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MSNBC ‘propagandist’ dragged for generous take on House Dem pulling fire alarm ahead of stop-gap vote

October 1, 2023 | | Print Article

An MSNBC anchor is being dragged for spouting “propaganda” in defense of far-left Democrat Rep. Jaamal Bowman and his wild stunts.

Bowman was caught in a photo pulling a congressional office building fire alarm early on Saturday right as the House was voting on a stopgap bill to prevent a shutdown.

Look:

As a result of his actions, the building had to be evacuated, which in turn caused the discussions over the stopgap bill to be delayed.

Reporting on this Saturday afternoon, MSNBC anchor Yasmin Vossoughian claimed, based on a statement from Bowman (see below), that he’d pulled the fire alarm by accident.

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“I just want to read for you some of the reporting so that you understand what actually went on there. There were some reports that began to emerge about Rep. Bowman, who was seen pulling some sort of fire alarm in the Cannon Office Building earlier today,” she said.

“We got a statement on that, saying Congressman Bowman did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote. The congressman regrets any confusion,” Vossoughian added.

Listen:

Note how she reported it without any pushback, claiming in the process that it was representative of “what actually went on” in the Cannon Office Building.

Critics immediately cried foul, arguing that the full statement made no sense. After all, what sort of fool wouldn’t realize that pulling a fire alarm would trigger an alarm and cause widespread chaos?

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“If you’re not reading a Democrat congressman’s press release verbatim and uncritically, you really can’t call yourself a true newsperson,” one critic tweeted.

The toughest criticism came from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald. He outright accused Vossoughian and, in fact, the entire media of twisting themselves into pretzels to defend the Democrat lawmaker.

“I know there are going to be even funnier attempts by the media to defend Jamaal Bowman — even though what he’s alleged to have done isn’t just a crime but a felony under the theories of the Jan 6 case — but the way they degrade themselves for Dems like this is hilarious,” he tweeted.

The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway referred to the MSNBC host as a “propagandist.”

See more criticism below:

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Other outlets have followed a similar playbook.

“In a statement released Saturday night, Mr. Bowman said that he had not pulled the alarm to delay the vote, as some Republicans had presumed. He said that as he was rushing to the Capitol to cast a vote, he came to a door in the Cannon building that would not open,” The New York Times reported.

Republicans have for their part chosen to not accept Bowman’s narrative and have instead begun calling for investigations.

“This should not go without punishment. This is embarrassing. You’re elected to be a member of Congress — you pull a fire alarm in the minutes and hours before the government being shut down, trying to dictate the government would shut down?” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, reportedly said.

He also compared Bowman to the Jan. 6th rioters by drawing attention to how “other people were treated” when they tried to delay the legislative process.

Meanwhile, one Republican, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, has even drawn up a motion to expel the congressman from the House.

“This is the United States Congress, not a New York City high school. This action warrants expulsion & I’m introducing a resolution to do just that,” she tweeted Saturday afternoon.

As for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, it appears he’s chosen to accept Bowman’s narrative hook, line, and sinker.

“Bowman said he met with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries about the incident shortly after the funding stopgap measure passed the House on Saturday, adding that Jeffries’ tone was ‘supportive’ and ‘he understood that was a mistake,'” according to CNN.

Plus, when questioned by reporters about what Bowman did, he claimed he hadn’t seen the video footage yet.

Listen:

Vivek Saxena
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