CNN took the concept of “fake news” to a whole new level with a recent report on Venezuela, in which it claimed that citizens “chose” coup leader Juan Guaido over current president Nicolas Maduro in January “elections.”

In a report on Sunday’s deadly Venezuelan military helicopter crash, CNN wrote that “pressure is mounting” on Maduro to step down “following elections in January in which voters chose opposition leader Juan Guaido over him for president.”

Wtf, @CNN???1.) there was no election in January2.) Juan Guaidó didn’t even run against Maduro in the last election 3.) the opposition boycotted and Maduro won... pic.twitter.com/LL6BzKAkPz — George Ciccariello-Maher (@ciccmaher) May 6, 2019

Slight problem there, CNN.

Venezuela did not hold elections in January — and Guaido definitely did not win them. He did, however, try to seize power from Maduro by force in January with US backing — and then again in April. Both coup attempts failed and Maduro remains president with the support of millions of Venezuelans who still back him. But US officials have declared the Washington-friendly Guaido the country’s “legitimate” leader, so evidently this has been a confusing time for CNN’s intrepid reporters.

CNN quietly issued an embarrassing correction to its ridiculous propaganda after pro-opposition journalists / PR people @BonnerJeanne and @CNNJackie FALSELY claimed that Trump-appointed right-wing Venezuelan puppet Juan Guaidó was "elected." Zero standardshttps://t.co/PwZQwMZbp9pic.twitter.com/2uRzMNzWd3 — Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) May 6, 2019

The report was finally corrected on Monday after being published on Sunday afternoon and remaining unfixed overnight. It now reflects the fact that Guaido was not elected, but “declared himself interim president” in January.

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A correction added to the bottom of the piece explains that the earlier version had “incorrectly described” the situation. Elections? Military coups? Really, who can keep up these days!?

Amazingly, the botched report which initially referenced these mysterious imaginary elections, was the product of work by no less than six journalists — two whose names appear on the main byline and four more listed as contributors at the bottom. Normal practice would see the piece run past a couple of editors too, before being published. That’s potentially eight pairs of eyes — and none of them managed to catch the glaring error.

A number of journalists and Twitter users called CNN out for the “blatant” lie and “shameful” and “terrible” reporting.

And the prize for the most blatant lie about Venezuela goes to @CNN, saying that @jguaido was "elected" over Maduro. Guaido was became president of the Natl Assembly simply because it was his party's turn, and more serious leaders were in prison for their constant coup-plotting pic.twitter.com/xIbLbNF5LT — venezuelanalysis.com (@venanalysis) May 6, 2019

.@CNN nobody has ever voted for Guaidó in a presidential election. This is shameful:"It comes as pressure is mounting on Maduro to step down, following elections in January in which voters chose opposition leader Juan Guaido over him for president."https://t.co/jFed9crago — John McEvoy (@jmcevoy2) May 6, 2019

It wasn't the first Venezuela-related embarrassment for CNN. Reporter Jake Tapper was called out on social media last week after he tweeted a link with a picture of opposition army defectors wielding guns to claim Maduro's government "mows down citizens in streets."

CNN likes to be known for its so-called adversarial journalism when it comes to the Trump administration, but so far, it seems fully on board with its regime change policies in Venezuela — although, even the White House hasn’t gone so far as to pretend fake elections took place in January.

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