Glenn Greenwald let NBC News ‘tech and culture reporter’, Kat Tenbarge, have it on Twitter for retweeting a tweet from an anonymous liberal Twitter account. The thread goes on to mention Jeffrey Epstein and various other alleged sex crimes.
The intent of the thread seems clear: A thin guilt-by-association smear of Thiel and Greenwald in light of the recent investigation charging that Andrew Tate and his brother participated in human sex trafficking and rape.
Full disclosure: This editor knew little of Andrew Tate prior to the last week or so, only seeing the occasional bragging tweet being lambasted on Twitter, and the recent exchange where Greta Thunberg’s dad got the best of Tate in a Twitter slap fight. (Fine, Greta might have tweeted it herself, but let’s be real. LOL.)
An NBC News "reporter", @kattenbarge, re-tweeted and helped viralize this obvious fabrication by an anonymous account that I'm an owner of Rumble, along with Peter Thiel, and paid Andrew Tate to stream for "their service."
These people are low-life scumbags who lie for a living. pic.twitter.com/QZF8lmrpNk
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 30, 2022
The original tweet thread is given below. With over 2 million views, Greenwald is right to question whether an NBC News reporter should be promoting it without first putting forth a little bit of journalistic effort.
Let’s break it down in the way Kat Tenbarge probably should have before passing it along.
Peter Thiel and Glenn Greenwald's youtube knockoff service paid Andrew Tate a handsome sum to start streaming from their service this year. A few months ago Thiel was photographed entering a Romanian castle for a secret Halloween Party that Musk allegedly also attended
— embattled truthteller (@lib_crusher) December 29, 2022
The tweet’s defenders insist all the claims have been substantiated, but does that hold up?
Let’s not let the minutiae get in the way of the overall insinuation. Thiel and Greenwald have an association with Rumble. Andrew Tate made a deal to create content on Rumble. Thiel attended a Halloween Party in Romania that Musk allegedly attended as well. Andrew Tate was arrested in Romania, where he lives.
That’s it. That’s the big revelation.
Like we said, it’s a pretty sad attempt to tie Thiel and Greenwald to potential sex trafficking charges. It’s certainly not the kind of thing a journalist should be promoting – at least a journalist who had any integrity.
Hi @kattenbarge,
Did you even attempt to verify any of these claims before promoting them? pic.twitter.com/n4KX2GUvE9
— AG (@AGHamilton29) December 30, 2022
We’ll provide some of the details that an actual journalist might have been interested in.
Is Rumble ‘Peter Thiel and Glenn Greenwald’s youtube knockoff service’? No. Rumble is a publicly traded company. Thiel is an investor and promoter of the platform. Greenwald creates content for the site. Andrew Tate made a reportedly big deal to provide content to Rumble after being banned from YouTube and other social media platforms.
‘Billionaires invest money and journalists, and whatever Andrew Tate is, create content’ is not exactly a damning revelation or link between the three.
Was Peter Thiel ‘photographed entering a Romanian castle’? Not that we’ve been able to find. Thiel was photographed at the airport and there’s little reason to question he attended (and possibly organized) the party. Again, these are details someone who calls themself a reporter for NBC News might want to verify and clarify.
The original tweet was also so hellbent on making the weak association to the in-the-news buzz over Romania, that it simply mentioned a ‘Romanian castle’ and left it at that. A journalist might want to let her readers know that this was the Bran Castle in Transylvania, more commonly known as Dracula’s Castle. Surely a journalist could surmise why super rich people might rent out Dracula’s Castle on Halloween for reasons other than ‘Hmmm … Andrew Tate lives in Romania too! Dun dun duuuuuunnnnnnn!!!’.
The final part attempted to drag Elon Musk into the picture as well, we supposed because ‘Elon Musk bad’, but we’re not exactly sure. The operative weasel word in this case that allowed the defenders to say this was also ‘substantiated’ is that the tweeter included the word ‘allegedly’. Sure, Musk’s throwing the party was alleged. Musk attending the party was alleged. Again, a few simple Google searches would have shown anyone interested in the truth that it’s likely the Musk connection was made up entirely or that he didn’t attend.
Geez, people! We’re not supposed to be doing this kind of stuff. We like to report funny tweets. Get your acts together, journalists!
All 3 claims in this tweet are substantiated:
1. Tate signed to Rumble, which Thiel invested in, after his YouTube ban: https://t.co/MDkO7zsy6Q
2. Thiel was photographed by paparazzi in Romania: https://t.co/Lq6aLRnzgk
3. Vice alleged Musk was present: https://t.co/UJWvqH64VK
— Quantian (@quantian1) December 30, 2022
As we said, many tried to defend the alleged revelation.
No, you clown.
1) Greenwald has no ownership stake in Rumble.
2) The party was a rumor. Thiel was photographed in the area. There was no evidence that Musk attended or was even in Romania.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) December 30, 2022
Like we said: There’s no ‘there’ there … or in Romania, for that matter.
You see the problem here…
The same reporters that are constantly promoting misinformation themselves are complaining people are believing unreliable sources instead of them. And then want social media platforms to censor misinfo while assuming those rules won’t apply to them. pic.twitter.com/vlZDOH0Jr7
— AG (@AGHamilton29) December 30, 2022
Now we’re getting to the heart of the matter. The people who claim to be ‘defending democracy’ through journalism regularly spread garbage like this while trying to silence media they don’t agree with.
The rules don’t apply to regime propagandists.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) December 30, 2022
Accurate.
The most prominent-on-the-internet NBC "reporters" – @BrandyZadrozny, @oneunderscore__, @kattenbarge — are indistinguishable from #Resistance activists. They don't even try to hide it.
NBC hires only Security State operatives or Dem activists. And they lie compulsively.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 30, 2022
The Trump #Resistance did create a massive grifting opportunity that many continue to take advantage of, including those who call themselves journalists.
Their fiction isn’t even good!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 30, 2022
LOL. Somehow this is even more funny because Elon Musk’s profile picture still features him wearing the Halloween costume he donned to the party he actually did attend in New York, the night after he allegedly played the role of Vlad the Twitter Impaler in Romania.
That's the thing: corporate journalists' lies are not only brazen but boring. That's why nobody watches.
But I will admit: NBC's insinuation that Thiel was traveling around the world to frequent Tate's webcam ladies is hilarious, though even there, the humor is unintentional.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 30, 2022
We’ll leave that one as an exercise for the reader.
They’re all HACKS who don’t deserve the titles “reporter” or “journalist”.
— 🤬MAMADOXIE🤬 (@Mamadoxie) December 30, 2022
And we have a winner!
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