The Media Research Center’s Joseph Vazquez wrote a March 17 post with the blaring headline “FREE MONEY? CNBC Boosts Romney’s INSANE Coronavirus Plan to Give EVERY American $1,000” that began: “CNBC apparently had no problem treating Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-UT) insane coronavirus plan to give “every” American $1,000 as a rational idea.”
But shortly thereafter, the word “INSANE” disappeared from both the headline and first paragraph:
What happened? Well, around the time Vazquez’s post went up on NewsBusters, President Trump and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin effectively endorsed Romney’s idea by stating during that day’s coronavirus brief that they were considering issuing such payments to Americans to provide immediate relief to those affected by the coronavirus crisis.With that endorsement, Romney’s plan ceased being “insane.”
There’s also the fact that the MRC, as a pro-Trump propaganda outlet, cannot be seen as criticizing anything Trump has endorsed.
The MRC did not disclosed to readers that the post was edited, despite the fact it regularly attacks other media outlets for “stealth editing” items. The word “insane” remains in the item’s URL, however.