During the Aug. 24 edition of CNN Newsroom, host Fredricka Whitefield discussed Pfc. Chelsea Manning's possible medical treatment during her time in an all-male prison.
Private Manning released a statement clearly defining her gender identity as female, and in that respect some news sources have correctly identified her as such while covering the story.
Whitfield continued to incorrectly refer to Chelsea Manning with male pronouns throughout the broadcast.
In fact, all three people on the show continued to incorrectly refer to Private Manning.
Criminal defense attorney Richard Herman, a regular CNN guest, stated:
It's absurd. Sometimes we have to step back and say, 'you know, some of these cases we cover, this is beyond insanity.' There's no way that taxpayers are going to pay a hundred thousand dollars for a gender transformation for this guy while he's in prison.
He ended with this sentence:
To end the segment, Friedman laughed about Manning's appearance stating, "You know, when he puts that wig and lipstick on, the guy's a dead ringer for Tonya Harding."
These three, amirite?
The following day on MSNBC, Jeffrey Addicott, director of the Center for Terrorism Law, suggested that Manning could be lying about her gender dysphoria.
He stated:
No. I mean, I'm not going to coddle this person. He's still a male. He has the male genitalia. He's going in to serve with males. I mean, what a great idea. If I'm convicted, I can say "I'm now a female, throw me in with the female prisons." I mean, we can't bring ourselves down to the level of these type of criminal - he's a criminal, he's a convicted criminal. He doesn't have these rights. His right is to go to jail and serve your time. We'll protect you as we protect any other prisoner. Have a nice day.
On Friday, Aug. 23, Fox News host Gregg Jarrett went so far as to defend the misgendering of Private Manning.
At the close of the segment he states:
People out there, don't send me angry emails that I refered to him as Bradley and not Chelsea and him instead of her. I don't do what Bradley Manning wants me to do. So thanks very much.
These errors can only be topped by the Fox & Friends leading into a segment on Private Manning by playing Aerosmith’s “Dude (Looks Like A Lady).”
