Brian Stelter’s doing his damnedest to outrun the crumbling Jussie Smollett narrative, but it’s hard for him to get far when he keeps tripping all over himself and CNN.

But Stelter’s so busy with all his frantic wagon-circling, he doesn’t seem to have realized that he got himself into this mess. Maybe tweeter Kebeh Nayyeh can help him understand where it all went to wrong:

I wonder why @brianstelter never had any of the Chicago local news reporters on to talk about it… why he just had leftist activists on… it’s a goddamn mystery, but I do have a theory https://t.co/0sG9arnEE0 — Kebeh Nayyeh (@KNayyeh) February 18, 2019

Eh, who’re we kidding? This is Brian Stelter we’re dealing with. Introspection isn’t really on the menu.

yesterday i purposefully booked a diverse group of guests — a libertarian, a progressive, etc. if you have suggestions for other guests to book, i'm all ears. — Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 18, 2019

Oh, a progressive and a libertarian? In that case, someone get Brian a cookie!

He just gave you a suggestion. The local reporters. Maddow does this all the time. It's good for viewers to hear from the ground what objective reporters say. — Myron B. Pitts ❄️ (@FOmyronpitts) February 18, 2019

We also book local reporters on a regular basis. I had a local radio host on yesterday. But if he has specific Chicago reporters to suggest, he's welcome to do so — Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 18, 2019

In fairness, Brian Stelter spends most of his free time navel gazing, so it’s probably a lot to ask of him to pay attention to legitimate journalism when it’s actually being practiced.

Why is it @KNayyeh’s job to do your research. You’re the journalist. You probably read the same local journalist tweets we all did. Y’all always say, “Nobody can do what we do.” Prove it. https://t.co/GjyPFc8Hs2 — Raymond (@RaymondWPS) February 18, 2019

It shouldn’t be difficult, Brian.

I think you should book some of the Chicago journalists who actually pursued the story, frankly. https://t.co/VCQrMAZmJW — Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) February 18, 2019

FWIW — I think booking @RobElgasABC7 and the other local Chicago reporters who have led the way on this story would be an excellent idea https://t.co/0Y20XxeNNA — Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) February 18, 2019

Local stations frequently say no to our booking requests. It's very complicated for reasons that will probably bore you ? Network relationships, etc. But we regularly try anyway — Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 18, 2019

I’m not bored at all ? Did you make an effort in this case? https://t.co/sYnE2Dlqr5 — Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) February 18, 2019

All signs point to no.

Why would this bore anyone? — Brian Flood (@briansflood) February 18, 2019

Projection. He doesn’t want to have to explain himself because his explanation is bull. — JenniferW (@JenWoodruff79) February 18, 2019

Bingo.