The Media Research Center just loves it when someone accuses a member of the media of acting on White House orders.
In a Feb. 13 NewsBusters post, Noel Sheppard touted Dick Morris’ claim that ABC’s George Stephanopoulos is a “paid Democratic hitman” who is on the ABC payroll specifically for “making points for the Democratic Party,” as evidenced by asking Mitt Romney “all those contraception questions” during a debate.
Sheppard followed up in a Feb. 16 post, regurgitating Morris’ claim that the tactics Stephanopoulos allegedly used against Romney were “similar to how the Clinton White House got the media to do its bidding against its opponents.” Sheppard wrote, “Was this orchestrated as Morris said by the White House in order to develop a narrative prior to the release of this edict, or were all these questions about a largely irrelevant issue in the campaign up to that point mere coincidence?”
Sheppard doesn’t mention that Morris offers no evidence whatsoever to back up his claim. And he completely ignores that a prominent conservative Fox News employee has mocked Morris’ claim.
On his Twitter account, Fox News’ Brit Hume — to whom the MRC has awarded its William F. Buckley Jr. Award for Media Excellence — pointed out that Morris “couldn’t substantiate” his claim. In another tweet, Hume said of Morris: “often wrong, never in doubt.”
If one of the MRC’s favorite conservatives is mocking Morris’ claim, why is Sheppard rushing to portray Morris as correct?