't say it," Sanders sharply replied. "Anybody who knows me knows that it's incomprehensible that I would think that a woman cannot be president of the United States. Go to YouTube today. There's some video of me 30 years ago talking about how a woman could become president of the United States."
Sanders then pointed to his attempt to "draft" Warren to run for president in 2016 and vowed to support the party's eventual nominee.
"Senator Sanders, I do want to be clear here. You're saying that you never told Senator Warren that a woman could not win the election," Phillip followed.
"That is correct," Sanders answered.
"Senator Warren, what did you think when Senator Sanders told you a woman could not win an election?" Phillip then asked the progressive rival, which sparked audible laughs in the auditorium and a shake of the head from Sanders.
That moment elicited harsh condemnation from both sides of the aisle. Even the far-left Huffington Post declared CNN "completely botched the Democratic presidential debate" in a headline of its report.
"This was the worst debate of the process so far," HuffPo senior reporter Zach Carter concluded.
The anti-Trump network was also roasted for claiming it "obtained" audio of the post-debate exchange between the progressive rivals almost 24 hours after the confrontation happened on its own debate stage.
Stelter spent much over his coverage on Sunday's show on President Trump's impeachment and the clash between CNN reporter Manu Raju and Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz.
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CNN's media correspondent has had a history of omitting major media stories from his reporting. Last year, after failing to cover the bombshell revelation that ABC News spiked a story on convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Stelter also kept it out of his "top media stories" from 2019.
The network did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.