CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash have both had to answer for spreading misinformation about Representative Rashida Tlaib.
During an interview with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Sunday, Tapper asked if she had any response to Tlaib’s “suggestion” that state Attorney General Dana Nessel was seeking strong charges against pro-Palestinian student protesters “because she’s Jewish.”
The only problem is, Tlaib never said anything of the sort.
Steve Neavling of the Detroit Metro Times, who wrote the article that Tapper was citing, published a fact-check on Monday. “Tlaib never once mentioned Nessel’s religion or Judaism. But Metro Times pointed out in the story that Nessel is Jewish, and that appears to be the spark that led to the false claims,” Neavling wrote.
In an interview with the Detroit Metro Times, Tlaib did not mention or even refer to Nessel’s Jewishness. Instead, she spoke about systemic anti-Palestinian bigotry. Some, like Nessel, have interpreted Tlaib’s words about widespread discrimination against her own community as coded antisemitic language.
Despite Neavling’s clarification, the false claim continued to spread. Jewish Insider picked up the story Sunday and wrote, “Tlaib has also claimed that Nessel is only charging the protesters because she’s Jewish,” without including any actual quote. The language in the article has since been changed from “claimed” to “suggested,” but its divorce from reality remains the same.
CNN’s Bash used footage of Tapper speaking to Whitmer about Tlaib as part of a segment Monday about antisemitism “from both ends of the political spectrum.” Bash claimed that Whitmer had “sidestepped calling it out” because Tlaib was a member of her same party—not because it had never actually happened.
Both Tapper and Bash posted clips of their stories on social media, further boosting the claim. Whitmer did eventually make a statement about the nonincident, without referring to Tlaib specifically, which Tapper also shared, further adding fuel to the fire.
Finally, Tapper spoke with Nessel later Monday and claimed that he simply “misspoke” on Sunday.
“I should note that I misspoke yesterday when asking a follow-up of Governor Whitmer who I asked about this. I was trying to characterize your views of Tlaib’s comments,” Tapper said to Nessel. It appeared, however, that Tapper had plainly presented his own characterization of Tlaib’s statement. Tapper then allowed Nessel to repeat her interpretation of Tlaib’s statement.
“What do you make of those today noting that Congresswoman Tlaib never explicitly said your bias was because of your religion and so it’s unfair for you to make that allegation?” he asked.
Nessel replied saying that Tlaib was “well-known for making inflammatory and incendiary remarks that are antisemitic in nature.”
“I think it’s very clear to everybody exactly what she’s saying,” Nessel said.
Bash also offered “clarification” during her show Tuesday. “Tlaib accused Nessel of ‘biases,’” Bash said, now including Tlaib’s full quote: “But it seems that the attorney general decided if the issue was Palestine, she was going to treat it differently, and that alone speaks volumes about possible biases within the agency she runs.
“Now, Tlaib did not reference Nessel’s Jewish identity. Her office has not responded to our request for clarity,” Bash said, attempting to place the onus on Tlaib for the confusion she and her colleague had wrought.
“Her allies insist that’s not what she meant,” Bash said, but offered no further explanation into Tlaib’s comment. “But Nessel still says she believes it’s antisemitic.” Bash then referred to Nessel’s comments on the show the night before.
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