Jim Stinson of Lifezette, the conservative outlet led by radio host Laura Ingraham, responded angrily today to an Associated Press story about White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s decision to ask him the first question at yesterday’s press briefing. The first question is typically given to an AP reporter.
Stinson was upset that the AP tried “to recycle tired, debunked charges” that the group released a video implying that Bill and Hillary Clinton murdered almost a dozen people, insisting that the “video was made in jest, and merely noted that the theories existed.”
The AP then proceeded to recycle tired, debunked charges that had in the past only been thrown at LifeZette by activist bloggers. AP reported LifeZette “released a video, ‘Clinton Body Count,’ that promoted a conspiracy theory that Hillary and Bill Clinton had ties to the deaths of several colleagues and Democrats.”
The video was made in jest, and merely noted that the theories existed. The Associated Press has not been known to question the editorial standards of left-leaning digital outlets like BuzzFeed, which commonly makes viral videos that are not presented as news.
As we reported yesterday, “the video, which was based on completely discredited claims, has been scrubbed from Lifezette’s website and Facebook page, but it can still be found online, with its ominous music and absurd just-asking-the-question conspiracy theorizing:”
The video was obviously not made in jest, a fact underscored by the fact that Lifezette also published an “article titled ‘10 People Under the Clinton Curse,’ which claimed that it was ‘hard to deny that being close with the Clintons could kill you.’” That article has also since been scrubbed from the website.
If Lifezette stands by its video as simply comedy or just a way to note that many people are saying that Bill and Hillary Clinton are murderers, why would they try to scrub the video from their website?
We are just asking the question.
