Ryan Condemns Biden, ESPN Falls for Fake Tweet | Winners & Losers in Today’s Green Room

Washington Post publisher and CEO Fred Ryan penned an op-ed that was sharply critical of President Joe Biden and his upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia.

In the column, Ryan accused Biden of giving Saudi Arabia a pass over Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, condemning him for going to Jeddah “on bended knee” when he previously vowed to make Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman an international “pariah.”

Ryan’s column came just a week after the Post ran an op-ed from Biden defending the upcoming trip as a necessary step to bring down fuel prices and advance America’s international interests.

Unconvinced, Ryan pointed to the broader implications of fraternizing with Saudi leaders.

“Biden needs the Saudis to increase their oil production to help keep global energy prices in check,” he wrote. “The trip sends the message that the United States is willing to look the other way when its commercial interests are at stake.”

Ryan later noted that terrorists “recruit by exploiting hatred of the United States among people brutalized by their own despotic leaders.”

“That narrative succeeds best when Americans talk a good game about human rights until there’s something else we need more — such as cheap oil,” he added, accusing Biden of breeding-American resentment.

He warned that “a grip-and-grin photograph with MBS signals to autocrats everywhere that you can quite literally get away with murdering a journalist as long as you possess a natural resource the United States wants badly enough.”

To salvage the “ill-conceived blunder,” Ryan recommended that Biden sit down with Saudi dissidents to demand the release of political prisoners as a condition for meeting with Saudi leaders.

And if MBS fails to deliver, Ryan concluded that “Biden should refuse the staged handshake the crown prince so desperately craves.”

ESPN fell for a fake Ballsack Sports tweet … again.

Ballsack Sports tweeted a fake quote from Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant that made its way to ESPN airwaves on Monday.

Host David Jacoby and NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins actually read the fake quote on-air, dedicating a whole segment to something that never happened.

Ballsack Sports — which is pretty clearly a parody account — tweeted a “quote” from Morant stating that Michael Jordan would be “just another superstar” if he played in today’s NBA.

“If you put Michael Jordan in today’s game, he’s just another superstar. You have me, Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic, Damian Lillard, Trae Young, and then guys like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard,” read the fake quote, attributed to Morant’s interview with Bleacher Report. “It’s not just about one superstar and a bunch of average guys.”

Morant did appear on a Bleacher Report podcast and stated he “would’ve cooked” Jordan in a game of one-on-one because “I’m never gonna say nobody gonna beat me in one-on-one or anything. Yeah. I don’t care what it is. What sport it is. Soccer who the best player in soccer. Come on. We can play!”

But Morant never uttered the “just another superstar” line, despite the claim of Ballsack Sports.

Nevertheless, the quote made its way to ESPN’s This Just In, where Perkins called Morant “confident and crazy at the same time” over the bogus statement.

Shortly after the segment aired, Molly Morrison flagged the fake quote on Twitter, writing, “I know ESPN did not just do an entire segment based on a Ja Morant ‘quote’ from Ballsack Sports.”

Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks later confirmed Morant “absolutely did not say this in the interview.”