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Sen. Thom Tillis says Putin is playing Trump on Ukraine in CNN interview

Coverage spectrum

Covered by 3 outlets across the spectrum.

3 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said on Monday night on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” that Russian President Vladimir Putin is playing President Donald Trump “like a fiddle” over U.S. support for Ukraine. The Hill, HuffPost and Breitbart News report his remarks. Tillis said Putin’s claim that he invaded Ukraine to “de-Nazify” it is a lie, and warned that history would not judge the United States well if it failed to defend Ukraine. HuffPost reports that Trump recently eased sanctions on Russia. Breitbart reports that host Erin Burnett quoted Trump saying Russia “has been fine on Ukraine.” Tillis also described accounts of abuses he heard on a recent trip to Kyiv.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

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The coverage spectrum counts the outlets covering a story at each of five points. A short or missing segment means that part of the spectrum is mostly quiet.

Governor Loaded verb“slams”It adds drama to what was said. The governor criticized the lawmakers; “slams” makes it sound like a fight.More neutral: criticizes lawmakers over budget delay

Highlights mark words that carry a judgement. Tap one to see why, and what a neutral writer would say. Here it is “criticizes”.

The 5-point spectrum

Far Left
Voices that strongly advocate for progressive policies and systemic change.
Left
Mainstream liberal perspectives focusing on social equality and regulation.
Center
Sources that prioritize neutral reporting and balanced viewpoints.
Right
Mainstream conservative perspectives focusing on market freedom and tradition.
Far Right
Voices that strongly advocate for conservative values and limited government.

How we measure bias

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

Sen. Thom Tillis said on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” that Putin is playing President Trump “like a fiddle” over Ukraine.
Reported byFar Left1Center1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
Far Left
HuffPost
Center
The Hill
Far Right
Breitbart News
Tillis said history will not judge the United States well if it fails to defend Ukraine against Putin.
Reported byFar Left1Center1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
Far Left
HuffPost
Center
The Hill
Far Right
Breitbart News
Tillis said Putin’s claim that he invaded Ukraine to “de-Nazify” it is a lie.
One outletThe Hill· Center
Tillis described accounts of abuses he said he heard during a recent trip to Kyiv.
Reported byFar Left1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
Far Left
HuffPost
Far Right
Breitbart News
HuffPost reports that Trump recently eased sanctions on Russia.
One outletHuffPost· Far Left

What is contested

Where accounts differ

Points the coverage does not agree on, and who says what.

Trump’s policy toward Russia and Ukraine
Tillis says Putin is playing Trump and that history will judge the U.S. harshly if it abandons Ukraine. Trump, as quoted by host Erin Burnett in Breitbart’s coverage, said Russia “has been fine on Ukraine.”

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three outlets report that Sen. Thom Tillis said Putin is playing President Trump “like a fiddle” over Ukraine in a CNN interview. The center and right headlines quote his words directly, while the left headline frames the remarks as a rebuke of Trump’s Russia policy.

the left
1 outlet
HuffPost, rated Far Left, frames the remarks as a rebuke of Trump’s Russia policy, using verbs like slammed and words like searing, and its headline puts the senator’s criticism first.
Thom Tillis Criticizes Trump’s Russia Stance, Says Putin Is Playing Him 'Like A Fiddle’
HuffPostFar LeftAll left-leaning headlines
the center
1 outlet
The Hill quotes Tillis directly in its headline, presenting the senator’s words as the news rather than characterizing them, and attributes the warning to a Republican senator.
Tillis: ‘Putin is playing President Trump like a fiddle’
The HillCenterAll center headlines
the right
1 outlet
Breitbart, the only right-side outlet and rated Far Right, headlines Tillis’s quote with Trump’s full title and adds no framing of its own beyond the senator’s words.
Sen. Tillis: 'Putin Is Playing President Trump Like a Fiddle'
Breitbart NewsFar RightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

Left3
slammedgetting into bed withsearing interview
Center0
No loaded words in its own voice.
Right0
No loaded words in its own voice.

In the outlets’ own words

Loaded verb
slammedMore neutral: criticized
Using slammed for criticized adds an element of attack beyond the reported remarks.
Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) slammed President Donald Trump for getting into bed with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in a…
Used byHuffPost (Far Left)
Loaded verb
getting into bed withMore neutral: aligned with
The idiom implies an improper alliance that the reported facts do not establish.
Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) slammed President Donald Trump for getting into bed with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in a searing interview on CNN’s “Erin Burnett…
Used byHuffPost (Far Left)
Sensational language
searing interviewMore neutral: interview
Searing is a dramatic adjective that adds emotional weight the reader can judge for themselves.
…Donald Trump for getting into bed with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in a searing interview on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” on Monday night.
Used byHuffPost (Far Left)

Words quoted from someone else (1)Hide the quoted words

Loaded words that outlets reported someone else saying. They show what was said, not how the outlet chose to say it.

Dehumanizing label
Quoted
murdererMore neutral: Vladimir Putin, whose forces he said committed atrocities
A criminal label applied to Putin before a court has ruled, though it appears inside Tillis’s quoted remarks.
“I saw what this murderer Vladimir Putin has ordered,” he shared.
Quoted byHuffPost (Far Left)Breitbart News (Far Right)
These are Thom Tillis’s words. The outlets are reporting them.

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

1 outlet

Leads with

Trump’s Russia policy
Putin’s brutality in Ukraine
bipartisan criticism of the president

See the headline from the leftHide the headlines

HuffPostFar Left
Thom Tillis Criticizes Trump’s Russia Stance, Says Putin Is Playing Him 'Like A Fiddle’
The president recently eased sanctions on Russia, something lawmakers on both sides quickly criticized.
1 day agoRead at HuffPost (opens in a new tab)

From the center

1 outlet

Leads with

Tillis’s warning about Putin
the senator’s own words
U.S. support for Ukraine

See the headline from the centerHide the headlines

The HillCenter
Tillis: ‘Putin is playing President Trump like a fiddle’
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is playing President Trump “like a fiddle” by shifting U.S. support away from Ukraine and warned that “history” won’t judge Trump well if he abandons Ukraine. …
1 day agoRead at The Hill (opens in a new tab)

From the right

1 outlet

Leads with

Tillis’s firsthand account
Trump’s remarks on Russia quoted by the host
Putin as the cause of the devastation

See the headline from the rightHide the headlines

Breitbart NewsFar Right
Sen. Tillis: 'Putin Is Playing President Trump Like a Fiddle'
On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said Russia’s Vladimir Putin has been playing President Donald Trump “like a fiddle.” Tillis said, “I saw the devastation. I saw what this murderer Vladimir Putin has ordered. I heard the stories
1 day agoRead at Breitbart News (opens in a new tab)

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

Left
2 hr 20 min later
Its first report, Oct 20, 11:40 AM EDT
Center
First to report
The Hill, Oct 20, 9:20 AM EDT
Right
5 hr 11 min later
Its first report, Oct 20, 2:31 PM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order

The HillCenterOct 20, 9:20 AM EDT
HuffPostFar LeftOct 20, 11:40 AM EDT
Breitbart NewsFar RightOct 20, 2:31 PM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

Sen. Thom Tillis says Putin is playing Trump on Ukraine in CNN interview

Coverage spectrum

Key points

Where accounts differ

Compare views

the left

the center

the right

Language to notice

In the outlets’ own words

Side by side

From the left

Thom Tillis Criticizes Trump’s Russia Stance, Says Putin Is Playing Him 'Like A Fiddle’

From the center

Tillis: ‘Putin is playing President Trump like a fiddle’

From the right

Sen. Tillis: 'Putin Is Playing President Trump Like a Fiddle'

How the coverage built up

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