Some credit should be given to the people at CNN for at least figuring out that it’s possible to customize the user experience on Twitter (X) without demanding that every single disagreeable comment on the site be permanently deleted from history.
The cable channel announced on Tuesday that it was promoting its in-house intel community puppet Natasha Bertrand from “reporter” to “correspondent” (whatever that means), though she would continue covering “national security.” CNN ran the announcement on Twitter and was immediately buried under an avalanche of mockery from users who readily identified Bertrand as the woman at the forefront of virtually every attempt by the CIA to covertly manipulate U.S. elections and foreign policy via highly bendable reporters just like Bertrand.
A sampling of the feedback that greeted CNN’s triumphant statement:
— “Quite a step-up from Russian Disinformation Czar. Congrats!”
— “The intelligence community’s favorite typist! Stunning and brave.”
— “The Russian collusion hoaxter and Hunter laptop fraudster? CNN deserves their ratings crash.”
Soon after the announcement’s publication, however, CNN turned off the ability for other users to reply.
Bertrand’s corrupted professional history is documented at great length. She pushed the Russia-collusion hoax in the Atlantic magazine and at MSNBC, Politico, and now CNN. Perhaps her most notable achievement was in lending herself for use to the 50-plus former intelligence officials who falsely asserted that the Hunter Biden laptop story published by the New York Post just days ahead of the 2020 presidential election was likely “Russian disinfo.” (The former officials were careful to specify that they didn’t know for sure, but Bertrand’s article ran under the headline, “Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say.”)
It’s another election year, so Bertrand’s promotion no doubt means more fun times ahead.