White House Criticizes CNN Over Wrong Shah’s Picture

The White House saw red after CNN ran a news story showing a picture of Obama administration appointee Rajiv Shah instead of White House press official Raj Shah.

White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders slammed the news broadcaster for their faux pas on Dec. 9 in her tweet. She tweeted with a screenshot of the channel showing the wrong Shah: “@CNN this is definitely not @RajShah45 but it is #FakeNews.”

.@CNN this is definitely not @RajShah45 but it is #FakeNews pic.twitter.com/tS9QBndBw0

— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) December 9, 2017

Hours after she tweeted the screenshot, CNN’s Anderson Cooper apologized for the error on air. Ae told viewers that they “regret the error,” according to the Medialite website.

Rajiv Shah, 44, in his position as USAID chief, was the highest ranking Indian American official in Obama administration’s first term. He is currently the president of Rockefeller Foundation in New York. Raj Shah, 33, is currently the principal deputy press secretary, the highest ranking Indian American in the White House press office.

Sander’s tweet came after U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticism of the channel at a rally in Florida on Dec. 8 where he said CNN should be apologizing for perceived bias in their coverage “for the last two years.” On Dec. 9, Trump tweeted that the network made a “vicious and intentional mistake” with its report that Donald Trump Jr got prior notice about a WikiLeaks release of Democratic information.

Fake News CNN made a vicious and purposeful mistake yesterday. They were caught red handed, just like lonely Brian Ross at ABC News (who should be immediately fired for his “mistake”). Watch to see if @CNN fires those responsible, or was it just gross incompetence?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2017

CNN’S slogan is CNN, THE MOST TRUSTED NAME IN NEWS. Everyone knows this is not true, that this could, in fact, be a fraud on the American Public. There are many outlets that are far more trusted than Fake News CNN. Their slogan should be CNN, THE LEAST TRUSTED NAME IN NEWS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2017

“Fake News CNN made a vicious and purposeful mistake yesterday. They were caught red handed, just like lonely Brian Ross at ABC News (who should be immediately fired for his ‘mistake’),” Trump tweeted on Dec. 9. “Watch to see if @CNN fires those responsible, or was it just gross incompetence?”

The CNN report, which was put up on Dec. 8, claimed that Trump Jr. got prior notice about hacked documents containing Democratic information via email on Sept. 4. This is before WikiLeaks made the documents public. However, other media outlets reported that Trump Jr. and other campaign officials got the email pointing them to the WikiLeaks documents after the documents were made public. CNN rectified its mistake.

Trump, however, again tweeted his displeasure with the channel on Dec. 11.

Very little discussion of all the purposely false and defamatory stories put out this week by the Fake News Media. They are out of control – correct reporting means nothing to them. Major lies written, then forced to be withdrawn after they are exposed…a stain on America!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2017

A CNN spokesperson said there will not be disciplinary action against the reporter involved, because the reporter in question followed its editorial process, according to The Hill website. CNN added that it does not believe there was malicious intent involved.