It Sure Seems Like Brian Stelter and Oliver Darcy Are Eager to Have CNN ‘Sandmanned’ Again

It’s not exactly shocking to see that many in the mainstream media and on the left (but I repeat myself) are still struggling mightily to cope with the “not guilty” verdict the jurors reached in the closely-watched Kyle Rittenhouse trial last week.

Their inability to come to terms with the just verdict was obvious from the start and has continued on, especially in the fever swamps of CNN where among other things that are now being stated as factual we are now being told that “there’s nothing more frightening in America today than an angry white man.” No really, that was an article that actually appeared on the website over the weekend.

That CNN seems content with fanning and stoking race wars in this country to the point they lead to exactly the type of violent riots and chaos we saw during last year’s BLM/Antifa-led “peaceful protests” (which were, in part, encouraged by many at CNN) should not be a surprise to anyone.

But what might come as a surprise to some is to see CNN’s duncetastic duo of Brian Stelter and Oliver Darcy both continuing to suggest that Rittenhouse, who shot three, killing two of them in self-defense during the August 2020 Kenosha BLM riots, was engaging in “vigilante justice.” In the overnight “Reliable Sources” newsletter, which was written by Darcy and amplified by Stelter (his boss) on his Twitter feed this morning, Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s interview with Rittenhouse was extensively covered. Here is some of what Darcy claimed about the segment (bolded and italicized emphasis added by them):

Before airing his interview with Rittenhouse, Carlson declared, “During the course of our long conversation, Kyle Rittenhouse struck us as bright, decent, sincere, dutiful, and hardworking.” Carlson went on to say that Rittenhouse is “exactly the kind of person you would want many more of in your country. He’s not especially political. He never wanted to be the symbol of anything.” Later in the program, Carlson described Rittenhouse as a “sweet kid.”

None of that is particularly surprising, given how Carlson has previously covered the case. But it shows how the dominant sector of right-wing media, led by Carlson, is continuing to work to elevate Rittenhouse as a role model for others. Not only are people like Carlson excusing the general concept of vigilante justice, they are actively encouraging it.

For good measure, here’s a screengrab of Darcy’s write-up just in case he or Stelter decide to amend it at a later point in the event of a Nick Sandmann-type lawsuit:

Looks like CNN’s Brian Stelter is asking for a defamation suit in his “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Despite being found innocent and legally using self-defense against wild attackers, he claims Rittenhouse dished out “vigilante justice.” pic.twitter.com/cPdAc7daM8

— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) November 23, 2021

And here’s Stelter megaphoning Darcy in a tweet:

"The exalting of Kyle Rittenhouse reached new heights on Monday evening when Tucker Carlson used his top-rated Fox News prime time program to lavish even more praise on the teenager," @oliverdarcy writes https://t.co/WUSk9YC1DZ

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 23, 2021

Now, I’m not a lawyer nor will I pretend to be one, although I think considering what passes for “legal analysis” these days in the media I could actually do a decent job of it if I put my mind to it, but in my opinion it sure seems like Darcy and Stelter are practically begging Rittenhouse to sue CNN and potentially cost them millions in the process with hot takes like these.

Rittenhouse didn’t dispense “vigilante justice.” He defended himself after being attacked by rioting mobs in Kenosha. After the trial and all the video evidence we’ve seen, this is an inarguable point, which is something you’d think a network that purports to be the “facts first” news channel would acknowledge albeit begrudgingly.

Rittenhouse hasn’t said much in the way of what he’s going to do next, but it would not surprise me at all if he and his lawyers went after everyone in the media who smeared him for ratings and woke points. CNN (and MSNBC), obviously, should be at the tippy top of such a list for what they said and did in terms of advancing a narrative that was clearly fake from the start.