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Thoughts and prayers: CNN’s Cillizza hysterically tweets about couple watching ‘Tucker’ on his plane

March 26, 2022 | | Print Article

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CNN’s Chris Cillizza, a man described by the network as a “reporter,” is being mocked for his latest customarily biased take.

In a tweet posted at 8:52 pm this Friday evening, he complained about the maskless couple sitting in front of him on his flight and noted that they were watching his network’s hated competitor, Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

“Couple in front of me on flight refused to wear masks. They were tuned to ‘Tucker’ the whole time,” the CNN “reporter” tweeted.

Look:

While the tweet wasn’t overtly biased, critics could read between the lines considering the type of “reporting” he regularly conducts.

Below is a list of some of his more recent headlines:

  • “Yes, it’s Republicans’ fault Congress is so polarized”
  • “Is this, finally, Kamala Harris’ moment?”
  • “Analysis: Ron DeSantis just yelled at high school students for wearing masks”
  • “Analysis: Lauren Boebert hits new low at the State of the Union”
  • “Jared Kushner is nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. That’s less of a big deal than you think.”

Most view Cillizza as a commentator. And indeed, even his profile at Wikipedia lists him as such:

(Source: Wikipedia)

CNN meanwhile describes him as a “politics reporter” and “editor-at-large.”

Responding to Cillizza’s tweet, critics came at him with a spate of different takes.

Some accused him of bias:

The majority mocked him for being a mask Karen who’s seemingly unable to cope when forced to be around those who believe that mask-wearing is utterly pointless:

Others questioned the legitimacy of his claim given the lack of corroborating photos. Though to be fair, had he shared photos of the couple, critics would have accused him of doxxing them.

One critic asked to know what airline he’d flown with.

And a final set of critics zeroed in on the very biased insinuation that lay hidden beneath the surface of his tweet.

He appeared to be suggesting that anti-maskers are Republicans. And indeed, this is a common trope among establishment elites. Both this and the belief that the unvaccinated are all Republicans.

In reality, beliefs regarding masks and vaccines run the political gamut, though to be fair to Cillizza, Republicans tend to be more likely to be anti-mask and anti-vaccine-mandate.

That said, federal rules still mandate that a mask be worn aboard flights, though efforts are finally being made to roll these back.

“A group of CEOs from all major airlines in the U.S. is calling on President Biden to drop the federal transportation mask mandate along with the international pre-departure COVID-19 testing requirement,” NPR reported Thursday.

“In an open letter released by the travel-industry lobbying group Airlines for America, the group is calling on the Biden administration to ‘sunset federal transportation travel restrictions.’ The group argues that the restrictions no longer reflect the “realities of the current epidemiological environment.”

Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of legislators is pushing to nix the mask rule, and airlines are beginning to re-hire previously unvaccinated employees — not that said employees necessarily want their jobs back.

Vivek Saxena
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