CNN was widely mocked late Wednesday after an on-air graphic that was broadcasted a day earlier went viral.
CNN national correspondent Omar Jimenez was reporting live in the early hours on Tuesday morning on the unrest that had taken place in Kenosha, Wis., following the police-involved shooting of Jacob Blake.
Jimenez was standing in front of a raging fire and the chyron at the bottom of the screen read, “FIERY BUT MOSTLY PEACEFUL PROTESTS AFTER POLICE SHOOTING.”
The image, which didn’t surface until Wednesday night, sparked jokes across social media.
CNN REMOVES THE TERM ‘VIOLENT’ FROM ON-AIR GRAPHIC DESCRIBING PROTESTS IN WISCONSIN
(CNN)
“Clowns. Irresponsible clowns. It’s not even funny. Months of enabling violence and destruction by ignoring and downplaying it, thereby eliminating any pressure on politicians to take action,” conservative writer A.G. Hamilton reacted.
“The Most 2020 headline you’ll ever read…” comedians the Hodge Twins quipped.
“‘Fiery but mostly peaceful protest’ is so absurd that if it were satire you’d think it was lazy and unimaginative,” National Republican Senatorial Committee senior adviser Matt Whitlock wrote.
“The phrase ‘beyond parody’ doesn’t begin to describe this,” conservative commentator Matt Walsh said.
New York Post reporter Jon Levine took a screenshot of the graphic and put it side-by-side with an image from the classic Leslie Nielsen comedy “The Naked Gun” where his character Detective Frank Drebin attempts to disperse a crowd in front of an exploding building.
“Nothing to see here. Please disperse,” the caption from Drebin reads as chaos ensued behind him.
Many compared this CNN moment to an on-air moment on MSNBC back in May where anchor Ali Velshi, who was reporting live from Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd, was telling viewers that the situation was “‘generally speaking unruly” while standing in front of a burning building.
“I want to be clear on how I characterize this. This is mostly a protest. It is not, generally speaking, unruly but fires have been started and this crowd is relishing that,” Velshi described the unrest.
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On Tuesday, CNN similarly raised eyebrows with another graphic that graphic initially said, “8PM CURFEW ORDERED AFTER VIOLENT PROTESTS OVER POLICE SHOOTING OF UNARMED BLACK MAN IN WISCONSIN,” but the message was removed and replaced roughly 5 seconds later without the word “violent.”
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
