After the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in July, comedian and political commentator Alex Stein has added his voice to the chorus of criticism aimed at CNN for allegedly publishing lies following the shooting.
Stein, known for his show Prime Time with Alex Stein, has a comedic style that often blends satire with political commentary.
He didn’t hold back in his criticism of CNN, telling The Dallas Express, “CNN is obviously objectively fake news when they can’t even admit that Donald Trump was shot, they reported that there were ‘loud noises’ and that he fell.”
“It’s ridiculous; they’re covering it this way because of the ‘mockingbird media.’ They’re using literal government-approved narratives,” Stein claimed, referring to the breaking news reports in the minutes and hours following the shooting.
The assassination attempt unfolded on July 13 when Trump was addressing supporters in Pennsylvania. Trump was seen grabbing his ear before ducking as shots rang through the air.
Trump, visibly injured and bleeding, was escorted offstage amid scenes of panic and confusion, but only after raising his fist proclaiming, “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!”
Stein expressed serious concern about the state of all forms of media credibility now and in the future.
“Even if [CNN] knows it’s true, they still purposefully tell us the wrong thing so they can create an argument about what really happened, even though the public can see it with their own eyes,” Stein said.
CNN’s subsequent coverage acknowledged the assassination attempt and Trump’s injury, but some damage may have been done, with critics pointing out that the initial reporting had fueled controversy and confusion, spreading like wildfire on social media.
“Now terrestrial media is dying, and social media has taken over. Facebook and Google are now censoring searches about the Trump shooting. It’s not just the mainstream media. It encompasses all social media companies as well,” Stein claimed.
Ongoing investigations into the assassination attempt have yielded little information about what motivated the 20-year-old shooter, and there are still unanswered questions as to how such a huge security failure on the part of federal and local law enforcement could have happened in the first place.
“[The Secret Service] were incompetent. You know they try to stop Alex Stein, but they can’t stop a shooter they were warned about,” Stein said in a previous interview with The Dallas Express, referring to his being escorted out of the Republican National Convention by Secret Service agents.