State Department spokesperson Ned Price was taken to task by reporters for again making claims regarding Russian incursions that were long on assertions and short on facts.
In a testy press briefing Wednesday, Price presented as facts, examples of Russian intent to initiate false flags in order to justify occupying Ukraine.
Key to Price’s allegations was a claim that Russia has accused NATO of providing Ukraine with chemical weapons, and that there is a genocide occurring in the Donbas region, according to a report in the Daily Caller.
Price, who journalists have recently accused of presenting opinions or politically-driven assessments as facts, suggested today that one should not trust statements from the Russian government.
“People must treat any and all of these claims with the appropriate and healthy skepticism,” Price said, especially when they come from Russian state media sources and aren’t backed up by independent media reporting.
“Russia relies on confusion. Russia relies on obfuscation. Russia relies on misinformation and disinformation to cover its tracks. We should all expect that, and we should all be ready for it.”
Veteran reporter Matt Lee responded to Price’s statement by asking if citizens should apply the same scrutiny to statements made by the U.S. government.
“You would expect the same thing for claims and allegations that you guys make, that they shouldn’t just be accepted on face value, right?”
Price’s answer was evasive: “It is your job to ask questions, it is our job to offer the best information that we have available to us.”
The exchange comes on the heels of a confrontation last week when Lee demanded that Price offer more evidence for his claims.
Price implied that Lee found the Russian government more trustworthy than the U.S during that exchange.
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