Jake Tapper attends Politicon at The Pasadena Convention Center on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2017, in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Invision/AP)

Not sure why anyone would give Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) any airtime when there are a boatload of other people who are actually credible people from whom one might hear.

But there she was on CNN on Sunday, being interviewed by Jake Tapper. Not only was she spreading her usual brand of socialist silliness, but she also was spreading the lie that President Donald Trump called the Wuhan coronavirus a “hoax.”

AOC just repeated the lie that President Trump called coronavirus a "hoax."

This is not true, and has been debunked by numerous fact checking sources.

This would've been a great time for a fact check, @jaketapper… https://t.co/Ps1hItAKGA pic.twitter.com/X8qQEwMthF

— Abigail Marone (@abigailmarone) March 22, 2020

The fact check is cited in the tweet, but others including the Washington Post and Politifact debunked this weeks ago. Yet, it is a persistent lie spread on social media.

Abigail Marone was right to call out not just Ocasio-Cortez for the lie, but Jake Tapper for not pushing back against it.

Tapper responded, but his response was just complete nonsense.

I thought about it, because the president did not call the virus a hoax.

But i didn’t because he *did* call a hoax the concerns of those saying that the response from the president was insufficient and that he was downplaying the gravity of the crisis. And that too was a lie. https://t.co/MdPeulQpZ1

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 22, 2020

No, what he did call a hoax were the specific lies of people like Joe Biden that the CDC was cut and that scientists like Dr. Anthony Fauci were muzzled and not allowed to talk. That was a lie. Trump also said in the same rally speech that we have to take it seriously, hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

So Tapper not only excuses AOC’s lie but rewrites the history of what Trump was actually saying, again skipping right over the actual Democratic lies.

I thought about it, because the president did not call the virus a hoax.

But i didn’t because he *did* call a hoax the concerns of those saying that the response from the president was insufficient and that he was downplaying the gravity of the crisis. And that too was a lie. https://t.co/MdPeulQpZ1

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 22, 2020

Do tell. Perhaps you might understand why we no longer trust you.

And more importantly:https://t.co/lFub1SYmyM https://t.co/nrstvUqCTP

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 22, 2020

In other words, he knows she lied, but he’s not calling her out because he thinks Trump lied or the government isn’t responding fast enough? How is that journalism?

If only the President would stop embellishing things, we would fact check everyone else – A standard of excellence that literally did not exist before January 21st, 2017.

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) March 22, 2020

He’s basically admitting his bias, her lie “doesn’t count” in his mind because he thinks Trump lies. So too bad, audience, you don’t get the truth. Because Orange Man Bad. Oh, well.

How twisted has “journalism” now become?

HT: Twitchy