Topic: WorldNetDaily
Despite fake news and conspiracy-mongering being one of the key factors that almost killed WorldNetDaily this year, WND editor Joseph Farah has no problem with continuing to indulge his conspiratorial tendencies. Hence, Farah's July 1 column, in which he tries to credit Harvey Weinstein for Barack and Michelle Obama's production deal with Netflix.
Farah insists that "it’s true the Obamas are long-time friends – thisclose, as they say in the biz" to Weinstein. The only evidence he provides is a claim that Weinstein "frequently" (italics his) visited the Obama White House (actually, it was apparently only 13 times, much of it likely linked to the fact that Weinstein was, in Farah's words, a "major donor" to Democrats), and that the Obama's daughter Malia worked an intership at the Weinstein Company before the allegations about Weinstein went public.
Farah then speculates that there was no way the Obamas could not have known about sexual harassment allegations surrounding Weinstein before the scandal broke: "The rumors and the actual stories have been around for many years – decades, in fact. Take, for instance, this story going back to 2010, which names names and details details. But anyone who has worked in and around Hollywood knows the Weinstein predator stories go back to at least the 1990s. I can tell you, as a journalist working in L.A. at the time, I heard the scuttlebutt in the 1980s." Oh, and that "story going back to 2010" is to some blog that nobody has heard of.
Did Farah report on any of that "scuttlebutt" when he was a L.A. reporter? He offers no evidence that he did. If he had, he could have had something more on which to hang his journalistic hat than his claim that he's the one who invented the "Night Stalker" moniker for serial killer Richard Ramirez.
Despite not having articulated any actual physical evidence directly linking Weinstein to the Obamas' Netflix deal or even that they had any knowledge of Weinstein's issues with women before the scandal broke, Farah sarcasically concluded his column by saying, "Imagine that! What a coincidence. That’s one scandal they just never saw coming. Who’d have guessed?
And who would have guessed that journalism high on speculating about "coincidences" and low on actual, provable facts would almost bring down Farah's website? Apparently, he just never saw that coming.
