“Today’s ceremony showcased the president’s continued defiance of the very coronavirus guidelines his White House recommends in the midst of this brutal pandemic,” said CNN’s Jake Tapper.
By Josh Plank, World Israel News
CNN devoted a large portion of its Abraham Accords coverage to criticizing the lack of adherence to coronavirus guidelines during the historic ceremony at the White House on Tuesday.
The ceremony marked the signing of an agreement between Israel, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.
“Today’s ceremony showcased the president’s continued defiance of the very coronavirus guidelines his White House recommends in the midst of this brutal pandemic,” said CNN’s Jake Tapper during his 4:00 p.m. program.
As he spoke, the on-air graphic read, “Trump celebrates foreign policy win with packed WH crowd.”
Tapper said the event had “hundreds of people gathered, packed in pretty tight, hundreds not wearing masks, some top administration officials among them.”
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, reporting from outside the White House, said the signing of the agreement “that Trump hailed as historic” had drawn attention because “hundreds of guests were packed on the South Lawn with little social distancing and optional masks.”
Collins listed some officials who “flouted COVID-19 precautions,” including Attorney General Bill Barr, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, coronavirus task force member Dr. Scott Atlas, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
She noted that McCarthy had “removed his mask at times and then put it back on.”
Earlier in the afternoon, Collins had reported that there were “more masks at this event” than previous ones but credited “foreign delegations” who “wanted to adhere to stricter protocols.”
Collins’ report was accompanied by an on-air graphic that read, “Trump holds White House event with large crowd, little social distancing.”
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer interviewed Trump advisor Jared Kushner during his evening program with a graphic that read, “Hundreds attend WH signing ceremony, sit side by side with few masks.”
He raised concern that Trump and his advisors should be setting an example for the American public during the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s still very worrisome to see all those folks so close together, even if they’re outside, not wearing masks and no social distancing,” said Blitzer.
“I will say, Wolf,” responded Kushner, “I didn’t hear you and CNN being that worried when you saw people out there doing protests in different ways.”
Fox News reports that CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Chris Cuomo ignored the White House ceremony. So did MSNBC.