WDIV reporter Rod Meloni had a busy day on covering a protest organized by the Michigan Conservative Coalition against the draconian lockdown orders by MI Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday, April 15th, in Lansing, MI.
Meloni covered the protest for the local news station, WDIV. He also covered the protest for the anti-Trump cable news network, MSNBC. MSNBC’s host Chuck Todd, speaking with three masked reporters.t It’s not clear who the other two reporters are, as only one reporter spoke with Chuck Todd. We’re not even sure if the other two masked reporters were in Michigan or just appearing in the segment for effect?
Chuck Todd opened his segment by explaining that although organizers encouraged social distancing at the protest, not everyone at the rally was adhering to the social distancing order by the governor. MSNBC cut to WDIV affiliate reporter, Rod Meloni, who is seen wearing a mask. Meloni pointed out to Todd that protesters were not all adhering to the social distancing order.
Near the end of the interview, Meloni, who was still wearing a mask on his face, tells MSNBC viewers that it’s around 1:20 p.m.
Watch:
Shortly after his masked interview with MSNBC, Rod Meloni appears again at the rally, but this time, he’s reporting for local WDIV, and he’s not wearing a mask—begging the question, “Was the mask a prop for MSNBC viewers?”
Was MSNBC trying to make a point that MI protesters were walking around without masks, while their reporters were obviously taking the appropriate precautions, or were they simply setting the scene for segments that would appear on their network later, where they would criticize the Michigan protesters for not wearing masks or adhering to proper social distancing orders?
Watch the WDIV reporter who suddenly no longer needed a mask for protection against the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus at the Lansing, MI rally:
It’s interesting that last night MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow spoke with MI Governor Whitmer who accused the protesters of being reckless for not wearing masks, saying protesters were “touching each other,” and standing too close. Whitmer mocked the citizens who came together to bring her attention to the harm her draconian orders are having on their businesses and jobs when she told Maddow the protest was nothing more than a “political rally,” and that people who came to Lansing to protest her overreaching executive orders, would “more than likely” be spreading the disease and causing the state to be closed down even longer.
MSN, a Microsoft website, also reported on the rally. Strangely, in their article, they used an image of a large crowd of Trump supporters clustered together wearing shorts and summer apparel. Michiganders at the rally on Wednesday were dressed in winter apparel. Although the headline of the article reads: “Crowd Gathers at Mich. Capitol to Protest ‘Stay Home’ Order,” it’s not even clear if the photo MSN used for their story was taken in Michigan. The article was shared on Facebook by a conservative who attended the rally. The unidentified Facebook user wrote, “How nice os MSN to provide evidence they lie in their reporting. Take a look at the picture they “took” at yesterday’s event in Lansing. Notice anything unusual?” she asked.
When readers click on the MSN article, it takes them to an actual photo of the protest. MSN identifies the protesters as a “large and raucous crowd.”
Are Americans tired of being deceived by news sources they used to be able to trust? What do you think? Did MSNBC and MSN intentionally deceive their viewers or were they just honest mistakes?
