‘A tale of two chyrons’: Critics pan CNN for describing Trump’s RNC speech as public health danger while giving March on Washington a pass

On Friday, CNN marked the 2020 March on Washington with the caption, “Thousands gather for March on Washington.”

“A tale of two chyrons on CNN — one has zero snark and no criticism of people not socially distancing at the #MarchOnWashington while the other is all snark concerning Trump’s #RNC2020 speech at the White House,” Newsbusters Managing Editor Curtis Houck said in a tweet, which was echoed by others, including Townhall’s Julio Rosas (who previously worked at the Washington Examiner).

Both events took place amid the coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 5 million people in the United States. Images from both events showed lots of people in close quarters, clearly not social distancing as has been advised by health experts. Many, but not all, of the marchers on Friday were wearing face coverings, while at the RNC event at the White House, most were not wearing masks.

Participants in the march on Friday were protesting police brutality and racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on May 25 and the recent police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The “Get Your Knee Off Our Necks Commitment March” on Washington, led by Rev. Al Sharpton and his National Action Network, marks the 57th anniversary of the historic March on Washington in which Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous I Have a Dream speech.

CNN’s John King began the noon hour marveling that “somehow” the marchers were “respecting the premium the coronavirus pandemic holds on having a mask and keeping a safe distance.”