New England Patriots rebuff CNN, NYT #FakeNews about White House event

The New England Patriots thankfully corrected an outrageous, politically charged tweet by New York Times Sports which heavily implied that the New England Patriots rebuffed the White House, where they were honored for being the Super Bowl champions this week.

The fake photo continues to be posted all over Twitter.

The original tweet received almost 33,000 retweets at the time of publication:

Patriots’ turnout for President Obama in 2015 vs. Patriots’ turnout for President Trump today: https://t.co/OxMEOqZonI pic.twitter.com/pLmJWhOw1j

— NYT Sports (@NYTSports) April 19, 2017

The New England Patriots responded:

These photos lack context. Facts: In 2015, over 40 football staff were on the stairs. In 2017, they were seated on the South Lawn. https://t.co/iIYtV0hR6Y

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 20, 2017

Not to be outdone, the highly partisan Eleanor Mueller of CNN Politics picked up the “news story” with the headline “The Patriots go to Washington — some of them, at least.”

She writes:

“In photos posted to social media Wednesday, the New England Patriots’ turnout at the White House this year seemed to be noticeably smaller than in 2015, when the team last visited the executive residence.

A side-by-side comparison of the teams on both occasions showed a visibly smaller contingent to visit President Donald Trump than former President Barack Obama — a difference first noted by The New York Times.”

But of course, that is just more #FakeNews.

Both the New York Times & CNN updated their stories to reflect the Patriots tweet, but they both heavily downplayed the fact that they were caught in a politically-charged lie.

Look how the New York Times downplayed their #FakeNews:

UPDATE: Patriots say # of players was smaller this year than 2015 (34 vs. 50) but total delegation was roughly the same. pic.twitter.com/Ij77Def8z5

— NYT Sports (@NYTSports) April 20, 2017

While Eleanor Mueller updated her “news story” with the Patriots tweet (cached story here), the update is not explained and it is clearly buried. The headline is exactly the same, as is the implication that the New England Patriots took a pass on visiting the White House, a complete fabrication.