Donald Trump Jr. Lies: CNN Didn't 'Blackmail' a '15 y/o' Troll Into Apologizing for Trump Video

Note: This article contains coarse language that may offend some readers.

Trumpists think they have found the perfect deflection for their Dear Leader's open incitement of violence against people who criticize Donald Trump, and it is, shockingly, CNN.

Over the weekend, the Reddit user responsible for the video that ended up on Donald Trump's Twitter feed, showing Trump assaulting a digitized effigy of CNN, issued an apology for the video. The Reddit user also apologized for all of the racist, Islamophobic, and anti-Semitic posts he had done.

As it turns out, CNN's Andrew Kaczynski tracked down the user's real identity and tried to contact him on Monday, unsuccessfully. On Tuesday, the user issued his apology and then reached out to Kaczynski, saying he was nervous about having his identity revealed and telling Kaczynski that he would never have let Trump use the GIF if he had been asked:

In the phone interview on Tuesday, the Reddit user said the White House did not ask his permission to use the GIF, and said he probably would have said no if they had.

“I didn't realize that post would be picked up the way it was,” he said. “I should have never even said anything.”

While it is possible that the prospect of being identified played some part in the decision to issue the apology, he wrote the apology before he ever talked with CNN. The least charitable interpretation of events is that he wanted to get ahead of the story, but his apology seems genuine and complete.

However, Trumpists have created a #CNNBlackmail hashtag to accuse the network of coercing the apology, while also making up key details like the Reddit user's age. Their crusade is centered around this portion of Kaczynski's story:

CNN is not publishing “HanA**holeSolo's” name because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed his remorse by saying he has taken down all his offending posts, and because he said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again. In addition, he said his statement could serve as an example to others not to do the same.

CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change.

Kaczynski has been defending CNN from these charges on Twitter by pointing out key facts and revealing additional details:

To a journalism novice, there is appeal to the #CNNBlackmail premise that is aided by misinformation and lies, but the fact is that CNN did not threaten this man, before or after the fact.

If anything, Kaczynski's disclaimer was insufficiently broad. The Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics includes guidelines about weighing the consequences of releasing personal information against the public's need to know.

There are also suggestions that CNN was/is threatening to “dox” HanA**holeSolo, but this is also inaccurate. To “dox” someone is to “search for and publish private or identifying information about (a particular individual) on the internet, typically with malicious intent.”

It is a fairly common practice among internet users, particularly those who disdain traditional media outlets like CNN. But CNN would not have been “doxxing” HanA**holeSolo had it released his identity; he had contacted the outlet and confirmed his identity. Revealing his name would have been “reporting.”

CNN's decision not to reveal the man's identity, in the absence of an explicit agreement never to do so, is subject to a host of other factors that Kaczynski didn't list. For example, if the guy decided to run for office, this would be useful information for the public to know.

CNN's voluntary decision not to identify the man at this time was a generously ethical one, and one that many of its lesser critics would never have made.