REVOLUTION: What were viewers told on CNN?

FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 2025

What were viewers told on Fox? The latest murders—along with the latest attempted murders—took place in the early morning hours of Saturday, June 14.

We refer to last weekend's murders in Minnesota. As we noted yesterday, they went unmentioned on Saturday morning's four-hour edition of the Fox & Friends Weekend program.

As we noted yesterday, the murders may have gone unmentioned on that program for understandable reasons. As we noted, the breaking news about the shootings was first reported on CNN at the start of Saturday morning's 9 o'clock hour. It was first reported on the Fox News Channel at 10:30 that same morning. 

That wasn't a giant difference. That initial report was delivered in a perfectly professional way by Bryan Llenas, co-host of Fox News Live.

Today, we want to show you what took place on the following day. We want to show you what happened on Sunday morning, June 15, when the Fox & Friends Weekend gang did discuss, or did at least pretend to discuss, the murders in Minnesota

What were Fox News Channel viewers told as they watched Sunday morning's show? Before we answer that question, we'll answer a different question:

 What were CNN's viewers being told during those same hours?

On Monday morning's Morning Joe, Jim VandeHei gave voice to a bit of frustration.  It seems to us that he was describing the poisoned fruits of a largely unexplored revolution:

VANDEHEI (6/16/25): Think about this weekend...How would you even know if the crowds were big this weekend? Or whether or not the shooter was a liberal or a conservative?

It all depends on which channel you went into. It depends on what social media feed you were into—the amount of nonsense that was filtering out there. And that's why I think a lot of people just say, "To hell with it, I'm not going to pay attention to anything. I'm going to have a life, and I'll let politics be politics, and maybe I won't go vote."

VandeHei was referring to the size of the crowds at last weekend's military parade, but also to the size of the crowds at the "No Kings" demonstrations. 

Beyond that, he was referring to what people were being told about the suspect in Minnesota, who by then had been apprehended.

According to VandeHei, people were being told different things about the apparent murderer, all depending on which TV channel they watched! So it has gone with the revolution we've been discussing this week—a revolution in the promulgation of information and its various opposites.

With that, let's return to Sunday morning, June 15. What were people being told about the suspect in the murders? We'll start by returning to CNN, the least watched of our cable news channels.

Last Sunday morning, what were people being told if they watched CNN?

As told on CNN / The CNN Journalists' Tale:

Was the shooter "a liberal or a conservative?" Given events of recent years, it could have gone either way.

That said, CNN viewers were receiving a picture of the most recent shooter during Sunday's earliest hours. During Sunday morning's 6 o'clock hour, CNN'S Danny Freeman was reporting what's shown below, live from Minnesota.

He spoke with Victor Blackwell, host of CNN This Morning:

FREEMAN (6/15/25): The FBI saying it's using every available resource to try and find Boelter at this time...

He ultimately got into a bit of a shootout with local police officers at the second lawmaker's home, but he was ultimately able to escape. Authorities finding a hit list in that car that he was driving with the name of several Democratic lawmakers all across the state of Minnesota.

[...]

Victor, I want to take a moment now to talk about these victims, because this is all happening, this manhunt, as this larger community is mourning a real titan in Minnesota Democratic politics.

Of course, we're talking about state representative Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota State House. She and her husband were killed in this shooting. People describing her as a fighter and also a loving mother who loved her family tremendously.

And then, Victor, as you noted, the other victims in this particular incident is state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. They were both shot and injured. They miraculously survived this attack. 

According to Freeman's report, Boelter hadn't murdered just any Democrat. He had murdered Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota State House.

Senator Hoffman was also a Democrat, Freeman reported. These basic facts had been established by 6:10 a.m.

By that time, Blackwell had reported that "authorities shared what they found in the suspect's car, including what police say are flyers for anti-Trump protests, as well as a list of other lawmakers they believe Boelter was targeting." 

Who was on the list of other lawmakers who Boelter may have been targeting? As noted, Freeman described it as "a hit list in that car that he was driving with the name of several Democratic lawmakers all across the state of Minnesota." A bit later, Juliette Kayyem described it as "a hit list that includes mostly Democrats, mostly progressive causes."

That was the early reporting offered on CNN. Early reports are sometimes wrong, but that's what CNN was reporting during the 6 a.m. hour.

During the 7 o'clock hour, CNN's reporting became more specific:

BLACKWELL: Authorities tell us they found flyers for anti-Trump protests in the suspect's vehicle, as well as a list of other lawmakers they believe Boelter was targeting.

CNN has learned that list includes all of the Democratic members of Minnesota's congressional delegation, and that the U.S. Capitol Police have reached out to them. In a statement, the Capitol Police says, in part, "We have been working with our federal, state, and local partners. For safety reasons, we cannot provide specific details about our security posture."

[...]

FREEMAN: A law enforcement officer said they also found a hit list in his car, as you noted, with many Democratic lawmakers and other folks related to Planned Parenthood in the area as well. 

According to this early reporting, abortion politics seemed to have played a role in Boelter's motivation and outlook. Early in this 7 o'clock hour, a research fellow from George Washington University offered this report on Boelter's religious background:

BAUMGARTNER: So the recognizable profile definitely kind of pops out to us in this sort of research and extremism monitoring sort of community. He was a Christian nationalist who was associated with some pretty anti-LGBT and anti-abortion groups. That's where a lot of his ministerial education came from.

So to find his manifesto with all these names of pro-abortion activists on it is hardly surprising. 

Early Sunday morning, so it was going at CNN. During the morning's 8 o'clock hour, on CNN's Inside Politics program, the profile hardened as Manu Raju interviewed John Miller, CNN's chief law enforcement analyst:

RAJU (6/15/25): And John, a law enforcement official told CNN that authorities found a hit list with nearly 70 targets, including Democratic lawmakers and abortion providers. What are you hearing from your sources about any possible motive?

MILLER: Well, we don't know. But the makeup of the hit list probably provides our best clues so far, which is, it is made up of Democratic members of the Minnesota state legislature. It is made up of Democratic members of Congress. It is made up of Democratic officials, not just in Minnesota, but in Iowa and Michigan. So that is one clue.

The other thing is, sprinkled among those names are also pro-choice organizations, particular medical doctors, particular clinics that provide abortions. 

Early reporting is sometimes wrong—but plainly, a portrait was forming. Miller noted an additional fact: "Up until a couple of years ago, [Boelter] served on a board under Democratic governor Tim Walz—a labor development board, along with Senator Hoffman."

That fact was duly noted. That said, unless its work was totally wrong, CNN's reporting was pointing in a clear direction with respect to this particular assailant's political orientation. 

Full disclosure! In recent years, political murders have been attempted, and have sometimes been accomplished, by assailants from various points on the political spectrum. According to CNN's early reporting, it seemed that this assailant, in this most recent case, had been driven by a particular type of focus.

These assaults were conducted by this person only. They weren't the doing of anyone else. That said, the assailant's general orientation seemed to be coming clear in CNN's reporting, early on Sunday morning.

Now for the rest of the story:

What were Fox News Channel viewers told on that morning's Fox & Friends Weekend program? A trio of friends were perched on the set, prepared to serve the American people—and when they discussed, or perhaps only seemed to discuss, the events in Minnesota, they even interviewed a law enforcement specialist of their own.

What had been the orientation of the apparent assailant? On Fox & Friends Weekend, that law enforcement specialist instantly said that the picture was "very, very murky." He went on to say how murky things were a remarkable number of times.

In the next installment of our own report, we'll report, and you can decide, about what viewers were told on this Fox News Channel program.

Alas! It's taking longer than we'd hoped to tell this particular story. That said, Jim VandeHei had made an important point:

What you thought about these assaults almost surely depended, in large measure, on what "cable news" channel you were watching last Sunday morning. Also, on which branch of "social media" you got your impressions from.

It's as we told you yesterday! Even as CNN was offering the reports we've cited, C-Span callers were angrily saying that the assailant had plainly been a Democrat. 

As of today, it seems quite clear that those furious callers were wrong. But where did they get the instant impression which had them so angry that morning?

Where has they gotten that idea? Also this:

Has a revolution taken place? Can our nation—can any large modern nation—really expect to survive the changes in information culture to which we glumly refer?

Tomorrow: "Very, very murky," he said. 

In fact, he said it quite a few times. After that, it got worse.