Fake: CNN Story About Ted Cruz, QAnon, and Doritos
The Claim
News outlet CNN had to issue a correction to an article when they mistook a Dorito on Senator Ted Cruz’s jacket for a QAnon pin.
News posted on
Emerging story
A brief moment of hilarity was caused on social media when a screenshot emerged showing an apparent correction on an unknown CNN article. The correction asserted that the story had previously described Ted Cruz as wearing “a pin featuring a QAnon symbol,” but the item in question was actually “a Doritos snack chip stuck to his suit.”
UK court and tech reporter James Doleman called it the “Correction of the day,” while ESPN journalist Don Van Natta Jr. declared it “The Correction of the CENTURY.”
Misbar’s Analysis
Matt Dornic, head of strategic communications for CNN, corrected the internet with great exasperation: the screenshot was a fake. The article discussing QAnon pins and Doritos does not exist.
CNN reporter and fact-checker Daniel Dale also stepped up to denounce the screenshot as a fake.
The general response to these statements was one of disappointment from Twitter users who were enjoying the absurdity of the whole situation. Ted Cruz himself stepped into the fray to assure everyone that he does, in fact, love Doritos.
Despite users being upset at Dale’s correction of the correction, his response was valid. Other users had been citing the correction as an instance of incompetence on CNN’s fault, which was obviously a problem to a CNN fact-checker. Additionally, accusing Ted Cruz of tacitly supporting QAnon, a deeply conspiratorial group, is no small thing.
Frito-Lay, the parent company of Doritos, has not offered any comments on the situation to our knowledge.
