CNN analyst excoriated for using Fox cameraman’s death in Ukraine to attack Fox News

A prominent New York journalist has been slammed as a ‘a vile human being without a shred of decency,’ after she took to Twitter to take a shot at Fox by sarcastically mourning the death of cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski, who was killed Monday while covering the invasion of Ukraine for the network.

‘What a tragedy,’ CNN and New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser wrote Tuesday, moments after reports surfaced of the 55-year-old lensman’s tragic death in a Russian air strike in Horenka, outside Kyiv.

But the founder of Politico and wife of New York Times’ chief White House correspondent Peter Baker went on to put forth a very different take on the 55-year-old cameraman’s death, using it to rip the network’s controversial talking head, Tucker Carlson.

‘A cameraman died covering the war for a TV network that airs a pro-Putin propagandist as its top-rated primetime host,’ Glasser, 53, sarcastically tweeted.  

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com Tuesday afternoon, a Fox insider slammed Glasser for her comments regarding the tragedy. 

‘She’s a vile human being without a shred of decency, and a colossal embarrassment to the New Yorker and CNN on a tragic day,’ the source said of Glasser’s post, which a swarm of others on social media similarly deemed inappropriate and ill-timed. 

‘What a tragedy,’ CNN and New Yorker staff writer Glasser wrote Tuesday, moments after reports surfaced of the 55-year-old lensman’s tragic death in a Russian air strike in Horenka

‘Tweets like this are why people hate the media,’ commented Curtis Houck, managing editor of conservative news outlet Newsbusters, in reply to Glasser’s not-so-heartfelt tribute. 

‘Because too many in the media hate those not in their own elite circles,’ Houck chided. ‘Hard to push back when you say things like this that are truly cancerous.’

The journalist then lambasted the progressive commentator further, asking if she had penned the ill-conceived tribute at one of the posh properties she and her husband own in Washington, DC, or Massachusetts’ Martha’s Vineyard.

‘Did you tweet that from your nice digs in D.C. or Martha’s Vineyard?’ Houck asked, before offering one last paring insult to the progressive columnist.

‘You’re terrible.’ 

Glasser’s comments came in regard to the death of Fox war zone photographer Pierre Zakrzewski (pictured here with correspondent Steve Harrington and two senior field producers), who was killed Monday while covering the invasion of Ukraine for the network

Former US rep for Illinois and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Walsh also weighed in on the controversy, remarking that there was a ‘time and place’ for Glasser’s anti-Fox comments.  

‘The death of a wartime cameraman is not the time and place for this tweet,’ the politician declared.

Another user suggested Glasser think more carefully about who her world will affect before tweeting to her more than 220,000 followers.  

‘Maybe you can show a bit more humility, Fox has issues, but this was someone’s life who was lost and their loved ones are grieving. We can be better then [sic] that.’

Another added: ‘There is never a time nor a place to celebrate the death of a worker just doing his job… no matter how much you dislike his employer. 

‘This was a reprehensible tweet by Susan,’ the user wrote.

Tucker Carlson, the host of Fox’s nightly political prime time program Tucker Carlson Tonight since 2016, has not yet commented on Glasser’s remarks, despite being the object of Glasser’s criticism in the contentious tweet 

A more poetically inclined poster replying to Glasser’s tweet wondered aloud if nothing is off-limits in networks’ continued online and on-air conflicts.

‘Have we no sense of common decency, remaining? Is nothing sacred?’ the poster wrote. ‘Can we no longer mourn and let loss teach us that our lives are like blades of glass?’

The wordsmith then advised Glasser and other onlookers to ‘Let the “therefores” come in the quiet so that we can strive to be better people.’ 

‘Time and place,’ another user similarly added.             

DailyMail.com reached out to both CNN and the New Yorker – where Glasser works as a global affairs analyst and staff writer, respectively – Tuesday afternoon to comment on their staffer’s remarks. Neither immediately responded to those requests.

Tucker Carlson, the host of Fox’s nightly political prime time program Tucker Carlson Tonight since 2016, has not yet commented on Glasser’s remarks, despite being the object of Glasser’s criticism in the contentious tweet.

Zakrzewski was killed in Ukraine on Monday when the vehicle he was traveling in with correspondent Benjamin Hall was struck by incoming fire, the network confirmed Tuesday.  

An Irish citizen according to the country’s prime minister, Zakrzewski, a longtime journalist, had been based in London, but was covering Russian’s invasion of Ukraine with Hall when their vehicle was hit in Horenka, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine, Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said in an email to staff.  

‘It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we share the news this morning regarding our beloved cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski,’ Scott wrote. ‘Pierre was killed in Horenka, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine. Pierre was with Benjamin Hall yesterday newsgathering when their vehicle was struck by incoming fire.’ 

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki addressed Zakrzewski’s killing at the press conference on Tuesday, saying ‘He is someone who has served in many war zones over the course of time. Our thoughts, our prayers are with his family, with the entire community as well.’  

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin responded to the news of Zakrzewski’s death, stating that he is ‘deeply disturbed and saddened by the killing of Irish citizen and journalist Pierre Zakrzewski.’

‘My thoughts are with their families, friends and fellow journalists. We condemn this indiscriminate and immoral war by Russia on #Ukraine.’  

Fox News also announced on Monday that Hall, the British reporter who was with Zakrzewski, had been injured in the attack and remains hospitalized, but said they have a ‘minimal level of details.’ 

News of Monday’s attack comes just after American reporter Brent Renaud was killed on Sunday when Russian forces opened fire on his vehicle.   

During comments at a press event in Washington Tuesday, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, thanked reporters who are on the ground in Ukraine.

‘Risking their lives to tell the world the truth’ is something that Ukraine and the world desperately need, she said at the National Press Club.

Fox cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski (left) was killed and reporter Benjamin Hall seriously injured when the vehicle they were traveling in was struck by incoming fire, the network confirmed

Zakrzewski had been covering Russian’s invasion of Ukraine when he was killed

‘Pierre was a war zone photographer who covered nearly every international story for Fox News from Iraq to Afghanistan to Syria during his long tenure with us,’ Scott continued.  

She added that Zakrzewski had been working in Ukraine since February, and was based in London. His nationality is not known. 

Zakrzewski was described as a network veteran whose ‘passion and talent as a journalist were unmatched.’

His talents were vast and there wasn’t a role that he didn’t jump in to help with in the field — from photographer to engineer to editor to producer — and he did it all under immense pressure with tremendous skill. 

He was profoundly committed to telling the story ad his bravery, professionalism and work ethic were renowned among journalists at every media outlet. He was wildly popular — everyone in the media industry who has covered a foreign story knew and respected Pierre.’  

Scott also said that Zakrzewski played a key role in getting Fox’s Afghan freelance associates and their families out of the country after the US withdrawal. 

Zakrzewski was awarded the ‘Unsung Hero’ prize at Fox’s annual employee Spotlight Awards last December ‘in recognition of his invaluable work’, she added.  

Zakrzewski, was on assignment with Benjamin Hall, a British journalist working for Fox News, who was seriously injured in Monday’s attack after being hit in the legs by shrapnel. 

Hall, 39, a married father-of-three from London who has worked for the US television network since 2015, was being treated in intensive care in hospital. 

Scott told staff in a memo that bosses have a ‘minimal level of details’ and teams on the ground were working to find out more on what happened.

‘Pierre Zakrzewski was an absolute legend at this network and his loss is devastating,’ Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer said on the air Tuesday.  

‘He was a professional, he was a journalist, and he was a friend,’ Hemmer added. ‘We here at the Fox News Channel want to offer our deepest condolences to Pierre’s wife, Michelle, and his entire family. Pierre Zakrzewski was only 55 years old, and we miss him already.’ 

Tributes have poured in for Zakrzewski from Fox News colleagues, who described him as ‘an absolute legend’ who ‘never stopped wanting to help’. 

‘I don’t know what to say,’ Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst wrote. ‘Pierre was as good as they come. Selfless. Brave. Passionate. I’m so sorry this happened to you. 

Clarissa Ward, CNN’s chief international correspondent, wrote on Twitter Tuesday that she had ‘the great privilege’ of having worked with Zakrzewski and ‘the even greater privilege of calling him a friend.’

‘An extraordinary spirit and tremendous talent and one of the kindest, most gracious colleagues on the road,’ Ward wrote on Twitter. ‘Absolutely heartbreaking.’

Pierre Zakrzewski (left) and Benjamin Hall (right) worked together in Kabul for Fox last year

Fellow journalists, including Fox News’ Trey Yingst (pictured) tweeted tributes of Zakrzewski upon hearing of his death

Fox News weather reporter Max Gorden said: ‘Gutting news. My thoughts are with Pierre Zakrzewski’s family. By all accounts Pierre was an incredible photographer and great human. Wishing safety for all the crews risking their lives in Ukraine.’

And Fox security correspondent Jen Griffin added: ‘Such a fine man. Such a good friend. Such a fantastic war photographer and so much more. RIP Pierre Zakrzewski.’ 

Another journalist, Ukrainian producer and fixer Oleksandra Kuvshynova, also died in the attack.   

Carlson, meanwhile, has hit back at detractors accusing him of serving a mouthpiece for Russian President Valdimir Putin after he used his primetime show to highlight the US government’s funding of Ukrainian biolabs amid the burgeoning conflict. 

Much of the liberal anger towards Carlson comes from his decision to highlight the United States’ funding of biolabs in Ukraine.

Those labs use material which may have once been used to develop Soviet-era bioweapons, according to a report shared by a Department of Defense director called Robert Pope in February. 

He warned that the same material, which is frozen, could be released into the air with devastating consequences if the labs are damaged during fighting, and it is allowed to thaw. 

That report, and Carlson’s subsequent remarks, have been seized on by Russian propagandists to claim that the United States was actually developing biological weapons in the war-torn nation. 

He said: ‘The director of the U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, a man who would know a man called Robert Pope, has confirmed that scientists are keeping Soviet-era pathogens for research purposes in Ukraine. 

‘They told us they were destroying them. They should have destroyed them, but they haven’t. What could go wrong in an active war zone? And they knew that those pathogens existed and were being experimented upon, researched.’

Pope issued a bulletin in February saying that some of the biological material had previously been used for Soviet-era bioweapons programs, but that Ukraine no longer had the ability to develop such weapons.

Carlson referred to a report authored by a Department of Defense director in February, warning that US-funded research in Ukrainian biolabs could be exploited by Russian invaders looking to develop a chemical weapon 

Commenting on the significant of Pope’s warning, Carlson continued: ‘And they didn’t secure them before the Russians invaded, though they knew the Russian invasion was coming because they told us. 

‘And then, Toria Nuland, the Under Secretary of State who oversees this disaster, testified under oath that, yes, Russian forces might seize those biolabs in Ukraine, and we should all be very worried about that possibility.

‘Over the weekend, CBS News reported that Pentagon officials have confirmed that these biolabs in Ukraine are, in fact, conducting research on anthrax and other “deadly pathogens.”

Carlson’s broadcasts have been aired on Russian state television, furthering anger among his liberal detractors.  

Carlson addressed the long list of people who have attacked him for his views, quoting Mitt Romney, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, and Russian-American Washington Post columnist Max Boot, and perhaps most notably, the women of The View – who said that the host should be ‘arrested’ for his comments.

Speaking on his show Monday night, Carlson laughed off their remarks that he had been ‘shilling’ for Putin and Whoopi Goldberg’s remark that ‘They used to arrest people for stuff like this.’

He answered: ‘Really? ‘They used to arrest people for saying stuff like this.’ When did they arrest people for saying stuff like this, and who is they exactly?’ 

‘So we are at war with Russia! We must send you to the gulag because freedom!’ he mocked.

‘Because a democracy, the one thing democracy doesn’t have patience for is dissenting views from its own citizens, particularly citizens who sincerely hope and pray for the best for their own country.’