In a rare show of humility, aggressively partisan CNN offered a limp apology for broadcasting a fake picture of Donald Trump.
Some of the network's top hosts, including Anderson Cooper, blasted the "digitally altered" image to millions, anchor Pamela Brown admitted.
The segments focused on Trump's alleged ties to right-wing activist Laura Loomer., who shared a video of the on-air retraction.
"Friday evening and on Saturday, CNN aired a number of segments that briefly showed an image of former President Donald Trump and Laura Loomer taken from social media,” Brown told viewers. “On review, this image had been digitally altered by a third party and should not have been included. We regret the error."
WATCH:
CNN @CNN was just forced to issue an on air retraction after @andersoncooper and other hosts ran fake & photoshopped pictures of me and President Trump on air last week in an effort to demonize me for the crime of flying on his plane to the Presidential debate. pic.twitter.com/bdXJHG2doF
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 26, 2024
Some on the left, including comedian Bill Maher, have baselessly claimed that Trump and Loomer are having an affair.
Loomer threatened to sue Anderson Cooper for sharing the "defamatory" image, which appeared to imply a level of intimacy between her and Trump.
“If you do not issue a retraction in writing on X for showing fake and photoshopped pics of me and President Trump in an effort to spew a sick, misogynistic, and defamatory attack against me, I will sue you, the same way I’m going to sue @billmaher,” Loomer wrote in a post.
“How much of a coward do you have to be to use fake pics to defame me and @realDonaldTrump and then not apologize yourself? Issue a retraction in writing and on air or else you’re getting sued.”
Loomer is known for sharing incendiary claims, including the conspiracy theory that 9/11 was an inside job.
Trump dismissed rumors earlier this month that Loomer is working for his campaign after she traveled on his plane to the September 10 presidential debate.
"Laura Loomer doesn’t work for the Campaign. She’s a private citizen and longtime supporter. I disagree with the statements she made but, like the many millions of people who support me, she is tired of watching the Radical Left Marxists and Fascists violently attack and smear me, even to the point of doing anything to stop their Political Opponent, ME!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Kamala Harris has asked Trump to debate on CNN in late October, but Trump declined, saying it's too late with early voting underway.
