Media top headlines June 21
Reporters and activists rushing to judge Florida Pride parade crash before investigation, The Washington Post getting knocked for painting Biden as 'deeply Catholic,' and CNN getting shredded for misleading headline on GA voter roll purge round out today's top media headlines
Critics excoriated ex-CBS anchor Dan Rather for criticizing comedian Jon Stewart's recent suggestion that the lab-leak theory on the origins of the coronavirus was credible.
In a Sunday post on Substack, the veteran left-wing journalist called Stewart's line of thinking "dangerous," and suggested he was dangerously questioning science with his viral critique on "The Late Show" that the coronavirus may have been accidentally released.
"Stewart is playing into the trope of the mad scientist at a time when we need science more than ever to solve our more pressing problems — most notably climate change. The idea that science is the biggest threat to the planet is terribly irresponsible," Rather wrote.
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Rather was flamed by critics on social media following the publishing of his post, with one claiming he was covering for the Chinese Communist Party, and another suggesting he failed to explain how questioning the origins of the coronavirus was "attacking science."
"In a contest of "Who do you trust?" - the fake newsman wouldn't fare well here, and we're not talking about Stewart," Fox News contributor Joe Concha wrote, in a veiled swipe at Rather's exit from CBS after airing unverified documents on former President George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard.
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Following his Jun. 14 appearance with Stephen Colbert, Stewart was also criticized by The Washington Post's Paul Waldman. His viral remarks, however, were largely avoided by major networks immediately following the airing, according to Grabien transcripts, with only CBS briefly mentioning them the following day on "CBS This Morning."
Fox News' Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.