In a story that was quickly edited and its headline changed, CNN openly praised communist China and its military for handling the coronavirus outbreak much better than the U.S. military – using propaganda from the Chinese military’s website itself as a “source.”
The original CNN article, which has since been completely revamped and put under a new headline, quoted a "report" from the People’s Liberation Army claiming the Chinese military has not been affected by the coronavirus, despite outbreaks on multiple U.S. aircraft carriers. Per CNN:
“The report said that the Chinese carrier was carrying out this operation while four US Navy aircraft carriers...have reported cases of coronavirus, crimping their operations...The PLA Navy has no such issues, Chinese military experts [said].”
Townhall’s Guy Benson posted screenshots and direct quotes from the original CNN story, which have since been completely rewritten, that virtually coped and posted verbatim “reports” from the Chinese Communist Party’s website and labeled it as “news.” Per the original CNN article:
A Chinese naval flotilla headed into the Pacific over the weekend, evidence that the People's Liberation Army Navy has done a much better job controlling coronavirus than the US Navy, according to a story posted on the PLA's English-language website...The report said that the Chinese carrier was carrying out this operation while four US Navy aircraft carriers -- the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the USS Ronald Reagan, the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Nimitz -- have reported cases of coronavirus, crimping their operations...The Roosevelt, now docked in Guam, has been hit the hardest by the virus, with 585 cases among its crew of more than 4,000 people. Almost all of them have been moved ashore on the island and work is going on to disinfect the ship, delaying its ability to deploy.
The PLA Navy has no such issues, Chinese military experts told the Global Times. "Through the voyage, the Liaoning showed that the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has done a great job in the epidemic prevention and control work and COVID-19 epidemic has not had an impact on its deployment and operations," the story says, citing Xu Guangyu, a senior adviser to the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association. "It showed that the PLA can dispatch troops stationed anywhere at any time, with the troops always maintaining vigorous combat capabilities. The Chinese people can always count on them," Xu is quoted as saying.
Even the newly-edited report adds that “Under Chinese President Xi Jinping, the PLA has modernized its forces in an effort to be among the world's strongest and most capable. It also has worked hard to project an image both at home and abroad of a military superpower equal to the US.”
After facing backlash online for openly crying water for the Chinese military and reporting its propaganda as "news," CNN quickly rewrote the article and changed their headline, which now stands as “Chinese state media claims country's navy is not affected by coronavirus.”