MSNBC anchor Mehdi Hasan started a Twitter dustup when he leveled accusations against independent journalist Matt Taibbi, but then the tables turned. He is now accused of plagiarizing content in a column.
Investigative journalist Lee Fang presented the charges against Hasan with accompanying evidence in a Substack article.
Left-wing British journalism has some more explaining to do. Mehdi Hasan, like Johann Hari, guilty of flagrant plagiarism. Why can’t they even write without having to borrow their lies? https://t.co/JR1luZ8XF9
— Douglas Murray (@DouglasKMurray) April 19, 2023
Fang asserted that Hasan is not content with merely smearing other reporters with “lies and false accusations of bigotry,” he is known to steal content from them.
As a glaring example, he posted side-by-side images of Hasan’s column “No Harm in Spanking” with a U.S. News and World Report feature previously disseminated entitled “When to Spank.”
They are strikingly similar and in fact, are word-for-word identical in many instances. Fang charged that the MSNBC host clearly violated the basic code of ethics proscribed by the Society for Professional Journalists.
The face-off between Hasan and Taibbi began when the MSNBC mouthpiece accused the journalist of perjuring himself while testifying before Congress. Apparently, Taibbi mixed up two government entities and referred to CIS as CISA.
Has Hasan listened to President Joe Biden speak recently?
Fang defended Taibbi over the obvious mixup, asserting that the journalist was correct in his statements apart from confusing the two agencies. However, that was enough for Hasan to go on the warpath and attack Fang.
Speaking to The Hill TV, Fang described Hasan’s outburst as petty and personal. “Matt Taibbi in one tweet mixed up an acronym and he quickly corrected the process,” Fang said.
He added that Mendi engaged in a pattern of falsehoods that dates back years. “The lying about never talking about the Hunter Biden laptop, he did. Lying about never reporting on this more scurrilous Russiagate allegations, he did.”
Fang noted that the MSNBC host steadily repeated the accusation that Taibbi committed perjury, which carries a penalty of up to five years if convicted.
Some Democrats have taken up the battle cry against the independent journalist.
Clearly, they are upset over his work in exposing the infamous Twitter Files. Both MSNBC and the Democratic Party are still in mourning over losing their stranglehold on the social media platform after Elon Musk’s purchase, and they will stop at nothing to discredit the company and its supporters.
