ABC Reporter Who 'Mask Shamed' Fox News Colleague Gets a Taste of His Own Medicine
ABC News White House correspondent Jonathan Karl has been called out for trying to have it both ways with regard to wearing a mask amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Karl, who questioned President Donald Trump for not wearing a mask last week when he met with WWII veterans, has now been reduced to shaming others for not wearing masks.
“No, because I was very far away…I would have loved to have gone up and hugged them,” Pres. Trump tells @jonkarl during his meeting with Republican members of Congress when asked about not wearing a mask during event with World War II veterans. https://t.co/D3x2UNJH32 pic.twitter.com/1GVzZJIlO1
— ABC News (@ABC) May 8, 2020
Karl recently called out Fox News White House correspondent John Roberts for not wearing a mask outdoors during the May 11 coronavirus task force media briefing in the Rose Garden.
The correspondent authored a snarky Twitter post seemingly aimed at Roberts.
“Almost everybody in the Rose Garden is wearing a mask — almost everybody,” Karl wrote on Twitter on Monday.
He also shared a series of images showing supposedly virtuous reporters and others behaving properly by wearing face coverings.
Almost everybody in the Rose Garden is wearing a mask — almost everybody. pic.twitter.com/JBnEV05HOd
— jonkarl (@jonkarl) May 11, 2020
The post featured an image of Roberts sitting comfortably with no mask on.
In fact, the only people not wearing masks in Karl’s photos were Roberts and Trump.
Karl shared the image as a plurality of the alarmist establishment media has pushed a narrative that Fox News has downplayed the threat posed by the coronavirus.
But Karl’s attempt at dunking on Roberts backfired when a Twitter user named Luke Mahoney replied with images of a seemingly carefree Karl picking up tacos on Cinco de Mayo.
The images showed Karl, a mere six days before his Twitter post, talking on his mobile phone and apparently waiting in line for food outside of a Washington, D.C., restaurant.
“You didn’t wear a mask on Cinco de Mayo to pick up your tacos from Mi Vida. Why not? Is there a different standard for the media? Are there some places we have to wear masks and others we don’t?” Mahoney wrote.
Unmasked, Karl appeared in the images to be just another American engaging in commerce.
You didn’t wear a mask on Cinco de Mayo to pick up your tacos from Mi Vida. Why not? Is there a different standard for the media? Are there some places we have to wear masks and others we don’t? pic.twitter.com/nA8L69TsEj
— Luke Mahoney (@LukeRMahoney) May 11, 2020
Karl tried to dunk on Roberts and Fox, and it backfired when someone was able to demonstrate his hypocrisy on the issue.
Roberts also responded to Karl on Twitter.
“Facts – I was quietly seated more than 6′ away from the closest person (adhering to CDC social distancing guidelines) -When the press conference began, I put mask on,” Roberts responded on Twitter.
“So – what, exactly is the basis for this petty effort at shaming????” the Fox reporter wrote.
Facts – I was quietly seated more than 6′ away from the closest person (adhering to CDC social distancing guidelines)
-When the press conference began, I put mask on.
So – what, exactly is the basis for this petty effort at shaming???? https://t.co/ctW4knjkyD— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) May 11, 2020
Karl apologized for the mask-shaming effort in a separate Twitter post.
“Yesterday I tweeted photos of the extraordinary scene in the Rose Garden. The photo of @johnrobertsfox left the wrong impression. He is a good reporter who cares about protecting his colleagues and his family. He was practicing social distancing. I did not mean to imply otherwise,” Karl tweeted.
Yesterday I tweeted photos of the extraordinary scene in the Rose Garden. The photo of @johnrobertsfox left the wrong impression. He is a good reporter who cares about protecting his colleagues and his family. He was practicing social distancing. I did not mean to imply otherwise
— jonkarl (@jonkarl) May 12, 2020
Wearing a face covering is a personal choice, which apparently Karl refrains from doing when he is under the impression that the cameras are off.
Karl, by all appearances, attempted to hold Roberts to a standard he is unwilling to apply to himself.
In the process, he further tarnished the credibility of establishment media liberals, who are apparently doing little more than engaging in political theatre when they feign outrage at people for not wearing face coverings.
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