There’s little doubt that many in the establishment media are trying to turn the coronavirus pandemic into their own windfall against President Donald Trump, and it’s becoming apparent some are resorted to using fake news to do it.

Case in point: a CBS News broadcast Wednesday about the shortfall of ventilators in the state of New York.

Among the cacophony of errors and lies of omission is one crowning jewel of potential prevarication: Footage of coronavirus patients used in the story to whip up hysteria about the situation in New York is actually from Italy.

Before we get to the main payoff, let’s start at the very beginning.

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The report from CBS correspondent David Begnaud opens with him talking about how New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the federal government isn’t doing enough in the face of the coronavirus emergency, apparently walking back his previous praise.

In a little rhyme that makes him sound like an infomercial charlatan, Begnaud said the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s sending only 400 ventilators to the state “isn’t matching the urgency of the emergency.”

The story went on to chronicle how New York City is especially hard-hit. “Crowded subway cars may have accelerated the spread,” Begnaud said over footage of a packed subway car, where a rider was wearing a blue medical mask (more on that later).

Next, Begnaud voiced over footage of a hospital room full of patients hooked up to ventilators. They lay in hospital beds clustered side by side as medical personnel in serious protective gear attended to them, driving home the dire straits in which New York City finds itself.

There’s only one problem: The footage is not from New York City.

In fact, it isn’t even from the United States; it’s from Bergamo, the Italian city hardest-hit by COVID-19. The footage can be seen here in a Sky News report March 22 about a critical shortage of ventilators in northern Italy.

Sure, it’s possible a producer used the wrong footage when putting the piece together, but given the alarmist tone of the story and its apparent pleading of the Democratic governor’s case, one has to wonder where “mistake” ends and “fake news” begins.

But wait, there’s more (we’ll stick in that infomercial trope as a nod to Begnaud).

After the Italian hospital footage ended, the clip switched to a visibly angry Cuomo, who shouted, “What am I going to do with 400 ventilators when I need 30,000? You pick the 26,000 people who are going to die because you only sent 400 ventilators.”

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You didn’t read that wrong; Cuomo was just a little off in his calculations, as only 400 ventilators would mean that 29,600 patients would be left without one — assuming, of course, that his premise was even correct.

Apparently, CBS News is just as lousy at math as MSNBC and The New York Times, as Begnaud did nothing to correct the governor’s numbers. With such questionable knowledge of both geography and mathematics, the viewer is left to wonder what other facts the network is sloppy about verifying.

Besides the lies or errors, the most troubling thing about this piece was the tone.

There is no doubt the United States and New York in particular are in the grips of a crisis. COVID-19, as of Monday, had sickened 60,679 and killed 1,040 in the state, of which 790 deaths were in New York City alone, according to Johns Hopkins.

Because of the seriousness of the situation, it is important that the media be truthful in their reporting and not incite panic. This message was one that the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., thought every American needed to hear.

On Friday, he tweeted a clip from Dr. Deborah Birx of the White House coronavirus task force urging truthful coverage.

“Every American needs to know this,” Trump wrote. “You won’t hear it on CNN. They are only playing bad news.”

Every American needs to know this. You won’t hear it on CNN. They are only playing bad news. https://t.co/jqMTP9yGi1

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 27, 2020

Far from it, pieces like this one from CBS News do everything to cast a shadow over the administration and its handling of coronavirus, including claiming that the president simply isn’t doing enough for the states.

The Western Journal has reached out to CBS News for comment but has not yet received a response.

Let’s return to the part about the crowded New York subways. So far, the Trump administration has done what it can to help at the federal level but still requires local municipalities to do what they can and should do.

In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio was slow to respond to coronavirus outbreak, partially discontinuing subway service only on Tuesday following already reduced ridership, The New York Times reported. While Cuomo railed about a shortage of ventilators, the mayor did nothing to stop the spread of the disease at one of its sources.

Meanwhile, another Democratic mayor, LaToya Cantrell of New Orleans, famously blamed Trump for her own decision not to cancel the city’s Mardi Gras celebration despite mounting concerns. The city is now facing an increasingly serious outbreak situation, according to Begnaud’s piece.

The worst part of this is that in the midst of an actual emergency, Trump’s opponents in the media and Democratic Party are wasting time with more opportunistic swipes at destroying him, even as if it means misleading footage and questionable facts.

If the United States is at war with a virus, then what the ancient playwright Aeschylus wrote applies to CBS News’ coverage: “In war, truth is the first casualty.”

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Do you think testing will help curb this pandemic quickly?

Managing money, especially during unexpected seasons like the coronavirus pandemic, can easily create fear and panic in people’s minds.

Thankfully, Christian financial adviser and best-selling author Dave Ramsey recently reached out to his blog readers and offered seven practical steps to guide those concerned about making ends meet during this uncertain time.

But before revealing the dollar-stretching step that made number one on his list, Ramsey paused to remind his anxious readers to calm down and take a deep breath.

“Did you do it?” he asked.

Ramey knew that fear was the first enemy that needed to be defeated before any rational thinking could be achieved.

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So, with that worry out of the way, he offered step number one.

“If you aren’t already living on a budget, the time is now!” he wrote. This initial step will reveal just how much money there is to work with, pinpointing where every spent dollar ends up going.

Then, with that in mind, he emphasized survival in step number two, reminding his readers that the needs, or “Four Walls” as he called them, are different from the wants.

And temporary sacrifices will be part of the process.

“When the going gets rough — like it is right now — you need to focus on the things you really need to survive,” Ramsey wrote.

Once those priorities — that is, food, utilities, shelter and transportation — are met, he suggested tackling additional payments in order of importance, adding, “When you run out of money — that’s it.”

Ramsey gave his readers another reality check with the simple truth of the matter: When the money’s gone, it’s gone.

Stressing out won’t help, but steps three through seven will. These steps entail practical efforts, such as pausing debt payments until the crisis is over, selling personal items, getting a side job and finding unnecessary expenses to cut.

“We know making sacrifices like this can feel like adding insult to injury when you’re already hurting,” he wrote. “You’re making temporary sacrifices to tread water until this storm passes and you’re back on your feet again.”

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For step number seven, Ramsey suggested reaching out to a local church or community group for help, with a word of caution.

“Let’s be clear here: Try to do everything in your power first before you seek help like this,” he clarified. “But, in times of real need, don’t be too prideful to ask for a helping hand.”

The local church is meant to be a beacon of hope in its community, but Ramsey warned against taking advantage of charitable organizations so they can help those in real need.

On his radio show earlier this month, Ramsey warned his listeners about the tendency to over-correct and/or freak out during stressful times.

“When we get terrified we have a tendency to over-correct,” he said.

He explained that by over-correcting, humans tend to analyze a time of crisis through their natural default mechanism — the decision to overreact or underreact.

“I’m a glass-half-full, abundance, anger-based person,” Ramsey said. “Some people are glass-half-empty, scarcity-based, fear-based people.”

“Some of you are completely going crazy and overreacting and hysterical. And some of you are underreacting — me, as an example. I underreact all the time with this kind of stuff just because I refuse to be fear-based. It drives me nuts,” Ramsey said.

He concluded that things will be affected in the short term, but not for an extended period of time.

“You’re gonna be OK. You’re gonna be OK,” he reassured everyone.

His blog post, meanwhile, ended with hopeful and encouraging words: “[W]e can get through this. We already are getting through it. Moment by moment. Day by day. Hope springs eternal. And that hope is worth a lot more than a giant stash of hand sanitizer and bulk toilet paper.”

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

President Trump posted a powerful video from his reelection campaign highlighting the administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and heaping praise on the American people, who are “rallying together to defeat the unseen enemy.”

“In times of struggle we see the true greatness of the American character Americans from all walks of life are rallying together to defeat the unseen enemy,” Trump states in the video, which cuts away to clips of politicians, health officials, and political pundits praising the administration’s leadership:

“He said everything that I could have hoped for,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) says in the video.

“I can tell you the actions he has taken, his team has been on it,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) remarks.

The video keenly stresses the role of the American people in fighting the “unseen enemy” and features one of the president’s remarks made at a recent coronavirus task force briefing.

“The one that really deserves the credit are the American people,” Trump says.

“Our message is to all Americans we love them, we’re with them, and we will not let them down,” he adds.

This is not the first time Trump has used the term “unseen enemy” to refer to the current crisis.

“Defeating this unseen enemy requires the help and commitment of every single American,” he said during a coronavirus task force briefing last week.

The president has remained optimistic throughout the crisis and signaled that he would like to see the economy begin to reopen as early as Easter.

“I think you’ll see a very fast turnaround once we have a victory over the hidden enemy,” Trump said during Thursday’s briefing.

Poll after poll has shown that the majority of the American people approve of the administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. A Harris Poll released last week showed Trump’s approval rating, on the handling of the coronavirus, specifically, jumping five points in a matter of days — 51 percent to 56 percent. An Ipsos/ABC News poll released this week showed similar results, with 55 percent of Americans approving of Trump’s response to the pandemic. What is more, polls are also indicating that Americans have higher approval of Trump’s response to the crisis than the media’s.

Trump signed the $2 trillion relief economic relief package, or CARES Act, on Friday.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is requiring travelers from Louisiana to self-isolate for 14 days and said the Florida Highway Patrol will install checkpoints on major roads to screen travelers from that area, he announced on Friday.

DeSantis is imposing restrictions on travelers fleeing to Florida from Louisiana — particularly New Orleans, which is emerging as one of the hotspots of the coronavirus outbreak.

“New Orleans is having a lot of problems — they may not be quite as widespread as New York City. There was a concern from the Panhandle that this could impact them,” DeSantis said during a press conference on Friday.

“They are working hard to keep their rates low and we don’t want to add any problems to them,” he added.

The Florida Highway Patrol will install checkpoints on the major roads along the Alabama-Florida state line and screen drivers from Louisiana, with the exception of those driving commercial vehicles.

“There’ll probably be a diversion for folks with certain license plates,” DeSantis said.

Others will be required to tell authorities where they are staying in Florida and told to self-isolate for 14 days. A violation of that order could result in criminal penalties.

“All we’re trying to do is keep our residents here safe,” DeSantis said. “If they’re telling you to shelter in place, then do that. But don’t come here, because we’re trying to protect our folks.”

DeSantis issued a similar order this week, requiring travelers fleeing the New York Tri-State area to self-isolate for 14 days.

“There’s over 190 direct flights from the New York City area to the state of Florida, and I would reckon given the outbreak there, that every single flight has somebody on it who is positive for COVID-19,” DeSantis said on Monday.

“And so as we are working to stop it in the state of Florida, you’re consistently having people come in from one of the top hot spots in the entire world,” he continued.

“We don’t have people coming from Wuhan, we don’t have people coming from Milan, yet you have a flood of people still coming from New York City,” he added.

DeSantis also announced the suspension of new vacation rentals as an effort to discourage potentially infected travelers from entering the Sunshine State state for refuge.

Florida currently has over 3,100 confirmed cases of the virus.

If you live in a world where American citizenship means nothing, it might seem pretty logical to cut $1,200 checks to anyone who can make it across the border to collect them.

So now the braying begins about also handing out $1,200 checks to the 22 million illegal aliens currently in the states. Advocates don’t think the checks should stop at Americans or legal residents. 

Here’s the Breitbart report:

Illegal aliens are demanding they too receive $1,200 in federal checks from the government as part of a Chinese coronavirus crisis relief package.

Open borders organizations like the George Soros-funded United We Dream, the National Immigrant Justice Center, and the National Immigration Law Center — all of which represent the roughly 11 to 22 million illegal aliens living in the United States — are pleading with the federal government to cut federal checks to illegal aliens who have Individual Tax Identification Number (ITINs).

Here’s the congressional champion of the idea from that “dead” congressional district with 9% voter turnout based on its huge base of illegals who are not, legally at least, able to vote.

 

To clarify, $1200 checks are ONLY going to some w/social sec numbers, NOT immigrants w/ tax IDs (ITINs).

Thanks to GOP, these checks will be cut off the backs of *taxpaying immigrants,* who get nothing. Many are essential workers who pay more taxes than Amazon.

Wall St gets $4T

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 26, 2020

 

Which for illegals, is quite a pretty penny. Yes, there probably are illegals who can use those checks here. Think of how many there are in the restaurant, and low-paid services industries which are the hardest hit.

But the $1,200 checks also are roughly equal to the entire annual salary of a worker from Cambodia, so if you’re an illegal here from that country, it’s a free year without work, you can fly home and live high on the hog for a full year, or send it to someone back home and give them a year’s vacation. It’s close to the same from Ethiopia and Pakistan, both of which send illegals here in large numbers. It’s about two months’ salary of the average worker from Mexico, and when you consider that the average illegal from that country has far lower skills as well as earning power of the average Mexican, it’s quite a bit of the year free from worry about work, too.

The normal response of illegals in a downturn is to head back home. This is a move by the illegals-industrial-complex to keep them and institutionalize them here, citizenship be damned, but for heavens sake, keep George Washington on the payments, don’t bother with some global bitcoin currency from the United Nations. The money is billed as “free” but actually it’s not free. Those of us here legally pay for it. Those who take, who aren’t here legally, have no obligation to spend it in the U.S. economy to revive it, which is its purpose. With no loyalty to the U.S. they can just as easily ship it back home.

But the biggest problem is the advocates who are calling for this bad idea. They’re the ones who “need” illegals – to serve as funding justification for their NGOs or else as fodder for their low-turnout congressional districts – who continuously encourage people to stay illegal, given the cash it draws for their organizations to “serve” them. That $350 million in the stimulus bill just passed for “immigrant and refugee services” is just that.

 

Instead of calling on their left-wing congressional buddies to increase immigration quotas, which Congress has the power to do, or, to make it easier for people to immigrate, certainly something that ought to be do-able for illegal immigrants in genuinely necessary jobs such as farm work, they prefer to nullify citizenship entirely as an idea, blurring the distinction between legal and illegal, and demanding taxpayers to fork out the checks to all comers. 

The whole proposal, if they get their way, passing maybe as a supplementary measure, would tack $26.4 billion onto the current stimulus bill, free of charge to illegals from U.S. taxpayers. It would amount to an incentives to illegals to pay the cartels to come on through, bringing in a new wave of border surges. Something like that would make those checks effectively a subsidy for Mexico’s drug cartels.

This isn’t really about illegals. It’s about empowering left wing lawyers and their Democrat patrons who gain so much from illegal immigration. And they’re willing to junk citizenship as having any meaning to do it. To heck with that.

If you live in a world where American citizenship means nothing, it might seem pretty logical to cut $1,200 checks to anyone who can make it across the border to collect them.

So now the braying begins about also handing out $1,200 checks to the 22 million illegal aliens currently in the states. Advocates don’t think the checks should stop at Americans or legal residents. 

Here’s the Breitbart report:

Illegal aliens are demanding they too receive $1,200 in federal checks from the government as part of a Chinese coronavirus crisis relief package.

Open borders organizations like the George Soros-funded United We Dream, the National Immigrant Justice Center, and the National Immigration Law Center — all of which represent the roughly 11 to 22 million illegal aliens living in the United States — are pleading with the federal government to cut federal checks to illegal aliens who have Individual Tax Identification Number (ITINs).

Here’s the congressional champion of the idea from that “dead” congressional district with 9% voter turnout based on its huge base of illegals who are not, legally at least, able to vote.

 

To clarify, $1200 checks are ONLY going to some w/social sec numbers, NOT immigrants w/ tax IDs (ITINs).

Thanks to GOP, these checks will be cut off the backs of *taxpaying immigrants,* who get nothing. Many are essential workers who pay more taxes than Amazon.

Wall St gets $4T

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 26, 2020

 

Which for illegals, is quite a pretty penny. Yes, there probably are illegals who can use those checks here. Think of how many there are in the restaurant, and low-paid services industries which are the hardest hit.

But the $1,200 checks also are roughly equal to the entire annual salary of a worker from Cambodia, so if you’re an illegal here from that country, it’s a free year without work, you can fly home and live high on the hog for a full year, or send it to someone back home and give them a year’s vacation. It’s close to the same from Ethiopia and Pakistan, both of which send illegals here in large numbers. It’s about two months’ salary of the average worker from Mexico, and when you consider that the average illegal from that country has far lower skills as well as earning power of the average Mexican, it’s quite a bit of the year free from worry about work, too.

The normal response of illegals in a downturn is to head back home. This is a move by the illegals-industrial-complex to keep them and institutionalize them here, citizenship be damned, but for heavens sake, keep George Washington on the payments, don’t bother with some global bitcoin currency from the United Nations. The money is billed as “free” but actually it’s not free. Those of us here legally pay for it. Those who take, who aren’t here legally, have no obligation to spend it in the U.S. economy to revive it, which is its purpose. With no loyalty to the U.S. they can just as easily ship it back home.

But the biggest problem is the advocates who are calling for this bad idea. They’re the ones who “need” illegals – to serve as funding justification for their NGOs or else as fodder for their low-turnout congressional districts – who continuously encourage people to stay illegal, given the cash it draws for their organizations to “serve” them. That $350 million in the stimulus bill just passed for “immigrant and refugee services” is just that.

 

Instead of calling on their left-wing congressional buddies to increase immigration quotas, which Congress has the power to do, or, to make it easier for people to immigrate, certainly something that ought to be do-able for illegal immigrants in genuinely necessary jobs such as farm work, they prefer to nullify citizenship entirely as an idea, blurring the distinction between legal and illegal, and demanding taxpayers to fork out the checks to all comers. 

The whole proposal, if they get their way, passing maybe as a supplementary measure, would tack $26.4 billion onto the current stimulus bill, free of charge to illegals from U.S. taxpayers. It would amount to an incentives to illegals to pay the cartels to come on through, bringing in a new wave of border surges. Something like that would make those checks effectively a subsidy for Mexico’s drug cartels.

This isn’t really about illegals. It’s about empowering left wing lawyers and their Democrat patrons who gain so much from illegal immigration. And they’re willing to junk citizenship as having any meaning to do it. To heck with that.