On Thursday morning, the hosts of CNN's New Day cast a jaundiced eye at the decision by the editors of USA Today to publish an opinion piece by President Donald Trump that was riddled with lies, mistruths and blatant exaggerations.
CNN regular John Avlon broke down multiple lies in Trump's piece that the editors at the daily paper -- which is mainly known for being distributed for free in hotels -- ran without disclaimers.
"Normally columns are fact-checked even from the president -- that's where things fell apart fast," Avlon explained. "If the president said something, that may make it news that doesn't make it true, and the [Washington Post] fact checker wrote that almost every sentence contained a misleading statement or falsehood."
After reading off USA Today's explanation on why they ran the piece without basic fact-checking, Avlon lectured them for giving Trump valuable space to dispense "nuggets of nonsense."
"There's an expectation that every fact in an op-ed is verified before submission and then passes a rigorous fact check by the editors before publication," Avlon admonished USA Today. "And there's no evidence that happened here, certainly by not the 'trust, but verify' standard."
You can watch the video below via CNN: