Independent journalist Glenn Greenwald continues to kick a** and take names, and next on his list was CNN’s resident media hall monitor Brian Stelter, who tagged Greenwald in a tweet he posted earlier today that referenced a predictable Daily Beast hit piece on a public/media figure who regularly appears on Fox News:

The Intercept EIC @betsyreed2 talking about Intercept founding co-founder, now critic, @ggreenwald: "He's become a practitioner of manufactured controversy in the service of the hard right in this country." https://t.co/qyOVegCn9C

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 2, 2021

Greenwald, for those who don’t know, resigned from the Intercept in October 2020 alleging, among other things, editorial censorship over stories critical of then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. He is occasionally critical of the alternative news outlet he co-founded in 2014, and they often respond in kind.

He’s heard the tiresome arguments before about his frequent appearances on Fox News and how some of the statements he makes fit into right-wing narratives about the left and the liberal media. What his critics typically fail to point out, however, is that he is an equal opportunity critic of both the left and the right, as his Twitter feed alone demonstrates on a daily basis.

It is perhaps with that in mind that Greenwald passed up the chance to argue against the claim made in Stelter’s tweet, instead going right for the jugular and pointing to CNN’s collapsing ratings – and Stelter’s in particular:

The only ones with a smaller audience than CNN is the Intercept. This won't help, Brian. https://t.co/oy6RQFodCT

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 2, 2021

If I were @brianstelter and hosted a weekend show that has fewer viewers than the average Manhattan street — all while watching my network collapse — I'd guess I'd also be doing things like tweeting random insults about me from obscure Intercept editors. Have to numb the pain.

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 2, 2021

Understandably sensitive to the inconvenient facts about CNN’s nosedive, Stelter laughably touted his Sunday numbers and told Greenwald not to “worry” about his show:

You know very little about television ratings. @ReliableSources had more than 900,000 viewers via TV last Sunday, according to Nielsen, and an even greater total when adding up online views. So don't worry about my weekend show.

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 2, 2021

Greenwald did not let up. Instead, he brought receipts, further embarrassing Stelter and his network:

They're all captive viewers in nursing homes, which is fine: they need to be entertained, too. But your network is a collapsing failure because you don't have Trump to talk about any more – he saved all your jobs, and you know that. I mean this is humiliating: pic.twitter.com/ubXmVlQTdf

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 2, 2021

Stelter then accused Greenwald of being a “crazed partisan” for referencing things he didn’t want to hear:

Your vitriol can't hide your ignorance about the TV business. Ratings rise and fall in cable news. It's been this way for decades. It's normal. Only crazed partisans claim otherwise.

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 2, 2021

Then Greenwald mic-dropped him by pointing to how even the Washington Post wasn’t hiding the fact that CNN’s ratings are cratering:

LOL. OK, whatever you need to tell yourself. Your DNC network can't even get 1 million overall to watch in prime-time. Here are the well-known crazed partisans of the Washington Post laying bare what a disaster your network faces:https://t.co/k0FyTBznuL pic.twitter.com/0zQgsnqmGR

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 2, 2021

Mess with the bull, you often get the horns. Stelter learned that the hard way today, and ran away from the argument like he often does after the point had been made.

I find it hilarious that Stelter always defaults to the “ratings rise and fall” argument when CNN’s numbers get deservedly mocked and ridiculed, especially in this case. Because as has been documented extensively, there has been no discernible overall “rise” in CNN’s ratings since not long after Trump left office. In fact, it’s been just the opposite.

CNN’s decline from January to May was a staggering 49%. The key 25-64 age demographic saw a 63% slide. That’s not something that can be explained away by the lame “ratings rise and fall” argument, no matter what Stelter tries to claim otherwise, bless his heart.

Flashback: Glenn Greenwald Shows No Mercy After Joe Scarborough Beclowns Himself in Heated Exchanger