A local CBS News affiliate in Tennessee deleted its social media post this weekend after being called out by the progressive news outlet The Tennessee Holler for its “totally not biased” coverage of the “No Kings” protests, which the progressive outlet argued was “stanning for Trump.”
Attended by millions, the No Kings protests saw more than 2,700 separate rallies held across the nation Saturday, motivated largely by opposition to President Donald Trump and his second administration that continues to test the limits of the executive branch’s power.
In its coverage of the protests in Chattanooga, Tennessee, however, WDEF News 12 – a CBS-affiliated network – wrote the following: “Even after President Trump secured the cease-fire deal in the Middle East, demonstrators continued to protest his actions and policies."
The Tennessee Holler flagged the post immediately, alleging WDEF News 12 to have capitulated to the new editor-in-chief for CBS News Bari Weiss, who’s cozied up to billionaires in her assent to CBS’ top leadership role and once said she considered it her “job as an outspoken Jewish Zionist” to be “defending Israel,” according to the Jewish Journal.
“Wow – local CBS affiliate WDEF News 12 stanning for Trump in their ‘totally not biased’ tweet about the protests today,” The Tennessee Holler wrote in a social media post on X Saturday. “Is this that CBS News-Bari Weiss-approved framing?”
The local CBS outlet would ultimately delete the post, and replace it with another post using more neutral language, and alongside an editor’s note communicating that the new post replaced “an earlier post that was deleted.”
Justin Kanew – film producer, political activist and founder of The Tennessee Holler – told Raw Story that the local CBS News outlet’s language in covering the protests was “just another reminder of how we ended up descending into authoritarianism,” and that it was vital to call out new organizations when they’ve “so clearly dropped the ball.”
“It’s disturbing how many reporters and editors are unwilling to directly challenge those in power, and how easily they cave to propaganda narratives and GOP spin,” Kanew told Raw Story Sunday in a text message. “It seems the pro-Trump pro-Israel Bari Weiss effect is already taking hold throughout CBS.”
⚡️UPDATE: Local CHATTANOOGA @CBSNews affiliate @wdefnews12 has deleted and replaced their post about the protests after we called them out for telling on themselves. pic.twitter.com/lW0ejZqcmR
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) October 19, 2025