Media top headlines February 7
In media news today, The Washington Post gets slammed for a ‘morally bankrupt' column using a colleague’s death to drag Joe Rogan, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel issues an apology for false COVID claim in MSNBC interview, and Bill Maher slams cancel culture after Whoopi Goldberg, Jeff Zucker scandals.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams faced serious backlash over the weekend after posing maskless in a classroom filled with masked children, but CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers is coming to her defense.
In an appearance with CNN’s "New Day" on Monday, Sellers argued that if his kid were in the classroom, he would "definitely not" be outraged – neither from a public health perspective, nor the assumption that Abrams made a mistake.
"If my kid was in the classroom, would I be outraged? The answer is definitely not," he said. "Stacey Abrams is not trying to harm children, she was not flaunting regulations purposefully…so there’s not an issue there."
The commentator went on to explain that the negative media attention Abrams has received as a result will only set her back politically, and suggested that she most likely "wants the day back."
STACEY ABRAMS RECEIVES BACKLASH FOR POSING MASKLESS WITH ROOM FULL OF YOUNG MASKED CHILDREN
"It definitely ain’t helpful," he said. "The people who were outraged weren’t going to vote for Stacey Abrams anyway…Now, she’s going to lose a week or two having to deal with this issue which is, for the most part, a non-issue."
Stacey Abrams speaks onstage during the 2021 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Award Gala on December 09, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images for Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights)
Abrams was ousted after her visit to Glennwood Elementary School outside of Atlanta this past week to kick off the third annual African American read-in. Following the visit, Principal Dr. Holly Brookins posted photos on Twitter of maskless Abrams sitting cross-legged on the floor surrounded by masked children and adults, despite the Decatur City Commission reinstating a mandatory masking ordinance last month.
The principal’s Twitter account has allegedly been deactivated and Abrams’ prior quote tweet of the photo is no longer available after social media erupted with criticism from figures like Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and American First Legal founder Stephen Miller, who partnered the photo-op with embodying "elitism" and "arrogance." House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted in defense of the schoolchildren.
Miller followed up with reaction to Sellers’ comments, claiming that CNN has the story "completely backwards."
"The Abrams’ photo scandal is about leftist elites gleefully inflicting severe & lasting developmental harms on children (the lowest risk demo) while flaunting the very rules they impose. It’s about cruelty, immorality & imperial arrogance," he wrote.
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Fox News’ Cameron Cawthorne contributed to this report.