Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and China’s President Xi Jinping shake hands prior to their talks on the sideline of the 11th edition of the BRICS Summit, in Brasilia, Brazil, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019.The BRICS Summit, gathering the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, will take place in Brasilia Nov. 13-14. (Ramil Sitdikov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Out: Incessantly parroting Chinese propaganda to try to own Trump…New Hotness: Parroting Russian propaganda to try to own Trump.

If you thought the same network that’s spent the last four years screaming about Russian misinformation and trolls was above going to bat for Putin to get the orange man, think again.

Does Russia have coronavirus under control? According to information released by Russian officials, Putin's strategy seems to have worked. https://t.co/eWIulAXYnn

— CNN (@CNN) March 21, 2020

Ah yes, because what “Russian officials” say should obviously be reported as news. It’s not like the Kremlin has been a deceptive, antagonistic outfit for, I don’t know, it’s entire existence or anything.

I see we're just regurgitating Russian propaganda now https://t.co/RKmpG6YYQA

— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) March 21, 2020

The reason Russia has fewer cases is because it’s a dictatorship (I don’t care what facades they place over it) and they aren’t telling the truth. The idea that they’ve somehow, especially given their physical climate, managed to simply stop coronavirus before it starts, when every other large industrialized nation hasn’t, doesn’t begin to pass the smell test.

What’s likely happening here is that Russia is choosing to purposely misclassify cases in order to assert that they don’t have the same problem the rest of the world has. The reason Putin would want to do this is because it gives him clout in the world community as a leader and back at home. For a similar comparison, notice the range of U.S. media stories praising China’s “leadership” and their supposed stopping of the Wuhan virus. In reality, they are almost certainly just lying again.

CNN isn’t doing this because they actually think they are reporting the news. They simply want to seed their narrative that other countries, including China and Russia, are somehow outperforming us. That’s how you end up with ludicrous shot and chasers like this.

Beyond parody. Slow clap, guys. pic.twitter.com/8F81v3Timu

— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) March 21, 2020

Instead of running to print propaganda from tyrants, CNN could stick to verified facts. But that’d mean putting their petty partisanship aside for just a moment in order to help people in need. That’s something that’s not going to happen.