FILE – This Jan. 17, 2001 file photo shows pedestrians entering CNN Center, the headquarters for CNN, in downtown Atlanta. (AP Photo/Ric Feld, File)

The more the Babylon Bee gets attacked by so-called “fact checkers” and mainstream media types, the more it punches back with a vengeance.

My RedState colleague Brad Slager wrote earlier this week about how CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan was doing quite a bit of fretting over the weekend after analyzing the amount of social media shares a recent Babylon Bee article received in comparison to “real” media outlets during the same week:

To recap, here’s what O’Sullivan tweeted:

Having a disclaimer buried somewhere on your site that says it’s “satire” seems like a good way to get around a lot of the changes Facebook has made to reduce the spread of clickbait and misinformation.

— Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) January 5, 2020

Some of the comments left by Facebook users sharing the link:

"1/2 flag for the death of an Iranian terrorist. Seriously?"

"I wish this was a joke! Half of the left has gone full Anti-America, full terrorist supporter this week!"

"I wish this was satire"

— Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) January 6, 2020

From last August: Satire or Deceit? Christian Humor Site Feuds With Snopes https://t.co/1eeGP27C07

— Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) January 6, 2020

The piece O’Sullivan was referencing was titled “Democrats Call For Flags To Be Flown At Half-Mast To Grieve Death Of Soleimani”. Neither O’Sullivan nor the woman whose tweet he cited bothered to link to the actual article because of course they wouldn’t want their followers to decide for themselves if it appears to be “real” news or satire.

Might disrupt the narrative and stuff.

That being said, Nick Short had a very plausible explanation for why some people would not view the Bee’s piece as satire:

Maybe it’s hard to tell this was satire because Democrats have spent the past few days bemoaning the death of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and apologizing to Iran? https://t.co/6pxW9G8C6I

— Nick Short 🇺🇸 (@PoliticalShort) January 7, 2020

Fair point.

It is perhaps that point the Bee had in mind when it responded in kind to O’Sullivan’s trolling by hammering his employer in the days following his mini-rant on Twitter, both by way of new pieces and sharing older pieces that are timeless:

CNN Attacks Babylon Bee: 'The Internet Is Only Big Enough For One Fake News Site' https://t.co/Mq0IAYhwAf

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) January 7, 2020

As Part Of Settlement With Nick Sandmann, CNN Hosts Must Wear MAGA Hats During All Broadcasts https://t.co/fJRcHFLsmH

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) January 8, 2020

CNN To Launch Real News Spinoff Sitehttps://t.co/LExCQdOMXg

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) January 6, 2020

The one below references the “results” of a “CNN poll” – LOL:

Trump's Approval Rating Among Terrorists Hits All-Time Low https://t.co/Jc1cM4GcVV

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) January 9, 2020

They have done many, many more satire pieces on CNN in the past – if you’re in the need for a good laugh, or just otherwise want to have some online fun at CNN’s expense, click this link.

The irony of all this is in learning that CNN actually has someone on staff tasked with “covering disinformation”, which is exactly what O’Sullivan has noted in his Twitter profile.

Maybe it’s just me but if I was O’Sullivan, I’d worry about covering and combating disinformation at my own network before I started casting stones in other directions.

Just sayin’.