CNN Fires Back at Trump Press Secretary For Trolling Their Map Error: We Can Admit a Mistake, ‘Try it Sometime’
Welp, any future accounts of the ongoing battle between the White House and CNN just gained another chapter, and this episode focuses on an on-air graphic miscue from the past weekend that misidentified the state of Alabama as Mississippi. The horror!
The Twitter account of recently appointed White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham brought attention to this quasi-embarrassing mistake, made last Friday around 5 a.m., adding a bit of snark that said: “I know you guys are busy analyzing lines on a map, but perhaps you use your time to study up on U.S. geography?”
Hi @CNN, I know you guys are busy analyzing lines on a map, but perhaps you use your time to study up on U.S. geography? pic.twitter.com/kVgifHfPK4
— Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) September 5, 2019
On-air graphics mistakes are not uncommon for 24/7 cable news outlets, in fact, there are Twitter feeds entirely dedicated to documenting such errors. Covering such mistakes seems rather small, but in fairness to the White House, CNN’s media reporter Brian Stelter has often gone after Fox News for their mistakes, asking “When someone can’t get the little stuff right, it makes you worry about the big stuff.”
But CNN’s Communications team appeared eager to push back on the White House ding, owning their mistake and turning the focus back on the Trump administration. CNN PR tweeted:
Thanks, Stephanie. Yes, we made a mistake (which we fixed in less than 30 seconds). And now we are admitting it. You all should try it sometime.
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) September 5, 2019
CNN may have missed an opportunity to write their note in Sharpie, as their critique of the Trump administration seems to be a clear call out of Trump’s defense of his controversial claim that Alabama will (likely) get hit by Hurricane Dorian, though the National Weather Service appeared to dismiss that claim.
