When conservative darling Ben Carson dishonestly claimed that President Obama said that America is “not a Judeo-Christian nation,” CNSNews.com managing editor Michael Chapman wasn’t going to correct him. In fact, he put the claim in the headline of his Sept. 2 article on Carson’s remarks.
Chapman went on to present Carson’s claim as fact:
Neurosurgeon and best-selling author Dr. Ben Carson said that although President Barack Obama has claimed America is “not a Judeo-Christian nation,” he is not the one to decide that point, we the people “get to decide that.”
[…]
“We as Americans have certain beliefs and cultures that led us to the pinnacle of the world,” said Dr. Carson while speaking at the 8th Annual Defending the American Dream Summit on Friday in Dallas, Texas.
“One of those things is that we are a people of faith,” he said. “I know the president has said that we are not a Judeo-Christian nation. But guess what? He doesn’t get to decide that, we get to decide that.”President Barack Obama has on several occasions stressed his belief that America is not a Judeo-Christian nation.
It’s not until the very last paragraph that Chapman hints — but won’t actually say — that Carson’s words were inaccurate and out of context:
Back on April 6, 2009, during a press conference with the president of Turkey, President Obama said, “Although as I mentioned, we have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values. I think modern Turkey was founded with a similar set of principles.”
Chapman, mind you, is CNS’ managing editor. The fact that he privileges a falsehood says a lot about how CNS operates and how little its journalism can be trusted.