NBC News came under fire on social media over a "ridiculous" headline that seemed to fault "conservative news outlets" for reporting that a Democrat Senate staffer filmed a gay sex video in a Capitol Hill hearing room.
The report came after the Daily Caller published an amateur pornographic video Friday that showed an alleged congressional staffer engaging in sex with another man in Hart Senate Office Building room 216. According to the Daily Caller, the video was leaked after being "shared in a private group for gay men in politics."
Posts on social media claimed the alleged staffer worked for Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md. Hours after the story broke, Cardin's office announced that a legislative aide had been dismissed but did not explicitly link the staffer or his dismissal to the sex tape. The identities of the men in the extremely graphic video have not been confirmed by Fox News.
"Senate staffer alleged by conservative outlets to have had sex in a hearing room is no longer employed," the NBC headline read.
NSFW: CAPITOL HILL ROCKED BY SEX TAPE SCANDAL FEATURING FAMOUS SENATE HEARING ROOM
The headline’s emphasis on "conservative outlets" angered social media users for making the Daily Caller the center of the story.
"NBC’s framing of this is outrageous & belongs in the Media Bias Hall of Fame. A Dem senator’s staffer videotaped himself having sex in a Senate committee room, shared it online with others, and got fired when it became public. But NBC casts conservatives as the bad guys," Trump's 2020 campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said.
South Carolina Republican Rep. Ralph Norman joked, "Right, those pesky ‘conservative news outlets’ are the real problem here."
"It’s conservative news outlets’ fault? Ridiculous headline. NBC News is working for the Democrats," former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell wrote.
Political comedian Tim Young agreed, "So it was the conservative outlets fault that that guy filmed gay sex in a Senate hearing room? NBC News is run by clowns."
"Conservatives didn’t video him, he did and posted it online," conservative account Amuse explained.
"I didn't know his own social media was a ‘conservative news outlet,’" Daily Signal columnist Tony Kinnett remarked.
Conservative writer Charles C. W. Cooke summarized, "The media cannot escape this formulation. It is constitutionally incapable of seeing what it does, or why."
In a blog post, Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley, an attorney and professor at George Washington University Law, discussed possible charges that could be brought. Turley said one possible charge could fall under D.C. code section 22-1312, which discusses lewd, indecent, or obscene acts.
"The Capitol police could argue that this constitutes purloining or using government property for personal purposes," Turley wrote. "The key factor is the fact that this videotape was made with the apparent intent to publish or show others. Sex in congressional offices — by both members and staff — have long been known to occur on Capitol Hill. Yet, this was a public hearing room, albeit closed at the time, and a tape made for what appears public viewing."
When asked about the video, U.S. Capitol Police told Fox News "We are aware and looking into this."
