As the original story Jussie Smollett told Chicago police that was reported breathlessly by many journos (often as fact) continues to unravel, CNN’s Brian Stelter is doing his best to deflect criticism:

CNN's @brianstelter on Smollett: "Perhaps the questioning was not tough enough on Good Morning America, but ultimately this is not about the media or politicians or activists, or any of the other people that might have been fooled. It's about Jussie." pic.twitter.com/eMDPvFUTX9 — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 17, 2019

Oh well of course it’s not about the media — now. Stelter continued helping orchestrate the MSM wagon circling this morning:

.@brianstelter this morning: "There was a rush to judgment, I think it was mostly in the celebrity press and among activists and among Twitter people. I think it was a really careful reporting by news organizations. But it all gets lumped in together at the end of the day…" pic.twitter.com/165Dn3HI7p — Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) February 18, 2019

“Careful reporting”? There was some, but not so much on a national level:

This has been thoroughly debunked by myself & a whole lot of others and he’s still pushing it. Now ask yourselves why. https://t.co/rHtstHwcgc — Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) February 18, 2019

The careful reporting was local news reporters. He's trying to claim that reflected glory while pretending the national media frenzy was just "entertainment media." — National E-Mo-gency (@molratty) February 18, 2019

When Stelter points his finger at “entertainment media” he has three fingers pointing back at him.

He just can’t accept the media was wrong, again. https://t.co/0APOmHFRxe — Ashe Schow (@AsheSchow) February 17, 2019

That’s become painfully obvious!

lol that is very not true https://t.co/Ne0Z7IYbZv — Esoteric Jeff (@EsotericCD) February 17, 2019

Let me spell this out: Smollett's hoaxed hate-crime was *precisely* about "the media or politicians or activists." A vanilla hoax would have had him staging a random robbery. This OTOH was done precisely to get MSM/activists/pols to bite on the racist/homophobic/anti-Trump angle. — Esoteric Jeff (@EsotericCD) February 17, 2019

No, @brianstelter. It's about the media. You all pranced around with him on your shoulders before you knew the truth. https://t.co/JVi1NlvYPx — Nick Searcy, INTERNATIONAL FILM & TELEVISION STAR (@yesnicksearcy) February 17, 2019

So if it's true, it's a reflection on Trump and his supporters. But if it's false, it's not a reflection on all the people who blamed it on Trump and his supporters. Neat trick, Brian! https://t.co/NQTCr78Vop — Currently between fraudulent suspensions (@jtLOL) February 18, 2019

This is the narrative that Liz Plank was pushing yesterday morning and @brianstelter is parroting it as fact. So pathetic. https://t.co/xPuq4cH9Uq — Cameron Cawthorne (@Cam_Cawthorne) February 18, 2019

Another Stelter spin is going down in flames fast:

Right, @brianstelter, it’s not about the media. Washington Post reported 3 times the attack happened without using allegedly. Great super bowl ad tho. pic.twitter.com/tsznW28QL9 — Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) February 17, 2019

Guess it’s hard for it to be about media & politicians when members of Brisn’s network were having girls day out with one of those politicians yesterday. — Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) February 17, 2019

Fact check: TRUE.