DAN PFEIFFER makes a EXCELLENT observation and point on the above…
Some of us HAVE BEEN saying what he’s saying for quite some time….
President Joe Biden is a serious Government executive that works to get the job done….
He does pretty good and Yes…..
Sometimes he screws up….
But he does his job….
He get sacant media coverage and most of that up to recently has been negitive…..
Donald Trump on the other hand?
Was the American President for FOUR Rock and Roll years….
His choatic tenure was marked by all sorts of historical firstd by a guy who surpisingly got his firts Government job abd spent most his time unsuceessifuly trying to manage it, or more truthfully trying to bend it to his personal needs and wants….
We ALL watched this in real time and when it came time to approve him for a second four years?
Americans voted ‘Nope’….
Donald Trump got in serious trouble trying top bend THAT vote….
In doing so?
He has helped send over a thousand people to be arrested …
He has been arrested and will go trail for what seems to be criminal intent and actions….
Yet?
Donald J. Trump STILL IS the darling of the American media….
88 Criminal felony charges and all…..
Why?
Because he’s NOT quiet and unassuming 3 Ring Circus Donald Trump….
When it comes to Trump — and only Trump, the press has abandoned Roger Ailes’ “Orchestra Pit Theory of Politics,” As the former GOP consultant turned Fox Newshoncho/overall terrible human explained:
If you have two guys on a stage and one guy says, ‘I have a solution to the Middle East problem,’ and the other guy falls into the orchestra pit, who do you think is going to be on the evening news?
Trump delivers his speeches from the orchestra pit, but the press covers the rare moments he climbs out and gets back on stage.
The coverage of the Hugh Hewitt interview was emblematic of the press’s attitude towards Trump. He does a rally or interview filled with insane, incoherent ramblings and then the news clips the most coherent 30-45 seconds to air as part of the package.
Understanding some of the things Trump says requires an advanced degree in Right Wing marginalia. It would be nearly impossible for the local news or the Washington Post to explain what the hell Trump is talking about most of the time, so they just ignore it. Trump accusing Biden of using drugs didn’t come out of thin air. Ever since the State of the Union, Right Wing media figures have been trying to square Biden’s fiery performance with their caricature of him as a doddering, senile old man. The only explanation these yahoos could come up with was that Biden used some performance-enhancing drugs. Sean Hannity called Biden “Jacked Up Joe” after the speech.
Instead of explaining this Right Wing conspiracy or highlighting Trump’s direct accusation that Biden was on drugs, the press focused on Trump’s comments on Gaza. On one level, Israel and Gaza is a major issue in the campaign and Trump has tried very hard to obscure his position. But by focusing on the one quasi-serious moment in an entirely unserious interview, the press gave the public the sense that Trump was a more normal candidate.
Because Joe Biden is a serious person who tells the truth, the press holds him to an exponentially higher standard than Trump. Imagine that Joe Biden was interviewed on Pod Save America and spoke about the War in Gaza, climate change, his economic plans, his efforts to cancel student debt, and other serious issues, but at one point toward the end of the interview, he casually mentioned that Trump was doing cocaine. Would the press ignore the accusation and write a bunch of stories about his climate change accomplishments?
Absolutely not.
Such an accusation would be a major story for days. Other Democrats running for office would be asked if they would disavow Biden’s comments. The White House Press Secretary would be under constant pressure to provide evidence to back up that claim. The next time Biden addressed the press, they would hammer him with follow-up questions.
And therein lies Trump’s huge advantage. He can make outrageous accusations that demonstrate his unfitness for office and the press would rather ignore them than confront the challenge of covering them responsibly….
Note…
It IS good to see some in the media begin to say out loud what some of us HAVE been saying on the side lines….