Griffin's photo: 'Acceptable rhetoric' of the Left?

Griffin has often shown her lack of maturity and taste, appearing on live television numerous times – usually unexpectedly – in various stages of undress with her CNN co-host Anderson Cooper and others, including Jay Leno and David Letterman. But her latest dustup came in a photo shoot with Tyler Shields.

The photo featured Griffin holding up the fake but very graphic severed head of President Donald Trump. And for those who might argue that she didn't know what she was doing, she stated this right before the photo session:

"I won't give away what we're doing, but Tyler and I are not afraid to do images that make noise," she stated.

Complaints and criticisms of the vile image poured in from both liberals and conservatives – among them Chelsea Clinton, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Jake Tapper, and Keith Olbermann. President Trump also was among those who complained about the image, saying it upset his 11-year-old son Barron.

Griffin apologized Wednesday. "I sincerely apologize," she said. "I am just now seeing the reaction of these images. I went too far, I made a mistake, and I was wrong."

But Curtis Houck of Media Research Center notes Griffin didn't apologize to the president or his son. In his opinion, it sounded like the entertainer was sorry she got caught.

"This is acceptable rhetoric on the Left," Houck tells OneNewsNow. "CNN and the Jake Tapper show responded and one of their guests, Molly Ball from The Atlantic, tried to argue that this is acceptable discourse on the Left, and saying that this is the Trump family just trying to make themselves victims."

He also argues that CNN is selective in its outrage. Recently on that network Congressman Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) blamed the president for a Montana politician body-slamming a reporter.

"This is unbelievable that we're actually living in an environment, quite frankly, not to be political, but that Donald Trump helped create," Ryan stated.

CNN did not dispute the congressman's comments – but AP reports the network has cut ties with Griffin after the graphic video. She had served as co-host of CNN's New Year's Eve program the last nine years.