Jake Tapper of CNN has admitted to not fact-checking Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on his show after she’d said the administration called the coronavirus a “hoax,” but claimed it was okay because Trump “lies so often.”

Tapper remained silent on Sunday when Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) criticized the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ show, claiming that the White House had at one point labeled the disease a “hoax.”

In reality, the administration never labeled the coronavirus a hoax, though Donald Trump last month did call media coverage part of a hoax when he criticized outlets for stirring up hysteria.

“This is their new hoax,” he told a rally in South Carolina, saying the media were trying to politicize the disease and create panic.

AOC just repeated the lie that President Trump called coronavirus a "hoax."This is not true, and has been debunked by numerous fact checking sources. This would've been a great time for a fact check, @jaketapper... https://t.co/Ps1hItAKGApic.twitter.com/X8qQEwMthF — Abigail Marone (Text EMPOWER to 88022) (@abigailmarone) March 22, 2020

In response to criticism from Washington Examiner and Campus Reform writer Abigail Marone, that the New York congresswoman was pushing a false narrative on his show and that he was allowing it, Tapper admitted to not doing his job as a journalist and purposefully not fact-checking her.

I thought about it, because the president did not call the virus a hoax. But i didn’t because he *did* call a hoax the concerns of those saying that the response from the president was insufficient and that he was downplaying the gravity of the crisis. And that too was a lie. https://t.co/MdPeulQpZ1 — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 22, 2020

“I thought about [fact-checking], because the president did not call the virus a hoax,” Tapper tweeted. “But I didn’t because he *did* call a hoax the concerns of those saying that the response from the president was insufficient and that he was downplaying the gravity of the crisis.”

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The CNN host went further in excusing himself for not doing his job by saying it is difficult to fact-check false statements about the president because he’s a politician who “lies so often.”

I guess that’s the problem with a politician who lies so often; while I agree that Democrats are mischaracterizing what he said, what he did say was also false so it’s tough to justify taking the time for a fact check when it’s not taking a stand defining the truth. — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 22, 2020

Trump has continued criticizing the media over coronavirus coverage, telling reporters during a Friday press briefing – after a testy exchange with NBC News journalist Peter Alexander – that they are pushing “sensationalism” when citizens are looking to them for answers.

Also on rt.com ‘Really bad reporting!’: Trump slams NBC reporter (& soon-to-be #Resistance hero) over coronavirus ‘sensationalism’

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