Topic: CNSNews.com
CNSNews.com already forced its interns this fall to pester members of Congress with an anti-transgender gotcha question. But it also tried to squeeze in one more gotcha question before the holidays. TYhe first victim was Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy in a Dec. 8 article:
Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who said he is “pro-choice” on abortion, also said that President-elect Joe Biden (D) “might be right” in his view that “life begins at conception.”
On several occasions, Biden has said that “life begins at conception” but he would not interfere with doctors who abort human lives in the womb.
At the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, CNSNews.com asked Senator Murphy, “Do you agree with Joe Biden that life begins at conception?”
Sen. Murphy said, “I’m pro-choice, I think it should be up to, you know, every woman and every individual to make that choice on their own.”
CNS News then asked, “Well, but Joe Biden’s stated position is that life begins at conception.”
Murphy then replied, “Okay, I mean I don’t know. He might be right.”
Two days later, the CNS intern went after another Democratic senator:
When asked whether she agreed with Joe Biden’s position that “life begins at conception,” Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said, “I’m not going to answer the question.”
Biden has said in several interviews that he believes “life begins at conception,” and even expressed this view in the Oct. 11, 2012 vice presidential debate.
At the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 8, CNS News asked Senator Feinstein, “Do you agree with Joe Biden that life begins at conception?”
Feinstein initially said, “Oh, my god, I can’t believe you,” and her aide interjected, “That’s not an escalator question!”
She then said, “I’m not going to answer the question.”
“I don’t think it is necessary for what I do or part of it,” the senator added.
CNS News then said that Biden has “stated that he’s in favor of repealing the Hyde Amendment and using federal funds to pay for abortion services.”
Feinstein then replied, “Well, let me try and find out what’s going on.”
Of course, getting members of Congress, especially Democratic ones, perturbed by gotcha questions is pretty much the point of this exercise -- it's all about the clicks. After all, one CNS intern who made Nancy Pelosi mad managed to parlay it into a job at Fox News.
These were apparently the only two victims, though. It seems the interns ran out of time or the members of Congress have gotten better at avoiding reporters acting in bad faith.
