SATIRE (unless it isn't)
THE HOAX FILES · 47
The Private Conversation Nobody Can Replay
A private conversation nobody can replay, sourced in part to CNN's own anchor.
CNN
CNN reported that a would-be VP pick shared Sandy Hook conspiracies in private. Rodgers denied part of it. The rest is he-said, CNN-said.
As printed on the graphic:
Aaron Rodgers Sandy Hook-Truther Hoax
What they sold
March 13, 2024, while RFK Jr. was vetting Aaron Rodgers as a running mate. CNN, on Jake Tapper's show: "RFK Jr.'s VP prospect Aaron Rodgers has shared false Sandy Hook conspiracy theories in private conversations." Nolte's take: it was a political hit on a third-party ticket.
What the record shows
CNN's sourcing: two people. One was CNN's own Pamela Brown, who said that in a 2013 conversation Rodgers called the shooting a government inside job. The other was an unnamed source who said Rodgers claimed it never happened and the children were actors (CNN). Rodgers responded on X that he is not and never has been of the opinion that the events at Sandy Hook did not take place. NBC Sports reported CNN's point that he didn't directly address the "inside job" claim.
So FNN can't call this a hoax. One named source, one anonymous source, private conversations with no recording, and a partial denial. That's DISPUTED. The fair criticism is about timing and motive. The story was 11 years old and surfaced right as he was being vetted, and one of the two sources was the network's own anchor.
The damage
FNN analysis: when a network's own employee is a key source in a political story the network breaks, viewers question the motive, even if the story is accurate. Gallup's 2024 trust: 31%.
Closer
An 11-year-old private chat, dropped mid-vetting, sourced partly to CNN's own anchor. The timing was the tell.