CNN, MSNBC avoid Biden's 'Where's Jackie?' snafu after obsessing over Trump's 'Tim Apple' gaffe

CNN and MSNBC couldn't find any airtime to mention President Biden's jarring gaffe in which he thought a dead congresswoman was alive but previously obsessed over the unintentional nickname then-President Trump gave to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

At the White House's Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, Biden searched the crowd on Wednesday for Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind.

"Jackie, are you here? Where's Jackie? She must not be here," Biden looked around before continuing his speech.

Walorski died in a car accident in early August along with two staffers, which Biden himself acknowledged in a statement released after her passing. She had been a legislative champion of a bipartisan bill that tackles nutrition and hunger. A video tribute honoring her memory played at Wednesday's event.

The controversy continued in the White House briefing room, where Biden's press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to acknowledge that the president made any error, repeatedly telling reporters Walorski was "top of mind" as Biden is scheduled to meet her family at a White House ceremony on Friday.

Several reporters, including ABC News' Cecilia Vega, CNN's Phil Mattingly and CBS News' Steven Portnoy, grilled Jean-Pierre on her non-answers.

However, none of this caught the attention of the newscasts or the two liberal cable networks.

While Hurricane Ian has dominated the news cycle in recent days, CNN and MSNBC managed to cover other topics with their 24 hours of on-air programming, like the latest in the Jan. 6 Committee probe and former President Trump's legal woes.

The media, particularly CNN and MSNBC, sang a different tune whenever Biden's predecessor made a verbal slip, specifically in 2019 during a White House meeting where then-President Trump, sitting alongside Tim Cook, praised Apple for its U. S. expansion and job creation.

"We appreciate it very much, Tim Apple," Trump said.

Like Biden's White House, Trump insisted he made no error and claimed what he said was intentional, tweeting days later, "I quickly referred to Tim + Apple as Tim/Apple as an easy way to save time & words." That explanation came after reporting alleging he told GOP donors he actually said "Tim Cook Apple" quickly and that the "Cook" part was softly spoken.

But unlike the "Where's Jackie?" snafu, the liberal networks took many bites from the "Tim Apple" apple.

"Look, give the president a break. He's got a lot to deal with. And Cook is tough to remember. It's a tough tongue-twister like all one-syllable names are. It's also possible the president just assumes that titans of industry adopt a corporate last name," CNN anchor Anderson Cooper mocked Trump at the time. "There was after all that period of time in the 1990s when he was known in some quarters as Donald J. Bankrupt Casino."... (Read more)

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