VS: omroep Newsmax blijft desinformatie verspreiden over bestorming Capitool
De conservatieve Amerikaanse omroep Newsmax blijft verkeerde informatie verspreiden over de bestorming van het Capitool op 6 januari 2021. Dat is de conclusie van een rapport van NewsGuard, een dienst die gespecialiseerd is in het monitoren van desinformatie.
Volgens Newsguard heeft Newsmax sinds juni dit jaar ten minste 40 maal desinformatie of complottheorieën uitgezonden met betrekking tot de bestorming van het Capitool. Vanaf juni zijn er openbare hoorzittingen gestart in het Huis van Afgevaardigden over de gebeurtenissen op 6 januari 2021 en de rol die de toenmalige president Trump daarin speelde.
De berichtgeving van Newsmax geeft een heel vertekend beeld dan wat er tijdens de hoorzittingen is gezegd wat er op 6 januari is gebeurd, zei NewsGuard. Er is herhaaldelijk beweerd dat slechts een paar honderd relschoppers betrokken waren bij de bestorming van het Capitool en dat ze ongewapend waren. Foto's van de dag laten echter zien dat verschillende relschoppers wapens bij zich droegen en vlaggenmasten als wapens of pepperspray en verdovingsgeweren gebruikten. Volgens het ministerie van Justitie bestormden destijds minstens 2.000 mensen het Capitool.
Volgens de analyse was Newsmax van alle conservatieve Amerikaanse omroepen het actiefst in het verspreiden van desinformatie over de bestorming van het Capitool. Newsmax trekt bijna 200.000 kijkers per dag.
“If you’re watching Newsmax, you may come away with an entirely different feeling of what happened at the hearings, and what happened on Jan. 6,” NewsGuard analyst Jack Brewster said of the findings.https://t.co/PTR7zDZePd
— Michelle Basius (@dunecat1) July 19, 2022
1. The false claim that the Jan. 6 rioters were ‘unarmed’
NewsGuard found that Newsmax advanced this claim six times on-air between June 9, 2022, and June 30, 2022: pic.twitter.com/hEwEXDI7uV
— Jack Brewster (@jbruce218) July 18, 2022
2. The false claim that then-President Trump summoned the National Guard to the Capitol, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blocked his request
NewsGuard found that Newsmax advanced this claim 11 times on-air between June 9, 2022, and June 30, 2022: pic.twitter.com/q3xP3ZGrez
— Jack Brewster (@jbruce218) July 18, 2022
3. The false claim that Jan. 6 was a ‘false flag’ event: During a June 22, 2022, episode of “Wise Guys With John Tabacco,” a series of man-on-the-street interviews were played in which one unnamed interviewee claimed, “[It] seems like [Jan. 6] was somewhat of a fraudulent event
— Jack Brewster (@jbruce218) July 18, 2022
4. The false claim that there were only ‘a few hundred’ rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6: During a June 13 episode of “The Chris Salcedo Show,” anchor Chris Salcedo said that “a few hundred folks walk[ed] through the Capitol, harmed police officers and broke some windows.."
— Jack Brewster (@jbruce218) July 18, 2022
sent these votes back to Harrisburg, back to Phoenix, back to Atlanta and say ‘we need this straightened out.’ ”
— Jack Brewster (@jbruce218) July 18, 2022
posed leading questions about Capitol rioter Ray Epps, including, “Who is Ray Epps? What was he doing leading the charge? How come he has never been arrested? Is he an FBI informant?” Timmerman added, inaccurately, “That has never been asked by the January 6 committee.”
— Jack Brewster (@jbruce218) July 18, 2022
of Texas, who stated, “Elections have consequences, and that’s what happened in 2020 in a very strange, very irregular — and if you’ve seen ‘2000 Mules,’ very suspicious — election that has been foisted upon the American people.”
— Jack Brewster (@jbruce218) July 18, 2022
In an interview that aired on the programs “Wake Up America” and “John Bachmann Now” on June 30, 2022, former President Trump described the election as “rigged” and “stolen.” pic.twitter.com/E8ku1eWlA7
— Jack Brewster (@jbruce218) July 18, 2022
