‘Orwellian in the extreme’: Conservatives slam media for appearing to blame GOP for Dems’ decision to tank Covid-19 relief bill

Conservatives are slamming mainstream media outlets after their almost identical coverage of the Senate Democrats' decision to vote against a coronavirus relief bill appeared to blame Republicans for the “failure.”

After months of negotiations, a coronavirus stimulus package, which included funding for schools and Covid-19 testing, unemployment benefits, and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), was voted down by every Democrat in the Senate on Thursday. The only Republican to join them was Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky).

Needing 60 votes to pass, the bill earned a 52-47 outcome and it’s now unlikely a coronavirus stimulus package will pass before November’s presidential election.

“Every Senate Democrat just voted against hundreds of billions of dollars of COVID-19 relief. They blocked money for schools, testing, vaccines, unemployment insurance, and the Paycheck Protection Program. Their goal is clear: No help for American families before the election,” Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) tweeted. 

Democrats, however, are not the only ones earning the ire of conservatives. Media coverage of Thursday’s vote was quickly highlighted on social media, with many pointing out curious similarities in the way mainstream outlets framed the vote. For instance, instead of reporting that Democrats had opposed or blocked the bill, headlines instead framed the story as Republicans having “failed to advance” the coronavirus relief stimulus.

“‘Journalists’ never fail to advance the liberal agenda,” podcaster and Townhall columnist Derek Hunter tweeted, along with an image from writer Stephen Miller showing tweets from CNBC, the New York Times, and CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ all using similar language.

Both the Times and CNBC pointed to the failure of “Senate Republicans,” instead of just “the Senate.”

“It’s almost as if they’re all working together to be the marketing arm of the Democrat party. They’re not journalists, they're activists!” Donald Trump Jr. tweeted in reaction to another photo, this time gathering tweets from the Times, CNN, MSN, and CNBC Now, with all but CNN saying how “Senate Republicans failed to advance” their bill. One tweeter called the media coverage “Orwellian in the extreme.”

Democrats opposed the relief bill presented by Republicans due to a liability protection plan, which would protect businesses from lawsuits from people who contract Covid-19 on their premises. They also opposed funding for school choice initiatives in the bill. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) described the inclusion of the two provisions as “poison pills” which Republicans knew Democrats would never support in order to guarantee the bill's failure. 

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