The Media are the Goddam Problem

[Suranis]

The Irish Daily Mail has its headline today "Trump rails at Biden's "Facist State!"" And then put what what Biden's spokesman said in response in really small letters.

[Luke]

Subscribe to Resolute Square free from @JoeTrippi @stuartpstevens & @TheRickWilson at https://mailchi.mp/resolutesquare/subscribe-for-free for event invites incl 6/4. RS & @ProjectLincoln are growing media voices to fight against dishonest MAGA Media & defend democracy. Join in!

It's frustrating
Joe Trippi <info@lincoln-project.us> 5:53 PM (24 minutes ago)
to me

Luke,

It’s frustrating.

Mainstream media reporters and political commentators are joining MAGA world in questioning the seriousness of Donald Trump's 34-count conviction is not journalism. It’s more than frustrating; it’s dangerous.

The defacto Republican nominee for the U.S. Presidency was convicted of election interference at the highest level imaginable, and now it’s not only the right-wing media parroting Trump’s lying minimization of the crime. The mainstream media is participating in the Trump-Lies-Echo Chamber.

We have to fight back with a loud, pro-democracy, pro-truth media voice, and that’s exactly what Stuart, Rick, and I are doing with our work at Resolute Square. I have built grassroots movements speaking truth to power with technology before and I know what it will take to fight the MAGA media machine. No billionaire is going to come and save us. It's why I joined the Lincoln Project and why I am so driven to help launch Resolute Square. We need every single one of us to step up and help fight back. We’re incredibly proud to be joined by many others on this pro-democracy media platform, including Simon Rosenberg, Andra Watkins, Steven Beschloss, Teri Kanefield, and David Pepper, to name just a few.

JOIN RESOLUTE SQUARE
You’re also invited to join us for the first of three exclusive by-invitation-only live events. Tuesday evening at 8 PM ET, we’ll be joined by our special guest, Dr. Jennifer Mercieca, author of “Demagogue For President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump.” Dr. Mercieca will help unpack what we’re seeing in the MAGA and mainstream media, explain how we effectively fight back from the White House to your house - and answer your questions. This is a paid member special event, but we’re opening it for free to loyal supporters of the Lincoln Project. Sign up now, and we’ll send you the link to the live event.

The Republican Party has become a machine hellbent on installing an authoritarian strongman and convicted felon who has declared he wants to be a dictator on day one back in the White House. The mainstream media, which should be ensuring every American is aware of Trump’s authoritarian ambitions, is failing us.

This week marks the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, an event that helped secure the defeat of fascism and cemented the cause of democracy. Today, democracy is under its greatest threat since that day. Under a second Trump term, America could become an existential threat to democracies across the world. We can’t let that happen, so we want you to have the tools to fight back effectively.

Please register now to join us Tuesday evening at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT for this first of three essential conversations. We’ll send you all the details and a form to submit your questions for me, Stuart, Rick, and Dr. Jen Mercieca.

And join Resolute Square so you never miss the information you need to do your part - large or small - to save our democracy.

Hope to see you there,

Joe

https://x.com/Orly_licious/status/1797754182180712570

[Dr. Ken]

I'd hardly call them the media but the Epoch Times CFO just got indicted and the indictment is wild...

[W. Kevin Vicklund]

I am left Agape at this news.

[raison de arizona]

https://x.com/DougJBalloon/status/1798382016054071483

Twitter is owned by a fascist, the publisher of the New York Times is openly anti-Biden, CNN is doing Trump town halls, and the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal are run by Murdoch cronies. Here’s why liberal media bias is a problem.

[Suranis]

https://x.com/DougJBalloon/status/1798382016054071483

Twitter is owned by a fascist, the publisher of the New York Times is openly anti-Biden, CNN is doing Trump town halls, and the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal are run by Murdoch cronies. Here’s why liberal media bias is a problem.

How about something that isn't from 2016.

*Looks at the date*

Hang on, that's not from 2016?

[RVInit]

https://x.com/DougJBalloon/status/1798382016054071483

Twitter is owned by a fascist, the publisher of the New York Times is openly anti-Biden, CNN is doing Trump town halls, and the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal are run by Murdoch cronies. Here’s why liberal media bias is a problem.

How about something that isn't from 2016.

*Looks at the date*

Hang on, that's not from 2016?

June 5, 2024. Yes, all the media does is constantly point out Biden's supposed failings and normalize Trump's behavior. It's just like 2016 all over again (except " her emails" has become "his age") , so I can see why the confusion.

[pipistrelle]

I haz a sad about WaPo.

[neonzx]

MSM wants eyeballs and a horse race. How do you think bs commentators earn millions per year?

[raison de arizona]

dear Fox News senior political analyst with more than 1m followers, always check your tabs before taking a screenshot on your iPad

[Foggy]

I suppose we can expect that every word spoken by the quadfectee from this point forward will be amplified by the national media. Except the stupid mistakes, of course. Those will be edited out.

I think they realize that the polling right now is hilariously inaccurate, and Biden is ahead with the electorate, and they are under a lot of pressure to make it a close race.

So they are going to throw this great land of ours under the bus again. For clicks and eyeballs.

I'd like to see some accurate news coverage, but it's hard to find.

[p0rtia]

I've evolved to the position that it's not so much that they cover every word he says, but that they take it seriously.

[RVInit]

Jon Stewart says the media are the goddam problem. As only he can.

[MN-Skeptic]

Sinclair injects deceptive attacks on Biden's age into dozens of local broadcasts

Two outlets controlled by right-wing media tycoons are working in tandem to aggressively push specious claims about President Joe Biden's fitness for office to millions of Americans.

On June 4, the Wall Street Journal published a 3,000-word article questioning Biden's mental acuity. The Wall Street Journal is owned by News Corp, the media conglomerate founded by right-wing billionaire Rupert Murdoch. He stepped down as chairman of the company last year, assuming the role of chairman emeritus. At the time of his retirement, Murdoch promised to continue to be "engaged daily with news and ideas" at the company. (News Corp is now chaired by Rupert Murdoch's son, Lachlan.)

The Wall Street Journal article, headlined “Behind Closed Doors, Biden Shows Signs of Sipping,” boasts that it is based on "interviews with more than 45 people over several months." But only one person is quoted on the record supporting the thesis of the piece: Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). “I used to meet with him when he was vice president. I’d go to his house,” McCarthy told the Wall Street Journal. “He’s not the same person.”

Nevertheless, the Wall Street Journal piece was repackaged by Sinclair Broadcast Group and beamed into the homes of millions of Americans. Sinclair, which is controlled by right-wing media mogul David Smith, owns or operates 185 local television stations across 86 markets.

Sinclair repackaged the Wall Street Journal story through its centralized news team, known as The National Desk. The segment was then pushed to dozens of local news stations owned by Sinclair. Local anchors introduced the piece by reading from a nearly identical script. Again and again, the anchors say that the Wall Street Journal is "out with new reporting calling into question the mental fitness of President Joe Biden," adding that the issue "could be an election decider."

[MN-Skeptic]

Sinclair is pushing back on the report by Aaron Rupar and Judd Legum -

Judd Legum
@JuddLegum

UPDATE: The exposé of @WeAreSinclair that I put together with @atrupar
has garnered millions of views online and on cable TV

Sinclair is NOT HAPPY

In a statement, Sinclair called our reporting "outrageous and offensive."

I call it "accurate"

2. Sinclair injected deceptive attacks on Biden's age into dozens of local news broadcasts. We documented how local affiliates owned by Sinclair promoted a flawed @WSJ story questioning Biden's mental acuity, using the same script

A bit more at the Twitter link https://x.com/JuddLegum/status/1801308731960914124

[raison de arizona]

Word on the street is that a New York Times columnist called on one of the two candidates to drop out of the presidential race. He's an authoritarian felon who inspired a violent mob to attack the Capitol, tried to overturn a democratic election, has been banned from doing business in New York due to fraud—and yet again showcased his loose grip on reality by ranting about sharks.

Oh wait. NYT called on Biden to drop out.

Sorry about the confusion.

h/t Molly Jong-Fast https://x.com/MollyJongFast/status/1801233860228735125
The column and it isn't worth reading so I'm not gifting it: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/11/opin ... raine.html

[pipistrelle]

Word on the street is that a New York Times columnist called on one of the two candidates to drop out of the presidential race. He's an authoritarian felon who inspired a violent mob to attack the Capitol, tried to overturn a democratic election, has been banned from doing business in New York due to fraud—and yet again showcased his loose grip on reality by ranting about sharks.

Oh wait. NYT called on Biden to drop out.

Sorry about the confusion.

h/t Molly Jong-Fast https://x.com/MollyJongFast/status/1801233860228735125
The column and it isn't worth reading so I'm not gifting it: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/11/opin ... raine.html

WaPo had an opinion piece about how dishonest Biden is about Trump.

[MN-Skeptic]

WaPo had an opinion piece about how dishonest Biden is about Trump.

I'm not the only Washington Post reader who, when I see an opinion piece by Marc A. Thiessen, I go straight to the comments on that column because they're much more truthful and fun to read.

[p0rtia]

Also guilty.

[Ben-Prime]

WaPo had an opinion piece about how dishonest Biden is about Trump.

I'm not the only Washington Post reader who, when I see an opinion piece by Marc A. Thiessen, I go straight to the comments on that column because they're much more truthful and fun to read.

See, I just skip anything when I see it's by Theissen. Just like on The Daily Beast, until recently, I skipped anything by Matt Lewis. Lewis' anti-FJT stuff has been good enough that I'm giving him another chance, though.

[pipistrelle]

Also guilty.

Well...

[AndyinPA]

Also, guilty.

Also, I'm pretty sure I saw that over the weekend. I was watching the local Sinclair station, which I usually do not watch because I know it is, and it came on.

[pipistrelle]

Just read enough to know Thiessen worships at the Reagan altar. When will people recognize Reagan was an awful president?

This comment is a pretty good overview:

I sense some desperation in Marc's column - Trump's NOT REALLY a terrible president, I mean, he created Space Force and then did nothing.
He bombed Syria and Iran, don't you dare call him an isolationist (civilian deaths from drone strikes went up over 300% under Trump, but Marc will never tell you that!).
Marc never mentions Trump's handling of COVID, never mentions gassing peaceful protesters for photo op, and he NEVER MENTIONS JANUARY 6th.

[John Thomas8]

[raison de arizona]

How the Associated Press covered it:


How CNN covered it:


Hmm. Both are true. Technically. I suppose. But only one really gives it the flavor it deserves.