There’s a saying that you never serve a drunk an alcoholic drink. CNN didn’t just serve a drunk an alcoholic drink, they tipped Trump up and had him do a keg stand. They funnelled some hard core stuff down his throat.
They knew exactly what they were doing. Bringing in 3.1 million viewers (probably a good portion hate watching), the civil case verdict earlier in the week was the best advertising they couldn’t buy. From what I’ve heard, CNN has turned to be more conservative. I’ve never thought CNN was liberal/left leaning. It was a myth told by conservatives in the 1990s following the end of the Fairness Doctrine to accuse the station of doing just what Fox News has done since 1996.
The news media in the 1980s rolled over and let Ronald Reagan do whatever he wanted until the Iran-Contra Affair proved they couldn’t do it anymore. At it being the same year the Fairness Doctrine ended, many conservatives took offense that Reagan was finally being held accountable for all the problems he had created. All the problems that George H.W. Bush couldn’t fix. All the problems that the Clinton presidency exposed during its first term.
Donald Trump, who carries the distinction of being the only President never to win the popular vote twice and to be impeached twice, held a “town hall meeting” at St. Anselm College in Goffstown, N.H. But there were mostly Republican supporters in attendance with canned pre-approved questions. And much of the town hall was regulated to Trump saying the same things he had said over and over since he left office on Jan. 20, 2021. What exactly did CNN expect?
In many ways, I think CNN chair and CEO Chris Licht is more interested in ratings than he is in news coverage. It’s Network all over again. As long as Trump says the right things, who cares what the message is? Licht used to work at CBS both for CBS This Morning and then for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. His former supervisor, Leslie Moonves famously quipped, “Trump may not be good for America, but he’s good for CBS.”
Licht knew exactly what he was doing, especially by having Katilin Collins try to moderate the meeting. Even though she has a conservative news background, Licht knew Trump would take offense that a woman more than half his age would be there asking her hardball questions. And of course, Trump insults her and calls her “nasty.” As usual, this is his tactic whenever a woman doesn’t fawn all over him.
Trump spewed lies about the 2020 election which time and time again have been proven wasn’t rigged. From what I saw in the highlights, this was the ranting and raving of a delusional man who should have never been given the format, no matter who he is or what he was. I used to deal with people like Trump all the time when I was in the newspaper business. But luckily, they never get pass the local level of politics.
I’ve had county commissioners and city council members get mad that I was asking them the same questions I asked the other candidates. Or it’s some lowly state legislator who’s mad because they can’t attack their challenger for having the audacity of running against them so they go after the media. Most of these people fizzle out before they go on to higher offices. Or at least they did.
Trump has embolden the worst of the worst of politicians to come out speweing the ugly soundbites people who don’t understand the voting process will cheer on. And if we don’t stop it now, it’s only going to get worse. We’re seeing that with Ron DeSantis, Gregg Abott and others. And people like Anderson Cooper can wag their fingers at us and say we should give Trump more of an open mind, but we’ve had to endure him since 2015. We don’t have to have an open mind anymore. We know what he says and what he is capable of.
We know he is a venomous snake. That’s why we leave it alone. CNN didn’t get that memo or they felt that since they were nice to it, it’d be nice to them.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 