Jake Tapper provided some context to CNN‘s reporting on a boastful statement put out by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council in the aftermath of a ceasefire deal with the United States, pushing back on Donald Trump‘s claim that the network was pushing out something fraudulent.
On Tuesday, Trump blasted the network on Truth Social, falsely claiming that the statement was a “fraud.” His FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, then followed up with his own post, falsely claiming that the network was “pushing out a hoax headline in such a sensitive national security moment.”
The online story at issue was a report on the National Security Council statement, with the headline, “Iran claims victory, says it forced US to accept 10-point plan.”
In the story, CNN reported that the Iranian Security Council statement read, “The enemy, in its unfair, unlawful, and criminal war against the Iranian nation, has suffered an undeniable, historic, and crushing defeat.”
The network defended the reporting, saying that they obtained the statement from Iranian officials and that it was being reported in Iranian media. Senior international correspondent Matthew Chance said that he obtained the document from the Iranian foreign ministry, while other media outlets reported on it as well.
The Iranian foreign ministry put out a different statement that was much more measured, avoiding some of the more extreme propaganda.
On his show on Wednesday, Tapper said, “The issue boils down to this. The statement from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, which claimed victory for Iran, did not fit the messaging that the Trump administration wanted to project. And instead of calling out the Iranian regime for its conflicting statements, or explaining how Iran does this all the time, President Trump attacked CNN by falsely claiming we made it up by lying to you. We didn’t make it up, nor did we present any of Iran’s narratives as fact. We simply presented what the statement said in the context of the rest of the war. And that is our job as journalists, to report on what is happening in a war.”
Tapper added, “Our job is not to try and please the president or only report the statements he likes. We’re going to tell you what’s going on, and we’re going to keep doing that, no matter how many lies this administration or the Iranians tell.”
Carr’s post followed previous threats he has made against broadcasters, after Trump last month attacked media outlets for their reporting on the Iran war. Carr wrote, “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”
But in the case of CNN, Carr has no regulatory authority, as the FCC does not have oversight over cable content.
Representatives from one First Amendment group, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, condemned Carr’s attack on CNN. Ari Cohn, lead counsel for tech policy at FIRE, posted on X, “To be clear: Carr is effectively saying that nobody should be allowed to report that someone said something, if Donald Trump claims what was said is false. The FCC has no power to dictate truth, and Brendan Carr doesn’t seem to realize that The Dictator was satire, not a how-to.”
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