NBC for Trump?
So headlines The Wall Street Journal’s James Freeman, asking: https://www.wsj.com/articles/
Is NBC Rooting for Trump?
DeSantis appears on Meet the Press.
Freeman writes:
“A recurring phenomenon of this election cycle is that the same media outlets promoting regular allegations that Donald Trump is the greatest threat to the country also regularly encourage news consumers to view the next most popular candidate among Republican voters as doomed to fail. The loss of media credibility in the Trump era is an old story but isn’t there any journalistic interest in at least allowing a non-Trump alternative to receive a fair hearing?
Witness Sunday’s questioning on Meet the Press by NBC’s Kristen Welker, who in interviewing Gov. Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.) seemed determined to confirm the theory that media companies want another Trump candidacy to boost ratings while enhancing the chances of a Democratic victory.
According to the program’s official transcript, all of Ms. Welker’s first five questions to the governor were variously phrased demands to know if he would soon be quitting the presidential race. NBC should explain its agenda here, because it surely has nothing to do with helping voters evaluate whether a DeSantis administration would be good for the country.
Here’s what happened next, according to the show’s transcript:
KRISTEN WELKER:
“You bring up former President Trump. So, let me ask you about the GOP front-runner. Mr. Trump is campaigning on the idea of retribution. He’s promising to jail his political enemies, if he’s reelected. He’s also referred to some of his political opponents as “vermin,” language that people, frankly, across the political spectrum, say hearkens back to Nazi Germany. Do you think that kind of language is presidential?
GOV. RON DeSANTIS:
Well, I think even beyond that, the issue is . . . why are you running? Are you running for your personal issues? Are you running for the American people’s issues? And I’m running for the American people’s issues. And now, part of that is this government is out of control. We have seen weaponization of agencies, like the DOJ, and the FBI and the IRS. I am going to end that weaponization. But that’s not because I’m doing it for me; it’s because I’m doing it for the people that have been under the thumb of these agencies. And I’m going to restore the rule of law. So, I think if Donald Trump is saying his whole thing is retribution for himself, well, what about all the other people that have had issues with that? Is that somebody—are those people he’s going to be standing up with? So I don’t think you can say it’s about “your enemies.” I think you’ve got to say it’s about the American people’s future. And the goal is to end weaponization, period, and to have a single standard of justice employed, not to basically do what we don’t like is being done now, just in a different direction.”
Unsatisfied, Ms. Welker then followed up no fewer than seven times—including interruptions of his responses—as she challenged the Florida governor to issue more harsh criticism of his Republican rival. It was as if Mr. DeSantis was being forced to defend a Trump endorsement, when in fact he is Mr. Trump’s opponent. Asked to condemn the use of the word, “vermin,” Mr. DeSantis said:
“I don’t use the term. But what I don’t do is play the media’s game, where I’m asked to referee other people. He’s responsible for his words. He’s responsible for his conduct. I’m responsible for mine. But I will tell you, more important than the choice of words is: Why are you running? If he’s running for personal retribution, that is not going to lead to what we need as a country.”
“DeSantis refuses to attack Trump over ‘vermin’ remark,” now claims an NBC headline. News consumers evaluating whether NBC is sincere in demanding condemnation of such language in political discourse may note that over at sister network MSNBC, analyst and former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) has recently topped Mr. Trump by pronouncing him “even more dangerous” than Hitler and Mussolini.
As for Ms. Welker, given how strongly she feels about Donald Trump and how interested voters are in economic issues, did it never occur to her while she had Florida’s governor on the program to explore the reasons behind the Sunshine State’s remarkable recent growth in businesses, jobs and incomes?
As if the interview hadn’t been suitably unfair to the Florida governor, media watchdog Tim Graham at NewsBustersdescribes the ensuing pile-on:
“After Welker’s performance, she turned to her panel of pundits for their analysis. Stephen Hayes of The Dispatch hit DeSantis for ‘how small he felt in response to those questions.’ Tim Alberta of The Atlantic said “He seemed defensive, jumpy in that interview. He almost gives the vibe of a guy who sort of knows that the end could be near.”
A reasonable viewer might conclude that NBC doesn’t want Mr. DeSantis to win but hopes he can be useful in ensuring the network’s preferred GOP nominee loses next fall.”
One of the interesting facts of the Trump candidacy from the get-go was the media fascination with the one-time NBC TV star -and hence their massive coverage of him.
Now, even after many in the mainstream media have turned against Trump- they still can’t resist him.
