All the Queen's Lies, Part I

Hypocrisy reigns as MSNBC's Joy Reid "interviews" Jordan's Queen Rania. Plus, the ICC and media lies about "international law."

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Before we go into today’s episode, a note about the latest news. Amid actions by the International Criminal Court, news agencies are again throwing around the term “international law” — and getting it wrong. Listen to and share the episode and newsletter I did about that.

Now on with today’s show.

It’s the Shawshank Redemption of fact checking. When a listener (part of the paid subscribers group here) asked me to cover Joy Reid’s “interview” with Jordan’s Queen Rania on MSNBC, I knew it would be filled with lies. But I didn’t realize how significant it would be as a window into abject journalistic failure.

As I explain in this episode, it’s a prime example of a huge problem facing today’s media.

Many news outlets (and “progressive” leaders) turn their back on all of their professed values — democracy, women’s rights, everything — in order to give people open mics to bash Israel through lies and distortions.

It became clear that I needed to do a two-parter. Today’s episode, Part I, focuses on facts. Next week, I’ll look at the second element of what it takes to get the truth: context.

The entire set-up of Joy’s “interview” is a screaming act of hypocrisy. Joy has ranted for years about the horrors of a monarchy. Now, she presents the queen of an authoritarian state as a moral voice who should be listened to and believed. Joy even chimes in with agreement as the queen spews pro-Hamas talking points.

Links for listeners

-I mention the Democracy Index, which places the United States and Israel right next to each other as “flawed democracies.” Jordan is all the way down at number 122 out of 167, categorized as “authoritarian.”

See that tiny blue dot in the Middle East? That’s Israel, the only democracy. (Image from Democracy Index, Economist Intelligence Unit 2024)

-The interview contains no mention of:

• Jordan’s role in fighting against Iran, including shooting down drones over its airspace recently.

• The aid Jordan receives from the United States, including military aid.

• Three U.S. soldiers killed recently in Jordan by a drone strike believed to be from Iran.

-Meanwhile, I mention that airstrikes, believed to be from Jordan, killed civilians in Syria this year. And here’s a similar claim last year from the Syrian Network for Human Rights, an organization the media uses as a source.

-In this “interview,” Queen Rania even gets away with saying that “children have not been killed at this rate in any other time in history,” I fact check her by discussing the actual source of Gaza death toll claims, which is the terrorist group Hamas. Also, even other recent wars have far bigger death tolls. Then there’s the 1.5 million Jewish children killed in the Holocaust.

-In a moment that earns the overused term “gaslighting,” the queen claims that “the whole world stood up and condemned” the October 7 attacks. In reality, there were global celebrations of the massacres, including in Amman, the Jordanian capital. A poll found that two-thirds of Jordanians supported the attacks that killed around 1,200 people in Israel. Governments also hardly lined up to condemn the attacks, as the Washington Institute for Near East Policy shows.

-Israeli TV KAN 11 found that Jordanian school textbooks are already justifying the attacks.

-Here’s the report I cite about “honor killings” in Jordan, from Deutsche Welle. And the State Department Human Rights report.

What you can do

To tell NBC News how you feel about this disastrous “interview,” feel free to send an email with text like this:

Joy Reid’s “interview” with Queen Rania was filled with lies! You’re supposed to be a news agency. Why do you let people lie and mislead with no consequences? Please listen immediately to the podcast They Stand Corrected, which is fact checking the disastrous interview.

A listener requested that I include contact information. I have found that in general, it’s best to reach out to higher ups. Try emailing: Cesar.Conde@nbcuni.com (chairman) and Rebecca.Blumenstein@nbcuni.com (president). If you don’t hear back (which you probably won’t), email a follow-up a week later requesting a response. Also, send a copy to me.

Meanwhile, lots of other media are booking Queen Rania. Send text like this to any news agency that quotes or books her for an interview:

Queen Rania has been blatantly lying about Israel and spreading hatred. Why would you, a news agency, give a platform to someone who keeps lying? Please listen to the podcast They Stand Corrected for a detailed fact check of the queen.

Search online for the email contact for top executives of the news agency. If you have trouble reaching them, let me know and I’ll help!

Lots more to come next week. Paid subscribers, post your questions and comments below! (Everyone else, there’s a form you can find via my website that takes you through the process of confirming your email.)

Thanks and big love,

JL