CNN Stands by TSA Report After ‘#FakeNews’ Tweets from Trump and DHS Spox
CNN is standing by its reporting on TSA employees calling out sick during the shutdown in large numbers.
The network reported that “hundreds” of TSA officers have called out at several major airports as the shutdown continues, and the president of the national TSA employee union is quoted as saying “This will definitely affect the flying public who we (are) sworn to protect.”
In response, DHS spokesperson Tyler Houlton tweeted that their reporting is “#FakeNews,” saying, “Security operations at airports have not been impacted by a non-existent sick out. CNN has the cell numbers of multiple @TSA public affairs professionals, but rather than validate statistics, they grossly misrepresented them.”
More #FakeNews from @CNN. Security operations at airports have not been impacted by a non-existent sick out. CNN has the cell numbers of multiple @TSA public affairs professionals, but rather than validate statistics, they grossly misrepresented them. https://t.co/PzVeoIBt5R
— Tyler Q. Houlton (@SpoxDHS) January 4, 2019
And then today, President Donald Trump came across that tweet and echoed the sentiment to also bash CNN’s “#FakeNews”:
Great Tweet today by Tyler Q. Houlton @SpoxDHS on the #FakeNews being put out by @CNN, a proud member of the Opposition Party. @TSA is doing a great job!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2019
In response to the President’s tweet, CNN PR put out a statement standing by their reporting:
CNN spoke to numerous TSA & union officials & cited data provided by unions for our report. TSA itself put out a statement acknowledging increased call-outs after we published. @spoxdhs & @realdonaldtrump may not like the truth but that won’t stop us from reporting. #FactsFirst
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) January 5, 2019
[image via screengrab]
