{"id":572681,"date":"2021-06-24T11:37:27","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T15:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=572681"},"modified":"2021-06-24T11:37:29","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T15:37:29","slug":"judge-rules-rachel-maddows-statements-cannot-reasonably-be-interpreted-as-allegations-of-fact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-rules-rachel-maddows-statements-cannot-reasonably-be-interpreted-as-allegations-of-fact\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Rules Rachel Maddow\u2019s \u2018Statements Cannot Reasonably Be Interpreted As Allegations Of Fact\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjudge-rules-rachel-maddows-statements-cannot-reasonably-be-interpreted-as-allegations-of-fact%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=572681&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1173433646.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>The jealous competitors of Tucker Carlson have increasingly relied upon the same argument to dismiss any news broken by his top-rated show: claiming that Carlson\u2019s lawyers admitted that his show is not journalism and that Carlson\u2019s doesn\u2019t pretend to be truthful.<\/p>\n<p>CNN\u2019s Chris Cuomo provided a prime example last Wednesday. \u201cHere\u2019s what should bother you: His employer said in open court that he is not to be taken seriously,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/musthashman\/status\/1405786275060195335\">said<\/a> Cuomo, who has been known to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/chris-cuomo-advised-andrew-cuomo-on-sexual-harassment-allegations-cnn-wont-punish-him\">less than forthcoming<\/a> himself. \u201cWhy aren\u2019t they telling you: \u2018Don\u2019t take this man as truthful, because we said in open court he is not to be believed by reasonable people\u2019? They said it!\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"8.5135135135135\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dpakman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@dpakman<\/a> I saw you cover Tucker Carlson&#8217;s conspiracy theory that Jan 6 organizers were actually FBI agents. Chris Cuomo actually had former FBI Director Andrew McCabe on his show and he completely debunked Carlson. Take a look\u2026<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tIX6blCW9z\">https:\/\/t.co\/tIX6blCW9z<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Musthashman (@musthashman) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/musthashman\/status\/1405786275060195335?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 18, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>CNN\u2019s Medical Expert, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, summarized the argument last month (in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/05\/19\/opinions\/tucker-carlson-vaccine-opinion-reiner\/index.html\">opinion<\/a>\u00a0piece):<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"12.743421052632\">\n<p><em>In the past, Fox\u2019s own lawyers have argued that Carlson shouldn\u2019t be taken seriously. After Carlson accused former Playboy model Karen McDougal of extorting President Donald Trump, she filed a defamation lawsuit in 2019. US District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, who ruled in Carlson\u2019s favor, wrote an opinion echoing much of Fox\u2019s own defense of the Fox News host. \u201cThis \u2018general tenor\u2019 of the show should then inform a viewer that [Carlson] is not \u2018stating actual facts\u2019 about the topics he discusses and is instead engaging in \u2018exaggeration\u2019 and \u2018non-literal commentary,&#8217;\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/cases.justia.com\/federal\/district-courts\/new-york\/nysdce\/1:2019cv11161\/527808\/39\/0.pdf?ts=1601047194\">\u00a0she wrote.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Since Judge Vyskocil\u2019s decision last September, the allegation that Fox News admitted Tucker Carlson is a liar has become ubiquitous among the (less successful) legacy media. The Washington Post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2020\/09\/24\/first-amendment-bails-out-tucker-carlson\/\">claimed<\/a> the ruling proved that Carlson\u2019s show spews \u201cnonsense,\u201d because \u201cCarlson\u2019s mind is an inscrutable mess.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>NPR <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2020\/09\/29\/917747123\/you-literally-cant-believe-the-facts-tucker-carlson-tells-you-so-say-fox-s-lawye\">crafted the headline<\/a> (at your expense): \u201cYou Literally Can\u2019t Believe The Facts Tucker Carlson Tells You. So Say Fox\u2019s Lawyers.\u201d CBS News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/judge-tosses-suit-trump-affair-story-fox-news-tucker-carlson\/\">wrote<\/a>, \u201cJudge tosses suit over Trump affair story after Fox News argues no \u2018reasonable viewer\u2019 takes Tucker Carlson seriously.\u201d Even <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chrislhayes\/status\/1318586898026168320\">Chris Hayes of MSNBC<\/a> has used this argument.<\/p>\n<p>The idea that Tucker Carlson is a carnival barker seems to conflict with the media\u2019s other narrative about Carlson this week: that Carlson is so truthful that he\u2019s become, in the words of The New York Times\u2019 Ben Smith, other media outlets\u2019 \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/06\/20\/business\/media\/tucker-carlson.html\">best source<\/a>.\u201d But then, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, \u201cA foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And the media certainly haven\u2019t shown any consistency when it comes to a nearly identical court case made by MSNBC\u2019s most popular personality, Rachel Maddow.<\/p>\n<p>A gleeful Maddow reported that a journalist for the conservative <a href=\"https:\/\/oann.com\/\">One America News Network<\/a>, Kristian Rouz, also worked as a freelance writer for Russia\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/sputniknews.com\/\">Sputnik News<\/a>. Maddow said that the revelation \u2014 which came in July 2019, shortly after the Mueller Report <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/breaking-mueller-report-released-attorney-general-ben-shapiro\">dispelled<\/a> notions that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election \u2014 \u00a0proved that pro-Trump OANN \u201creally, literally is paid Russian propaganda.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>OANN hit Maddow with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/conservative-network-sues-rachel-maddow-msnbc-james-barrett\">$10 million<\/a> defamation lawsuit, <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2020\/biz\/news\/rachel-maddow-oan-defamation-dismissed-1234614682\/\">noting<\/a> that the network does \u201cnot receive any money from the Russian government, OAN does not get paid by Russia, and OAN has absolutely no relationship with Russia.\u201d Maddow\u2019s attorneys made a similar argument, which became a part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofsandiego.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/MADDOW-DISMISS.pdf\">official ruling<\/a> when U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant dismissed OANN\u2019s case.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaddow does not keep her political views a secret, and therefore, audiences could expect her to use subjective language that comports with her political opinions,\u201d the ruling held. \u201cA reasonable viewer would not conclude that the contested statement implies an assertion of objective fact.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maddow\u2019s \u201cstatements cannot reasonably be interpreted as allegations of fact,\u201d decided Bashant, an Obama appointee. (Vyskocil was also a Trump appointee.) She then ordered OANN to pay MSNBC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/tv\/2021\/02\/09\/msnbc-rachel-maddow-awarded-legal-fees-after-oan-lawsuit\/4447175001\/\">$250,000<\/a> in legal fees; OANN has taken the case before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n<p>Investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald cited Bashant\u2019s ruling while juxtaposing the media\u2019s divergent treatment of the two talk show hosts in a <a href=\"https:\/\/greenwald.substack.com\/p\/a-court-ruled-rachel-maddows-viewers\">Substack column<\/a>. \u201cIt is virtually impossible to find similar headlines about Maddow even though the judicial rationale justifying dismissal of the lawsuit against her was virtually identical to the one used in Carlson\u2019s case,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIndeed, lawyers for MSNBC and Fox cited most of the same legal precedent to defend their stars and to insist that their statements could not be actionable as defamation because viewers understood it as opinion rather than fact.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By the media\u2019s logic, if Tucker Carlson\u2019s segments are pure nonsense, so are Rachel Maddow\u2019s. Fox News\u2019 legal arguments no more admit that Tucker Carlson is a ratings-chasing clown than MSNBC\u2019s arguments say the same about Maddow. Yet the only report this author could find that noted the judge called into question Maddow\u2019s truthfulness <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/media\/499294-judge-dismisses-one-america-news-defamation-lawsuit-against-rachel-maddow?rl=1\">came<\/a> from The Hill, by Joe Concha.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, neither network can be said to be \u201cmore truthful\u201d on the basis of these rulings: Tucker Carlson is Fox News\u2019 most popular host, as is Maddow for MSNBC.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[W]hatever else is true, those who want to claim that this court ruling proves Carlson is a lying propagandist who cannot be trusted have no way out of applying the same claim to Maddow,\u201d wrote Greenwald. \u201cIronically, those most guilty of being unreliable liars and propagandists are those in the media and even Maddow\u2019s own MSNBC colleagues who repeatedly cite this court ruling to delegitimize Carlson without ever mentioning that Maddow\u2019s lawyers successfully used the same arguments in her defense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The views expressed in this piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The jealous competitors of Tucker Carlson have increasingly relied upon the same argument to dismiss any news broken by his top-rated show: claiming that Carlson\u2019s lawyers admitted that his show &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2281207,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1173433646.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Judge Rules Rachel Maddow\u2019s \u2018Statements Cannot Reasonably Be Interpreted As Allegations Of Fact\u2019","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-572681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1173433646.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Judge Rules Rachel Maddow\u2019s \u2018Statements Cannot Reasonably Be Interpreted As Allegations Of Fact\u2019","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=572681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2281207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=572681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=572681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=572681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}