Libyan outlets use Trump’s anti-CNN tweets to cast doubt on slavery report

Donald Trump

Trump’s habit of slapping a “fake news” label on any news outlet whose reporting he doesn’t like (which is all of them apart from Fox News) is no longer just an affront to anyone who cares about a free and strong press in the United States. It also has global consequences, with actual lives at stake.

Earlier this month, CNN published a gripping report on the Libyan slave trade after its reporters in Tripoli recorded migrants and refugees being sold at auction for the equivalent of a few hundred dollars. Libyan authorities promptly launched an investigation into the country's underground slave market, although the political instability accompanying that country's ongoing civil war will probably make that effort a logistical impossibility. While the story has sparked outrage across the world, some media outlets in Libya have raised doubts about the authenticity of CNN's reporting, citing to the network's well-known reputation for spreading "fake news."

The primary basis for these familiar-sounding claims? Tweets authored by President Donald Trump.

On Saturday afternoon, the president launched one of his standard-issue social media attacks against CNN International, calling the network "a major source of (Fake) news" and asserting, without further explanation, that "[t]he outside world does not see the truth from them!" Shortly thereafter, as first noted by Al Aan TV's Jenan Moussa, a Libyan free-to-air satellite channel published an article on the comments, insinuating that they cast doubt on the veracity of the entire story.

It’s amazing to think anyone in the White House could become a hero overnight, and possibly save lives, by marching into the Oval Office and slapping President Stupid Fucking Manbaby’s favorite toy out of his hands and locking it away until he learns to play better with others.

The world’s becoming a parody of itself and all we can do is watch.