ALTERNATING CURRENTS

Nunes Following Trump Down Fake News Rabbit Hole

Jim Reeves
Visalia

Ever the eager sycophant of Donald Trump, Devin Nunes sent out an email Thursday accusing a local television station of staging protesters at a fund raising event. In it, he accused KFSN ABC30 of being "FAKE and LIBERAL NEWS" because the reporter, Gene Haagenson, dared ask him about Russia.

Here's what Nunes said in his email:

"Unfortunately, the ABC 30 news network once again sent a reporter to ask me about wild accusations and Russian conspiracy theories that precisely mimicked the talking points of numerous left-wing organizations.Continuing a remarkable string of similar coincidences, the reporter's appearance was quickly followed by the appearance of about half a dozen liberal protestors (sic), as if they'd been encouraged to show up to provide the right backdrop for ABC 30's reporting.I believe Central Valley residents deserve unbiased, straight-forward reporting from local news networks, not political spin coordinated with left-wing groups. ABC 30 should be reporting news stories, not staging them."

It must be nice to be able to dismiss anyone who dares to ask you a question, and accuse them of staging events.  It means you can play the victim, and see conspiracies under every TV station's van. I"m surprised he didn't claim George Soros was somehow behind it all, paying protesters.

Once those not happy with the way Nunes has been handling his job in Congress found out where the $2,700 per plate fund raiser was being held (it's location was secret until you RSVP'd), they quickly utilized social media to get people on the scene. No doubt Nunes was peeved about that - someone leaked his "secret memo" listing the time and place for the event. With no other target on which to vent his spleen, he lashed out at Channel 30 and reporter Haagenson.

These days Devin seems to feel at home only on Fox News, where I don't doubt they hold his hand and tsk tsk tsk with him over the terrible way local media tries to get him to actually answer some serious questions. (did you see that soft-ball interview he did a few days ago? The interviewer even used the Republican fall-back term, "Democrat Party", instead of the correct "Democratic Party". They don't even try to hide their bias, and he accuses Channel 30!) We did get a long look at him almost running from reporters at the Farm Show last week, until they found a section where they could slam the doors on the reporters trying to follow him and get him to talk to them. Must not have been a Fox News person in the group.

Trump starting foraging in the rabbit hole of 'fake news' a long time ago, and Devin Nunes is happy to follow him right down to the bottom. I hope Alice and the Mad Hatter can make room at the table, but the cat is not smiling, and the Queen may have harsh words for them all.

Nitpicks, just because: ABC30 is a station, not a network. The correct spelling is "protesters". These from the head of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. And I'm still blocked on Nunes' personal Twitter account. Maybe it was something I said?