Tag: katy tur
Of Course The Press Played A Major Role In Trump’s Victory

Of Course The Press Played A Major Role In Trump’s Victory

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

“It may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS. … The money’s rolling in and this is fun.” — CBS CEO Les Moonves discussing Donald Trump, February 2016. 

While reporters and pundits sift through their harassing and sometimes anti-Semitic letters and emails from Trump supporters — and contemplate what the future holds if radio show host Laura Ingraham becomes the next White House press secretary — few seem to be in the mood to reflect on their just-concluded campaign effort. And even fewer scribes seem willing to accept that the media made serious missteps in their election coverage — and that those mistakes helped elect Donald Trump president.

Any implications drawn from the media’s broken performance in 2016, a year when Trump’s former campaign manager was hired by CNN while still cashing Trump campaign paychecks, have been largely waved off. Much of the media’s message today is that the press simply played no significant role in tipping the election to Trump.

Detailing “The Democratic Coalition’s Epic Fail,” The New York Times’ Thomas Edsall cataloged what he saw as the many shortcomings of the Hillary Clinton campaign. What was notably absent from the list of hurdles that Clinton and Democrats failed to clear? The press. It’s not even worth discussing, apparently.

There seems to be little interest in acknowledging that the press virtually extinguished policy and issue coverage this campaign cycle. That journalists were bullied by Trump yet often held him to a lower, softer standard than Clinton (see Clinton Foundation vs. Trump Foundation coverage). That the press somehow managed to help normalize a bigoted Republican nominee who openly embraces white nationalism, while showering him with nonstop attention. Or that the press’s relentlessly caustic Clinton coverage became a hallmark of the campaign.

Immediately following the election, New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. assured readers that “We believe we reported on both candidates fairly during the presidential campaign.” So no, journalists don’t seem interested in self-examination, and they certainly don’t seem open to admitting that their occasionally colossal blunders helped tip the scales in Trump’s favor.

In fact, quite the contrary. “The press succeeded in exposing Trump for what he was. Voters just decided they didn’t care,” Politico announced.

Question: How well did the press succeed in getting Trump to release his tax returns? In getting him to release relevant health information about himself? In getting him to hold a press conference during the final months of the campaign?

Answer: The press failed, categorically, in all those routine pursuits. But many journalists today remain certain everything was fine in 2016.

From CNN reporter Maeve Reston:

Reston claims it’s just “lazy” for people to blame the press in the wake of Trump’s victory, but there is solid data to back up a lot of complaints about lopsided election coverage.

As Media Matters pointed out, in the week after FBI Director James Comey announced that the bureau would be assessing newly discovered emails to find out if they were relevant to its investigation of Clinton’s use of a private email server, five of the country’s top newspapers published a total of 100 (100!) stories about or mentioning the emails, 46 of them on the front page. Additionally, the three network evening newscasts devoted a total of 25 minutes to the FBI email story during two crucial weeks late in the campaign, compared to just three minutes of policy coverage.

Meanwhile, NBC’s Katy Tur also seemed to dismiss post-campaign press criticism:

Was the press, in fact, “hostile” to the Clinton campaign? Is Podesta’s point a legitimate one? The answer to that question actually isn’t even in doubt. Study after study demonstrated that Clinton was the recipient of overwhelmingly negative press coverage.

On Twitter, Patrick LaForge, senior editor at The New York Times, suggested it was the FBI that made the Clinton emails such a big issue late in the campaign, and that the paper simply followed the bureau’s lead. But it was Times newsroom bosses, not the FBI director, who decided to run seven front-page email stories in three days late last month while millions of Americans were casting early ballots.

It was Times editors who decided to publish 22 articles mentioning Clinton’s email server in the week after the FBI announcement — over-the-top coverage that at times looked like man-landing-on-the-moon reporting. Just like it was cable news producers who cultivated a manic, hothouse environment in which the term “email” or “emails” was mentioned thousands of times on air in the days following the FBI’s email announcement.

All of this for a vague statement regarding, at the time, unseen emails that may or may not prove significant to any investigation. (They ended up not being significant.)

What are some of the consequences of the media’s failed campaign coverage? And specifically, its failure to hold Trump to the same transparency and disclosure standard as Clinton?

From The Guardian, November 12 (emphasis added):

When President-elect Donald Trump enters the White House next year he will bring with him potential conflicts of interest across all areas of government that are unprecedented in American history.

Trump, who manages a sprawling, international network of businesses, has thus far refused to put his businesses into a blind trust the way his predecessors in the nation’s highest office have traditionally done. Instead he has said his businesses will be run by his own adult children.

The prospect of the president of the United States becoming deeply entangled in business conflicts while trying to lead the world’s most powerful nation is stunning.

But here’s the thing: Journalists knew that many, many months ago. They all knew that if Trump won the presidency he would be wallowing in unprecedented conflicts of interest and that Americans likely wouldn’t be able to tell where Trump’s foreign policy priorities ended and his business goals began.

The looming conflicts were an open secret. So why did that unprecedented threat to transparency generate so little political press attention before the election?

Short answer: Media were too busy hyperventilating about Clinton’s emails. And that’s when they weren’t utterly devoted to undercutting the landmark Clinton charity by hyping supposed conflicts of interest.

Remember when editorial boards lectured Clinton about the need to banish the family’s charity in order to placate the always lurking optics police?

  • “Even if they’ve done nothing illegal, the foundation will always look too much like a conflict of interest for comfort.” (The Boston Globe)
  • “[T]he only way to eliminate the odor surrounding the foundation is to wind it down and put it in mothballs.” (USA Today)
  • “Impressions such as these are corrosive to national institutions.” (The Washington Post)

By contrast, the press basically gave Trump a pass regarding the land mine of concrete, for-profit conflicts he’d have as president.

Looking back, large, ranging portions of the 2016 campaign coverage were wildly irresponsible. It’s equally negligent now for journalists to pretend they played no role in Trump’s victory.

IMAGE: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and his campaign manager Kellyanne Conway greet supporters during his election night rally in Manhattan, New York, U.S., November 9, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar

The Best Quotes From Donald Trump’s NBC Interview

The Best Quotes From Donald Trump’s NBC Interview

The Donald did not disappoint.

Katy Tur of NBC News, who is following Donald Trump’s campaign, questioned him this afternoon, mostly about his comments regarding Mexico and immigrants. Trump, as expected, barked back, reiterating his wealth and negotiation prowess and both insulted Mexico and praised the country in the same breath. He also revealed that he has a gun permit and a gun, though of course he wouldn’t say what he actually uses his gun for. (He’s a big Second Amendment guy, don’t you know.) The interview, which ran unedited, is pure Trump – a bloviating, dumb hypocrite. Here are a handful of choice quotes:

On Mexico:

“The Mexican government forces many bad people into our country because they’re smart. They’re smarter than our leaders and their negotiators are far better than what we have.”

“We are taking Mexico’s problems. Mexico is beating us on trade and they’re beating us at the border. But Mexico doesn’t want to take these people, so what do they do? They send them to our stupid politicians and we have sanctuary cities and all of this nonsense.”

“I have great respect for the country of Mexico. I love the Mexican people and their spirit. But the country of Mexico is killing us. The country of Mexico is taking our jobs. They’re killing us at the border. They’re taking advantage of the fact that we have stupid negotiators. We have very stupid people in our country negotiating for us. And we have leaders that don’t know what they’re doing. So I respect that. I’m not angry at Mexico. I’m angry at our leadership for not putting our right people to negotiate this.”

“I have a great relationship with the Mexican people. I have many people working for me…I have many legal immigrants working for me. Many of them come from Mexico. They love me, I love them.”

“I built a great empire through negotiation. You have to be able to negotiate. Mexico is making a fortune off the United States…I would get them to pay for the wall… Believe me, they would pay for the wall.”

“I would make that wall impenetrable. Impenetrable. You don’t have to worry about how high it will be. And Mexico will pay for that wall.”

“Don’t try and convince me that there’s no crime, that it’s wonderful. The people that are being forced in and these aren’t just Mexicans…They’re forcing them into our country and we’re taking them and putting them in our jails and hospitals and paying them money though different sources. It’s a disgrace. Don’t tell me about safety. Are you trying to justify safety at the border? I don’t think so.”

Continue reading: What he stands for

What he stands for:

“I’m about jobs. I’m about security. I’m about fixing the military. I’m about taking care of our vets. I’m really about economic development and I’m about jobs and that’s what we have to start talking about. And I’m about beating ISIS momentarily and not acting like a bunch of babies like we’re acting right now.”

“I would knock the hell out of the oil areas because they’re as rich as can be….they have nothing but money, it’s coming out of their ears.”

“I’m more into the military than anybody.”

“If you bomb the hell out of it, you bomb the hell out of it. You’ve gotta stop their wealth. They have tremendous wealth.”

“I’m concerned about everything. Our country’s going to hell.”

“I’ll take jobs back from China. …I’ll take jobs back from Japan, where they’re making…millions and millions of cars. I’ll take jobs back from Mexico.”

“We need somebody that can make great deals with China, with Japan, with Mexico. I actually think I’ll be the jobs president but I actually think I’ll be even better in terms of the military. I will create a military where nobody will mess around the United States.”

“I don’t need this. What I’m doing is for the country. I want to make American great again. If we keep going this way America will be permanently scarred.”

“I tell the truth. I say what’s happening. I made a tremendous fortune. That’s the kind of mentality we need in this country.”

Continue reading: On his electability

On his electability:

“I’m the most popular person in Arizona because of my stance.”

“I listen to the people. I get the biggest crowds, I get the biggest standing ovations.”

“I will win the Latino vote because I’m going to put them to work. I’m going to be able to get them jobs… Latinos will have jobs they don’t have right now…I have thousands of them working for me at different places that I have all over the country. I will win that vote… I’ll do better with that vote than anybody.”

“I’m actually No. 1 in Huffington Post and some others and the new polls that haven’t even come out yet.” [Editor’s note: He’s not.]

“I made my presidential announcement right here in this building…Everybody gave me great reviews, some great, great reviews, some good reviews…it wasn’t only until a week later that people started criticizing that one statement.”

“I have great relationships. If you look at Businessweek magazine, they did a story on the 10 things that China most wants. One of the 10 things? Anything Trump.”

“I’m a nice person, believe it or not. I mean, I have a heart.”

Continue reading: On the other candidates

On the candidates running against him:

“Hillary Clinton is not going to be able to create jobs. Neither is Jeb Bush going to be able to create jobs. I will create jobs.”

“Hillary Clinton was the worst Secretary of State in the history of the United States. Hillary was the worst. In the history of the U.S. there’s never been a Secretary as bad as Hillary. The world blew up around us, we lost everything including all relationships. There wasn’t one good thing that came out of that administration or her being Secretary of State.”

“Jeb Bush will never take us to the promised land. He doesn’t have it. Hillary will never take us to the promised land. Hillary will be a disaster as a president. Jeb will be very poor as president. No energy.”

“Hillary would be a terrible president. Hillary would let everybody come in — killers, criminals, drug dealers. If you listen to Hillary, she is so weak on immigration we will have a crime rate like you’ve never seen.”

Continue reading: He insults Katy Tur

His insults to reporter Katy Tur:

Referring to statistics that say immigrants commit few crimes: “It’s a wrong statistic. Go check your numbers. It’s totally wrong. It sounds good, but it’s a wrong statistic. Check your numbers.”

“Don’t be naïve. You’re a very naïve person.”

On her comments regarding his crusade for the birther movement: “According to you it’s not true. I don’t know. If you believe that, that’s fine. I don’t care. It’s an old subject.”

“You don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

Continue reading: On his conservative critics

On his conservative critics:

Charles Krauthammer, who called him a “rodeo clown”: He’s “a totally overrated person who dislikes me personally. I’ve never met him. He’s a totally overrated guy, doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

Jonah Goldberg, who said he’s a “failed man who mistook flattery for insight”: “I’m worth a fortune. You know, it’s interesting. I went to the best school, got great marks, everything else. I went out, I made a fortune, a big fortune, a tremendous fortune… bigger than people even understand. I have a book called The Art of the Deal. I do The ApprenticeThe Art of the Deal was like the No.1 business book of all time or just about, I think it was…Then I get called by a guy that can’t buy a pair of pants, I get called names? Give me a break.”

Screenshot: Donald Trump makes no apologies. (NBC News)