On Sunday, CNN’s Brian Stelter slammed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during his broadcast of “Reliable Sources,” saying that the organization has turned into a “punch line” because of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stelter made the comments after playing a clip of an interview between CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and with NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie.
“All of this mixed messages or new messages has led to a meme on social media poking fun at the CDC’s advice, tweets like, CDC now recommends eating straight off the floor at Waffle House. The CDC now says it’s in fact okay to eat Tide Pods. The CDC says go ahead and get bangs,” Guthrie said in the video. “You know, it’s amusing, people letting off steam, of course. But is there a larger credibility problem with your agency right now?”
“The answer is yes, there’s a huge credibility crisis for the CDC… It is so sad but it’s true. The CDC has turned into a punch line,” Stelter said. “There’s a huge credibility crisis for the CDC … it just causes people, if they hear all these mixed messages and all this confusion, it’s all too complicated, they just move on and ignore it.”
CNN’s Brian Stelter: “It’s so sad, but it’s true, the CDC has turned into a punchline.”
When you've lost CNN's chief propagandist… you've truly, truly lost. pic.twitter.com/4hjCuh2H5g
— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) January 9, 2022
Stelter’s comments come shortly after the American Medical Association (AMA) similarly criticized the CDC’s mixed messaging.
“Nearly two years into this pandemic, with Omicron cases surging across the country, the American people should be able to count on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for timely, accurate, clear guidance to protect themselves, their loved ones, and their communities,” AMA president Gerald Harmon said in a statement. “Instead, the new recommendations on quarantine and isolation are not only confusing, but are risking further spread of the virus.”
