‘This is Where the Media Fails’: Jim Cramer Rips the Press for Encouraging Stock Market Panic in Chase for Ratings and Clicks

CNBC’s Jim Cramer said on Monday that financial sanctions against Russian banks isn’t a “Lehman moment” despite the media encouraging panic over the latest from the Ukraine conflict.

In a joint statement on Saturday, the United States and the European Commission announced they are working to remove Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system. “This will ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally,” the statement said.

That big news rocked through financial media and, combined with news of other tough sanctions on Russian interests caused what Cramer considers an unnecessary panic, he explained on Monday morning.

“I heard Lehman Moment all weekend,” began Cramer, and host David Faber immediately clarified.

“Because of the SWIFT action?” Faber asked.

“What had happened is that it doesn’t pay to be positive. You say it’s a Lehman moment, and it turns out to be bad, you’re a genius,” he said. “You say it’s not a Lehman moment, and it turns out to be bad, you’re a fool. So what is the better thing to say?”

“This is where the press fails. The press is worried about YouTube,” said Cramer. “The press is worried about saying anything positive right now because it will be used against you.”

He used Fox News host Tucker Carlson as an illustration, seeming to suggest Carlson has been selectively edited or taken out of context on the subject of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

“In the same way that this fellow who works at Fox News, Tucker Carlson – you can see endless things about how he likes Putin,” Cramer said. “Like, you can replay anything and you really seem to be wrong.”

“So for me, it’s very difficult to come out and say, You know what? I think that this is going to be calm for JPMorgan. And yet it will be,” he continued.

“I’m just saying that that panic, as encouraged by the media, is unbeatable as a strategy. But I’m not going. I’m just not going there,” said Cramer.

The two concluded with their hope and Cramer’s belief that the city of Kyiv won’t be “razed.”

“I’m not going there because I don’t care about the YouTube,” said Cramer.

Watch the clip above, via CNBC.