CNN under fire for misrepresenting focus group of Republican women

The Washington Post

On Tuesday and Wednesday, a group of Republican women who seemed to be randomly assembled appeared on CNN to weigh in on Trump. But it turns out those same women have appeared on CNN at least twice before. "The network missed telling its viewers a few other things about the women it put on the air Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon in a segment surveying their reaction to criticism of Trump," says Paul Farhi. "The seemingly random group of eight women were, in fact, members of an organized group dedicated to promoting Trump. The group calls itself the Trumpettes of America 2019 Palm Beach Team, although CNN and correspondent Randi Kaye didn’t mention anything about such a group. Nor did the anchors, including Anderson Cooper, who introduced Kaye’s report. The network simply identified the panelists individually, with their names appearing on screen next to the word 'Republican.' Kaye also gave no hint that the women knew one another and had a common cause. As a result, the segment left the impression that CNN had assembled a panel reflecting a cross-section of opinion from Republican women about the crossfire between Trump and four freshmen Democratic congresswomen of color, whom Trump told to 'go back' to their own countries in his Sunday tweets despite all four being American citizens. Rather than a cross-section, however, the Trumpettes were plainly of one mind."