April Ryan Fires Back at Fox News Over Trump Conspiracy: ‘You Just Need me to Hate’
Lashing out at Fox News for targeting her with a story about her retweet of an anti-Trump article, April Ryan took to Twitter on Sunday, accusing the outlet of slamming her “for clicks.”
So apparently fox just wants to slam me for clicks. and never read the article I retweeted either. Lol! So sad! Hello it said the conspiracies were unfounded. You just need me to hate. Thank you!! ? https://t.co/RCOqr1J0x8
— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) May 27, 2018
It all started Saturday evening when Ryan retweeted a story published by The Root, which raised questions around whether President Donald Trump could be engaged in child trafficking, using a click-worthy headline to top it off.
— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) May 27, 2018
The story was based partly on revelations that almost 1,500 immigrant children that have gone missing under the watch of the current administration. It remains unclear what exactly happened to them after they were assigned sponsors. If left without supervision, they could potentially fall victim to trafficking schemes which continue to operate throughout the country and across the globe.
However, to be fair, there is a rhetorical element to the piece, as it appears to imply that if an issue this grave had presented itself under a Democratic president, Trump would have likely have mongered conspiracy theories of his own.
But First Lady Melania Trump‘s communications director, took aim at Ryan’s retweet of the story, suggesting it was irresponsible.
If you’re a journalist w many followers & a @CNNPolitics contributor…is it ok to retweet any headline you want, regardless of if it’s true? Remember: “The core purpose of a journalist is to research, document, write, & present the news in an honest, ethical, & unbiased way.” https://t.co/aVwSrnoio2
— Stephanie Grisham (@StephGrisham45) May 27, 2018
Shortly after, Fox decided to headline the controversy with an article of its own, listing the criticisms that have been launched against Ryan following the retweet.
Defending her social media use, Ryan accused the Fox News reporter of not reading the story she had tweeted out, and that it noted the conspiracy was unproven.
[Image via screengrab]
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