CNN attempted to do a little damage control on Tuesday after a post
coddling two New York City terror suspects ? both of whom swore
allegiance to the Islamic State after being taken into custody ? drew
fierce criticism.
The post, which was deleted on Tuesday amid the backlash, read, ?Two Pennsylvania teenagers crossed into New York City Saturday morning for
what could?ve been a normal day enjoying the city during abnormally
warm weather. But in less than an hour, their lives would drastically
change as the pair would be arrested for throwing homemade bombs.?
The network was roundly mocked for characterizing the pair ? one of
whom said his goal had been to execute an attack more deadly than the
Boston Marathon bombing that killed three in 2013 ? as regular
teenagers who?d just happened to pick Saturday to throw improvised
explosive devices (IEDs) into a crowd of civilians.
?Classic Pennsylvania teenager behavior: throwing IEDs and pledging
allegiance to ISIS. Boys will be boys!? The Daily Wire?s Michael
Knowles commented.
Classic Pennsylvania teenager behavior: throwing IEDs and
pledging allegiance to ISIS. Boys will be boys!
pic.twitter.com/KfcMFBXdxK
? Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) March 10, 2026
Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) added, ?CNN got this headline wrong. It
should be: ?Two radical Islamic terrorists came to NYC pledging
allegiance to ISIS with bombs meant to kill Americans??There. Fixed it
for you.?
?What on Earth? CNN acts like they were sightseeing and accidentally
found some bombs. NO. They bought chemicals, made the bombs and went to
NYC to commit a terrorist attack,? another comment said. ?CNN is an
unfunny version of the Onion designed to misinform.?
Another post from @honestreporting criticized the outlet for
?infantilizing? the people who carry out violent crimes driven by
ideology.
?Wow. ISIS-inspired perpetrators commit a literal terrorist act, and
this is what CNN comes up with? Oh, those poor ?Pennsylvania
teenagers,? whose lives have ?drastically changed? because they made
the conscious decision to throw bombs. When will the media stop
employing narrative storytelling to infantilize perpetrators of
ideologically motivated crimes??
After deleting the post, CNN attempted to explain it away with a
follow-up: ?A post regarding the two individuals arrested for throwing homemade bombs outside of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani?s home
failed to reflect the gravity of the incident thereby breaching the
editorial standards we require for all our reporting. It has therefore
been deleted.?
Edits were also made to the story itself, which had initially included
the same descriptions of the perpetrators. The accompanying editor?s
note read, ?A previous version of this story included a summary that
does not reflect the gravity of the incident, thereby breaching the
editorial standards we require for all our reporting. It therefore has
been changed.?
A post from Brian Stelter?s ?Reliable Sources? newsletter conceded that
the X post was problematic but claimed that ?the story itself was
solid? ? but critics pointed out that the post had been lifted directly
from the story.
This morning?s @ReliableSources newsletter has the context >>>
https://t.co/v9NLjgs75l pic.twitter.com/S5pR7kirMB
? Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 10, 2026
??The story itself was solid. But the tweet was outrageous,'? Jerry
Dunleavy quoted, adding, ?The tweet in question ***was also the lede of
the story*** before the article was stealth edited.?
--
Democrats and the liberal media hate President Trump more than they
love this country.
--- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)