MSNBC's Chris Hayes panned for amplifying Chinese state propaganda cartoon on US gun violence

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New York Times getting hit by critics and lawmakers for suggesting U.S. flag is now 'alienating some,' NPR decrying the Declaration of Independence as a document with 'deeply ingrained hypocrisies,' and an NBC News historian fawning over Biden round out today's top media headlines

MSNBC host Chris Hayes pushed a Chinese state propaganda cartoon Tuesday criticizing the U.S. over its firearms deaths, saying he was "fascinated" by how gun violence played into America's perception around the world.

"Continue to be grimly fascinated by how much America's truly exceptional levels of gun violence figure in the perception of the country around the world," Hayes tweeted, with a link to a crudely drawn cartoon from thee state-owned Xinhua News.

In the cartoon, two Americans toast "to freedom" on the Fourth of July while a third gun-toting man adds "of SHOOTING!" Unsubtle like most political cartoons, it includes a gravestone with the humorously translated, "Death From Firearm."

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The Xinhua News account is labeled state-owned by Twitter. The repressive Chinese government blocks its citizens from use of Twitter and other foreign websites and platforms.

Before Hayes promoted it, the cartoon had already drawn sharp mockery from American commentators, pointing out China's dismal human rights record and coverup of the coronavirus outbreak that went on to ravage the globe.

Hayes was sharply criticized for promoting "anti-American CCP propaganda," as one writer put it.

"What will the [Chinese Communist Party] think of us?" Tablet's Noam Blum wondered sarcastically.

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Others responded with an infamous photo of Uighur Muslims, whom the Chinese government has systematically tortured, ethnically cleansed, and killed for years.

"Can you ask the propagandists you're amplifying how China spends their Independence Day? Oh wait," the New York Post's Karol Markowicz tweeted.

"Chris Hayes, simping for a country that's running concentration camps," wrote NewsBusters editor Curtis Houck.

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Hayes, who hosts the nightly primetime show "All In" on MSNBC, has been critical of China's repressive regime in the past. A staunch supporter of more gun control in the United States, he has not yet explained why he shared a state-owned media outlet's work.