Good news. Coronavirus is back on, at least in so far as it can be used to snipe at Donald Trump.

Today, a press conference was held in the Rose Garden at the White House. Trump used it to announced the new job numbers and offer some words on the George Floyd situation. One thing set some reporters off though. Namely, that the seats weren’t all ten feet apart.

The news conference was initially set up for social distancing. Then the WH rearranged the chairs. Before and after pics from our @abdallahcnn pic.twitter.com/jxKAneAZsy

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) June 5, 2020

While I have no doubt Trump was tweaking the media to expose their hypocrisy here, what this actually looks like is that there would not be enough chairs in the first picture. Regardless, it’s absolutely hilarious to see people who stopped wearing masks and encouraged massive protests the last ten days now suddenly deciding social distancing matters again.

Jon Karl took it a step further, angrily pronouncing that CDC guidelines were being broken.

This is a flagrant violation of CDC guidelines on social distancing and a move that puts reporters at risk for the purpose of turning the press corps into a prop for a so-called "press conference" where the president refuses to answer a single question. https://t.co/dgImSBblaO

— jonkarl (@jonkarl) June 5, 2020

Brian Stelter, a chief excuse maker for the Floyd protests, couldn’t resit either.

Protesting in close quarters, some without masks? No shaming, but encouraged!

Chairs being closer together than six feet? WE'RE GONNA DIE https://t.co/ocql54yYSg

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) June 5, 2020

Sorry guys, but you don’t get to put the genie back in the bottle. This is especially true of a network like CNN which actively encourages rioting in their coverage. Your reporting and your words told the country that coronavirus was over and that social distancing isn’t necessary. That’s on you.

As I wrote just yesterday, numerous politicians, including Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, are out participating in these protests. We’ve seen no condemnation of the mainstream media, nor claims they are putting people’s lives at risk by allowing these protests. That’s a far cry from just a few weeks ago, where going outside got you accused of wanting to kill grandma.

Trump laid the trap here and the media fell right into it. Now they have to face their hypocrisy on social distancing while trying to explain how it’s “different” in the Rose Garden vs. thousands of people on the street. Remember, before the Floyd protests, we were being told large gatherings would need to wait until a vaccine. That all went out the window in the blink of an eye, either because these media figures never believed their own propaganda, or they are too scared to lobby for a consistent standard.

But you have to hand to these journalists. Their sheer lack of shame means they’ll still try to play both side anyway. That’s exactly what they are doing.