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Earlier this month, Joe Biden virtue-signaled on Twitter by way of a thread that talked about how he respected the freedom of the press, how people needed to vote for him so the attacks on the mainstream media would stop, yada yada.

Here are two tweets from that thread:

A free press is essential to a free society. That's why attacking the press and attempting to intimidate independent media is a standard part of the authoritarian playbook around the world. And it’s why Donald Trump’s efforts to demonize the media put us on such a dangerous path.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 3, 2020

Trump deflects legitimate questions with attacks. He bullies members of the press, instead of taking responsibility for his failures. His efforts to undermine public confidence in the integrity of reporting violate our core values and threaten our very system of government.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 3, 2020

Fast forward to today, when CBS News senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge broke the news about acting DNI Richard Grenell’s notification to Congress of the declassified “unmasking list” that included the names of numerous Obama administration officials, including then-Vice President Biden.

It was very, very bad news for the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, who just yesterday slipped up and lied when he claimed he had no knowledge of the politically-motivated investigation into Gen. Michael Flynn.

The news was so explosive and upsetting to the Biden campaign that Andrew Bates, Biden’s director of rapid response, sent out a nasty tweet targeting Herridge, claiming she was a “partisan, rightwing hack” and a “regular conduit for conservative media manipulation ploys.”

The tweet has since been deleted, but yours truly screengrabbed it before he did:

Here's Biden's director of rapid response attacking a respected member of the MSM because she reports facts inconvenient to Biden's campaign narratives. I eagerly await @brianstelter's and @oliverdarcy's swift condemnations of this attack on democracy and the free press. #ncpol pic.twitter.com/5EyXZ39ZsB

— Sister Toldjah 😁 (@sistertoldjah) May 13, 2020

Because I knew Stelter and Darcy would be on this like white on rice had it been Trump attacking the media, I pressed them again a few minutes later, suggesting maybe they could exploit a misogyny angle since they enjoy doing that everytime Trump has even the mildest of interactions with female reporters:

Still waiting on y'all to condemn this Biden campaign attack on a respected journo, @oliverdarcy @brianstelter – maybe you could even work in a "misogyny" angle to this attack, too (I mean that's what you'd do if it was Trump doing the attacking, right?) #waiting https://t.co/lba6ZFRNRG

— Sister Toldjah 😁 (@sistertoldjah) May 13, 2020

Later, I alerted Bates that just because he deleted the tweet didn’t mean the issue was going away:

You may have deleted the tweet, @AndrewBatesNC, but the Internet is forever. Really not a good look at all for a North Carolina native. Wonder what your boss @JoeBiden would think? Remember the thread he wrote on May 3rd? Here's a reminder. cc: @brianstelter @oliverdarcy #ncpol pic.twitter.com/3oRCTqOeAa

— Sister Toldjah 😁 (@sistertoldjah) May 13, 2020

As of this writing, there have been zero – count ’em – zero tweets from Stelter or Darcy condeming Bates’s attack. Stelter did retweet this tweet from Jake Tapper, which was about as harsh as a pop on the hand from a 2nd grade teacher to an unruly student:

Gross. Personal attacks on journalists for sharing facts is obnoxious and indecent. @JoeBiden approves this message? https://t.co/G6jVxWuxMF

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 13, 2020

And just for good measure, he made sure to note in a follow-up tweet that he was fair and balanced in criticizing both sides, just in case his devoted following of leftists had any questions:

It’s so obvious it need not be said but I will anyway: not only does the Trump campaign do this regularly, the White House and the president do it as a matter of policy. And they do it so often it’s impossible to respond every time. If you RT my first tweet, RT this second one.

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 13, 2020

Herridge, as of this writing, has not responded. Nor should she:

Knowing how gracious & professional Ms Herridge is, she always reports news exactly as facts present it, she will shrug this off & walk away. The mud raking is systemic among Biden's friends & supporters who ignore his predilection for unwanted fondling of unwilling victims. https://t.co/YDOkOWjES5

— Andersson (@stormm_us) May 13, 2020

Her work is solid. She’s made it clear time and time again she does not play by the conventional rules when it comes to reporting. She’s a solid journalist – period. Bates, on the other hand, is a hypocritical hack, just like his boss.