Geraldo Rivera (Getty Images/Roy Rochlin)

Geraldo Rivera says he knows and respects CNN and anchor Wolf Blitzer – but, both are doing a disservice to viewers by maliciously characterizing President Donald Trump and Americans who object to state governments’ “Draconian” restrictions on their lives during the coronavirus pandemic.

Instead of listening to, and accurately reporting, what Trump and Americans are saying, CNN and Blitzer have resorted to “lame amateur political correct bullshit” and “ideological side choosing,” journalist and political pundit Rivera commented Monday night in the first of a series of tweets on the topic:

“#CNN & @wolfblitzer whom I respect & have known for 40+years characterizing @realDonaldTrump rather than actually hearing him. That is so lame amateur political correct bullshit, a disservice to network’s viewers & descriptive of how fucked up ideological side choosing has become”

Coverage by CNN and Blitzer has deteriorated into malicious stereotyping of Americans who are “sincerely frustrated by Draconian moves they see as irrelevant for their lives,” Rivera tweeted:

“Easy to wrongfully stereotype anti-closure activists as gun-toting country music humming racist anti-Semite rednecks. That's easier than seeing them as fellow Americans sincerely frustrated by Draconian moves they see as irrelevant for their lives. They're 1/2 nation & they vote.”

“They’re not all rednecks. They vote. They’re frustrated by closures they see as draconian,” Rivera reiterated in a follow-up post.

Replacing one-size-fits-all restrictions with practical, fact-based measures that recognize the unique circumstances of the myriad of different areas of the country, is the key to quelling anti-shutdown civil unrest, Rivera concluded:

“The way to mitigate anti-closure anger is with information & reason. #Detroit needs to be closed for awhile longer. #Cleveland with 1/15 the infections probably can relax a bit. 1 size does not fit all in a nation of 330,000,000 Americans living in cities, towns, farms & ranches, “It’s a big country. Restrictions on society probably irrelevant for many. 330,000,000 Americans live in cities, towns, ranches & farms. One size does not fit all.”