Making Lunacy Seem … Normal?

Posted on by under Election 2024, Free Press Issues, Political commentary, Social commentary

Is the upcoming election in the hands of the media?  Sometimes it seems so.  The following piece by Dan Pfeiffer in SubStack gives me food for thought.  Doesn’t the ‘free press’ include the responsibility for truth, for honesty, for unbiased reporting?

Why is the Press Making Trump Seem More Normal?

Believe it or not, much of the political press has an inadvertent pro-Trump bias

By Dan Pfeiffer

07 April 2024

On Thursday morning, Donald Trump was a guest on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show. Hewitt is a one time Never Trump conservative turned obsequious Trump flunkie. The entire show was a strange journey into the rabbit hole that is Donald Trump’s decaying brain. He offered nonsensical answers to semi-substantive, but not particularly probing, questions about abortion, China, and Gaza. He also accused Biden of cheating in golf. Things really went off the rails when Hewitt asked Trump about his challenge to debate Biden anytime, anywhere:

HH: Now you have said you’ll debate him anywhere, anytime. Do you think he’ll agree to any debates?

DJT: Yeah, anywhere, anytime.

HH: Do you think he’ll agree?

DJT: I don’t think so, but I hope he does. I think what happened is you know that white stuff that they happened to find, which happened to be cocaine in the White House, I don’t know, I think something’s going on there, because I watched this State of the Union, and he was all jacked up at the beginning. By the end, he was fading fast. There’s something going on there. I want to debate. And I think debates, with him, at least, should be drug tested. I want a drug test.

HH: Mr. President, are you suggesting President Biden’s using cocaine?

DJT: I don’t know what he’s using, but that was not, hey, he was higher than a kite. And by the way, it was the worst, it was the worst address I’ve ever seen, the State of the Nation. I’ll tell you, State of the Union, that’s not State of the Union, because he doesn’t represent us properly. That, I can tell you. But he’s obviously, he’s being helped in some way, because most of the time, he looks like he’s falling asleep. And all of a sudden, he walked up there and did a poor job. But he was all jacked up.

This is pure insanity, but perhaps the funniest part of the whole thing is that Hewitt just changed the subject and moved on to a series of questions about Trump’s vice presidential selection process.

Yes, a presidential candidate just accused the sitting President of the United States of delivering the State of the Union address while high on cocaine. I’m guessing that unless you listened to the Friday episode of Pod Save America, most of you are learning this information for the first time. And it’s not because you aren’t avid consumers of news. It’s because the traditional political media decided to ignore this outlandish accusation from a clearly deranged and dishonest man (and the next potential President of the United States). The press is aware of the interview. Hewitt is not a MAGA content creator who operates in the dark corners of the internet. He is — bizarrely and unfortunately — a member of the Washington establishment in good standing. The reporters who cover Trump listened to the interview and many wrote stories about his comments on Israel and Gaza, but they made an editorial decision to bury Trump’s insane accusations.

Clearly, Donald Trump accusing Biden of being a cokehead is not the biggest issue in the election. But I think the incident reveals how the press’s coverage of Trump ends up advantaging him and making Biden’s road to reelection that much steeper.

  1. Editing Trump to His Benefit

I do not envy the responsible journalists covering Trump. The man in a non-stop fount of disinformation. He spreads lies and conspiracy theories at a rate no fact checker can monitor. Airing his speeches live or simply quoting what he says risks spreading disinformation. And as we saw during the height of COVID and on January 6th, that disinformation can have tragic consequences. After January 6th, many outlets simply stopped covering Trump all together. Some cable networks refused to air his 2020 victory speeches because they knew he would lie about the legitimacy of the election and much more. For too long the press transmitted Trump’s lies and then people actually died. However, they have gone too far. The press didn’t cover Trump accusing Biden of using cocaine because it was obviously false and they doubt their own ability to persuade their readers. They know that most people don’t click the link and read the article, so it’s easier to ignore. I understand the instinct, but if Trump is dumb and dishonest enough to say Joe Biden delivered the speech while high on cocaine, the public should know. I often have to watch a whole Trump rally to prepare for the podcast, and no one has ever needed an editor more than Trump. The press shouldn’t do that job for Trump because it ends up hiding relevant information from the public.

  1. Inadvertently Normalizing 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 News honcho/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.

  1. A Terrible Double Standard

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.

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19 thoughts on “Making Lunacy Seem … Normal?”

  1. Unconditional support for Biden, because the alternative is beyond worst.

    The trouble is the US doesn’t seem to have any interviewers who are ruthless, abrupt and cleverly disrespectful when the interviewee deserves it.

    Trump should have been harangued with all the drive and backed into a corner over those remarks, never mind how much spluttering he did, and provoked into really losing his cool.

    There’s no time for playing nice in this election, the ones of the Right are not and those on the liberal wing who are critical of Biden seem to have lost perspective and are effectively reading while driving.

    Meanwhile in the UK….

    Liz Truss parties with Farage on his birthday- wotta vote winner for the Conservatives! I kinda feel sorry for Rishi Sunak it must be like trying organise a Unicycle Rally when the only contestants turning up are drunks.

    Liked by 1 person

    • There’s an age-old saying that “Nice guys finish last”. Let us hope that isn’t the case in November, for Biden is the very definition of a ‘nice guy’, even when he takes the gloves off! And Trump is … well, the opposite of nice.

      Ha ha … loved your comment about Rishi Sunak! Quite so! Liz Truss and Nigel Farage? Both are washed-up ‘wannabes’ aren’t they? What next … BoJo makes a comeback??? 🙄

      Liked by 1 person

      • There’s a pretty high casualty rate for the a/holes too.
        Anyone who thinks they have complete control and are always winners are not not reading the fine print in Life’s Contract.

        Bojo is not going away. Before he started playing politics he was well and truly embedded into the ‘Old Boys’ Privileged and ‘Witty Dinner Party Guest’ circuit. He will be guaranteed ‘work’ and gravy train money on the speech circuit.
        Whether he gets back into the professional political role is another matter. There are many of the more solid mature Conservatives who dislike him with a passion. He is a divisive figure.

        Liked by 1 person

        • They just never go away, do they? Boris, Trump, Farage … like bad pennies they keep reappearing. I really (and stupidly, it turns out) thought we were rid of Trump once and for all on January 20th of 2021 when Biden was sworn into office. Boy was I an idiot! 

          Liked by 1 person

          • The moment I saw the results on November 2020 my Conflict Radar started flashing ‘Incoming’. Then the news came in about the brat calling for the counting to stop and scenes of MAGA hysterics trying to break into buildings where votes were being counted.
            At that point I was going into ‘I’d give something to get hysterical about’ and had to calm down somewhere and wait for the inevitable right-wing backlash.
            I wouldn’t call you an idiot at all Jill. Despite all the flaws that go with the nation most Americans (white that is) still hold to and believe Law and Fair play win out.
            In other parts of the world that is a best a ‘Hmmm. Yeah’ and worst a very, very faint hope if any at all.

            Liked by 1 person

            • My “Conflict Radar” was soundly sleeping that night, for despite Trump’s idiotic calls to stop the counting, I was cheering Biden’s win! I still am, in fact, and the line held despite all of Trump’s lunacy in trying to reverse the results. But, I must admit that I am nervous about the upcoming election, for that “line” has been damaged, chiselled at, and the nation is so divided that I can see bloodshed in the streets as a very real possibility whatever the outcome. But thanks for saying you wouldn’t call me an idiot … time will tell, I guess. 

              Liked by 1 person

              • It’s coming up for two years since I wrote this one

                A Spectre to be Exorcised (Communal Violence)

                And have yet to see anything which suggests the post was ‘way off beam’.

                The latest threat, ironically (Because History always nurtures that facet) is coming from the opposite end of the divide, being those who think persistent punishing of Biden over Gaza is going to be productive. What a gift to the MAGA.
                It’s a more dangerous version of Corbyn’s grouping in 2019 who couldn’t have done more for the Conservatives short of voting for them. They are playing with fire here.

                Presidential Election 2024: Why Good Intentions About Palestine Remind Me of Cuba October 1962.

                Returning to the USA horizon and the possibility of Trump getting back into the Whitehouse. You will note from this item there points to very danger of fracture within the USA, and instability.

                https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4582454-former-top-military-officers-push-back-on-trump-immunity-claim/

                Once it is seen some of those once in positions of influence have severe doubts then you can suppose some of those who are currently in those positions have the same doubts. Doubts can then escalate into other more unstable regions.
                From there the situation moves into pro- and anti- groups within the places where general stability and uniformity or at least adherence to the chain of command should be paramount, and not questioned.

                And when that goes public the ‘Deep State’ junkies of either stripe get their ultimate fix and run out into the streets in an excess of gleeful hysteria.

                I feel the need to find a way to get onto one of those very public media forums in the USA and set out a few home truths which we have been talking about long and hard.

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  2. Pingback: Normalizing the abnormal | musingsofanoldfart

  4. Jill, a former editor made a telling comment many years ago. The media is biased toward conflict. This of course is setting aside obvious sources who are more about disinformation than news. The media presents too many issues as 50/50 when they are not. As an independent, yes both parties lie, but it is not a normal distribution with the GOP requiring lying as a price to get your membership card.

    Joe Biden is not perfect, but he is a rational human being who is a good person. Donald Trump is an untruthful, bullying, seditious and sexual assaulting narcissist acting person. As conservative David Brooks defined his White House as “equal parts chaos and incompetence.” I agree.

    Trump is not a rational thinker. He tells us things he did that just did not happen. He recently told us he consoled a victim’s family. The family said he made no such contact. While president, standing next to the Pakistani president, he said he was asked by the PM of India to broker a peace agreement between the two countries over Kashmir. Within the hour, India released a press announcement that no such request was made of Trump.

    Keith

    Liked by 2 people

    • PS – One of my favorite quotes from American hero Cassidy Hutchinson’s book “Enough” about her days in the White House is Trump told a group of people “I cannot tell people I lost, so go change it.” Please re-read that quote which means I am not man enough to admit I lost, so go cheat for me to change the outcome.

      Just one month earlier, Trump’s niece Mary said “My uncle will burn it all down to avoid losing the election.” Mary Trump’s quote was prophetic, but in her mind it was not a huge stretch to believe her weak-minded uncle would do this.

      Keith

      Liked by 2 people

      • Agreed … that quote stuck in my mind as well. He is a coward … he hires others to do his dirty work for him and he is … for lack of a better phrase … a spoiled brat who simply cannot handle loss in any fashion. I’ll never forget reading about how as a young lad in boarding school, he was playing a board game with friends, and got angry at one of them and tried to shove him out of a 2nd story window! And this is the ‘man’ who some would choose to lead this nation???? It still blows my mind.

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    • Thank you, Keith! YES … you are exactly right. That ‘moral equivalency’ or whatever it’s called, where they try to present issues as 50-50 when, in some cases, it is more 99-1 is misleading and a disservice to the public. As a longtime supporter of a free press, I am highly offended by their games to try to increase their readership and advertising dollars at the expense of our nation’s future. 

      No politician is, or ever will be, perfect. They must make snap decisions without having all the facts, and they must rely heavily on information gathered by others, so it’s inevitable that there will be misjudgments and mistakes. But President Biden at least has the intellect and concern to try to assimilate the information at hand and make a reasonable judgement call that is based on facts, not on emotion, bigotry, or retaliation as Trump would do.

      I still have enough faith in the people of this country, in general, that I think Biden will get more votes in November than Trump will. What I do NOT have faith in, however, is our system. Hillary Clinton got nearly 3 million more votes than Trump in 2016, but the Electoral College system handed the presidency to Donald Trump. I can easily see that happening again. PLUS … every single day I see news about a new attempt in one state or another to disenfranchise certain voters, or to purge voter rolls, or some other form of removing or reducing voting rights. If Trump wins, it will be through a series of systemic failures. We must NOT allow that to happen!

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  5. We have to turn off MSM, permanently. They dish out bullshit every single day trying to make it sound like “news”. No-one is paying to the election news or polls except for the 30% of the population that follows it this closely; and that includes both parties.

    Marshall McLuhan was right; the media IS the message. (The Mechanical Bride, Marshall McLuhan)

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Biden looked completely confused on the BBC News recently, and hardly seemed to know where he was or what he was supposed to be saying. Trump is ignorant in the extreme, and has the attention span of a goldfish. To be perfectly honest, and speaking as a foreigner, I don’t think the ‘Free World’ is safe in the hands of either of them.

    Best wishes, Pete.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Well, those are the two choices and just looking at the track records of each, and considering their views, values, and ethics, I’d say the world is a whole lot safer with President Biden sitting in the Oval Office than the other guy.

      Liked by 1 person

    • This is one of those times. Right now I don’t see anyone who fills me with Hope and Confidence for the Future.

      However I also see Trump, Putin, Xi Jinping, Netanyahu and Ebrahim Raisi of Iran- to name but a few, with Trump being the very least in ability, the ‘comic’ turn of the pack.

      And then you have Democracy. And there are times when you make the least worse choice, as you see it. And then hope you got it right.

      Liked by 2 people

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