Media top headlines December 6
In media news today, a women's group says 'good riddance' to Chris Cuomo after CNN firing, Brooke Baldwin calls on the liberal network to replace Cuomo with a woman, and an MSNBC anchor appears to downplay Bob Dole's accomplishments because of his support for Trump.
Liberal journalist Ken Klippenstein was relentlessly mocked by critics over the weekend for what appeared to be an odd attempt to link former Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole's death to Big Tobacco.
In a Sunday tweet, The Intercept writer posted images of four headlines, in order of publishing date, that suggested Dole's death was caused by his previously reported "link" to Big Tobacco, as well as his "doubts" that tobacco was actually addictive.
Dole announced that he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer earlier this year, and passed away Sunday at the age of 98. A decorated World War II veteran who rose to become Senate majority leader and the Republican White House candidate in 1996, Dole was widely celebrated Sunday as an American icon.
President Ronald W. Reagan with Sen. Robert J. Dole of Kansas in the White House press briefing room. (Dirck Halstead/Getty Images)
LONGTIME GOP SENATOR AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE BOB DOLE DEAD AT 98
But not in all circles, with Klippenstein and other liberal media members disparaging him on the day of his death.
"Dole's link to Big Tobacco aged in years of dealmaking," read the first headline in his sequence from a 1996 article in the Washington Post. The second, another 1996 article from The New York Times, read, "Dole repeats his doubts that tobacco is addictive."
Klippenstein's sequence went on to show headlines from Dole's cancer diagnosis and his death.
Sen. Bob Dole won the Republican nomination for president in 1996, but lost the election to Bill Clinton. (Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
BOB DOLE'S PASSING HAS VETERANS WISHING FOR ‘MORE PEOPLE LIKE HIM’
Critics mocked Klippenstein on social media, with one jokingly calling the tweet "an endorsement of cigarettes" considering Dole's age, and another asking if Big Tobacco paid for his tweet.
"He lived to be 98. In what world is this not a ringing endorsement of tobacco?" once critic wrote, while another joked to count him in for lung cancer if it meant he could also live to be 98 years old.
BOB DOLE WAS A WORLD WAR II HERO, CARRIED HIS BATTLE SCARS THE REST OF HIS LIFE
"Yeah, cancer sure showed him!" another critic wrote.
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