Donald Trump’s Attacks On The Media Are Irresponsible And Irrational

Donald Trump has spent more time recently attacking the news media than anything else. He ought to be condemned for it.

donald-trump-microphone

Donald Trump is spending more time lately attacking the media than attacking his opponent or promoting his own campaign:

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is taking an even sharper aim at one of its biggest foes — the news media.

In recent days, Trump and his campaign have slammed the media harder than ever. The candidate labeled reporters the “lowest form of humanity” in Pennsylvania on Friday and claimed that the media is piling on him and doing the bidding of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

(…)

The barbs come after a week in which Trump asserted that President Obama is the “founder” of the Islamic State militant group, a false claim he intensified and then backed away from by deeming it sarcasm. He also appeared to encourage gun owners to take action if Clinton is elected and appoints judges who favor gun control. Trump also saw his poll numbers drop — a Washington Post-ABC News poll released last Sunday showed that Clinton has widened her lead to eight points over Trump nationally. A Wall Street Journal-NBC News-Marist poll released Friday shows that Clinton has opened a wide lead over Trump in the battleground states of Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia. Trump also trails Clinton in Florida, according to the poll.

“I’m not running against crooked Hillary Clinton,” Trump said in Fairfield, Conn., on Saturday night. “I’m running against the crooked media.”

Trump’s campaign has recently started emailing stories and screen shots of websites overlaid with the words “media bias offender” in large red letters.

In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” that aired Sunday, Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort claimed that the media, and interviewer Jake Tapper, deliberately did not cover a speech Trump made on economic policy last week and instead focused on attacking and undermining him. Manafort said that only local media covered Trump’s rallies in swing states the past week and that the media did not report on newly released emails that provided additional evidence that Clinton Foundation donors got access at the State Department. Clinton also made an economic policy speech in Michigan last week.

“The media chose to take her, Clinton — the Clinton campaign narrative — and go on attack on Donald Trump,” Manafort said. “Donald Trump in the course of this week was very substantive.”

Tapper said Manafort’s claims that CNN did not cover Trump’s economic speech or the release of the new Clinton emails are patently false.

“These things, just because you say them, they’re not — they’re not true,” Tapper said.

Tapper pointed out that it wasn’t just the news media that questioned Trump’s claims about gun owners and Clinton, but also fellow Republicans and Trump supporters. Manafort chided him for covering that story for days and spending only one day on Trump’s economic policy speech.

“Mr. Trump bears no responsibility for his campaign being off-message?” Tapper asked.

Manafort said Trump’s point about the Second Amendment is that people who support gun rights should be concerned about Clinton’s candidacy.

“It was not meant at all to be a threat,” Manafort said.

As with most claims about “media bias” Trump’s complaints are largely utter nonsense. Contrary to his campaign’s claims, for example, Trump’s economic policy speech last Monday in Detroit was covered extensively both before and after it occurred by both CNN and MSNBC, and it was broadcast live on both networks with only minimal interruption. It was Donald Trump who, a day later, stepped all over his own news cycle when he made his comment that ‘Second Amendment people’ could stop a President Hillary Clinton from appointing judges with the ‘wrong’ view of the Second Amendment, a line which many interpreted as suggesting that someone might want to consider shooting Clinton either before or after she was elected. A day after that, he was calling President Obama and Hillary Clinton the “Founders” of ISIS and insisted that he was being literal when he did so, only to turn around two days later and claim that he was being sarcastic the entire time and that it’s the news media’s fault for not realizing that. By the end of the week, he was asserting that the only way he was going to lose Pennsylvania, where polling currently places him behind Hillary Clinton well outside the margin of error, is if the Clinton campaign cheated. In the midst of all that, Trump was battered by reports nearly every day last week about new polls showing him falling further and further behind Clinton nationally and in battleground states, as well as reports from inside the campaign about Trump’s own unwillingness to do what needs to be done to run a competent, professional campaign. At least in the past week it was Trump himself, and his campaign, that managed to step all over the news cycle with outrageous, stupid, and baseless comments that provided an opening to the Clinton campaign and his critics, and it was Trump himself who doubled down on those comments, especially the comment about President Obama being the founder of ISIS, even when given the opportunity to restate what he meant in a more reasonable manner, and this past week is typical of how things have gone for Trump since becoming the Republican nominee.

All of this is nothing new, of course. Complaints about so-called ‘media bias’ have been common on the right for some forty years and, while there has been some substance to some of the complaints that reporters and news organizations have not given entirely fair coverage to conservative and Republican candidates, for the most part most of the complaints about bias end up being complaints that the news media reported something that actually happened that made the GOP look bad. What differentiates Trump’s brand of the ‘media bias’ argument different, though, is that there is clearly a far more vindictive and confrontational tone to his comments about the press than you typically hear from politicians and pundits on the right. Several times over the past year, for example, Trump has banned certain news organizations, including Buzzfeed, The Des Moines Register, and The Washington Post from receiving credentials to cover Trump campaign events. During his speeches he frequently refers to the reporters that are in the room with him as “disgusting” to the point where several reporters have reported Trump supporters turning their anger on individual reporters, who have often had to be escorted out of Trump events at their conclusion by police or Secret Service agents. More than one of these reporters has reported feeling as if they were in danger from the crowd due to Trump’s violent rhetoric. It’s enough to make one wonder how he would act toward the media in the exceedingly unlikely event that he were to become President.

This behavior by Trump should not be tolerated, of course. It’s one thing to complain about what you think might be unfair media coverage, or for a Presidential candidate or his campaign to push back on what they think is unfair coverage. It is quite another to ban reporters and entire news organizations from your events and engage in rhetoric that encourages your supporters to appear to threaten members of the media. This is especially true for a candidate who would not be where he is today if it were not for the free media coverage he has gotten from all three cable news networks over the course of the past year.

FILED UNDER: *FEATURED, 2016 Election, US Politics, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. CSK says:

    Trump is playing to his fan club. They love this kind of talk. And obviously, Trump would rather attack the press than talk about issues, which he knows nothing of anyway.

    It pains me that there are so many in this country who’ve been seduced by this walking talking grotesquerie.

  2. Andrew says:

    Donald Trump Is Irresponsible And Irrational And Boring.

    FTFY.

  3. Dave Schuler says:

    Donald Trump’s Attacks On The Media Are Irresponsible And Irrational

    So, consistent with his campaign to date then?

  4. grumpy realist says:

    Yup, standard behavior of a narcissist. “I can’t possibly be failing, therefore they’re out to get me!”

  5. Jen says:

    This is a fairly standard refrain from Republicans who complain that the media focuses on the controversial stuff rather than news (in other words, what they wish the media would focus on). The difference, of course, is that Trump stomps all over his own news cycles and then gets mad when the media reports whatever boneheaded thing he’s just said. So he’s parroting the standard media-bias line without admitting his own role in generating negative pieces.

    He seems to me to be coming unglued. Despite Manafort’s exhortations that all is well, this ship is taking on water rapidly.

  6. Pete S says:

    Donald Trump’s Attacks On The Media Are Irresponsible And Irrational

    Let’s be honest here, Trump’s supporters have absolutely less than zero interest in responsibility and rationality in their heroes.

  7. CSK says:

    @Pete S:

    I was thinking that–that they really love the fact that he’s irresponsible and irrational. They boast that they see themselves in him.

  8. al-Alameda says:

    All of this is nothing new, of course. Complaints about so-called ‘media bias’ have been common on the right for some forty years and, while there has been some substance to some of the complaints that reporters and news organizations have not given entirely fair coverage to conservative and Republican candidates, for the most part most of the complaints about bias end up being complaints that the news media reported something that actually happened that made the GOP look bad.

    This … above … is what it’s all about.
    Republicans have been playing the “media bias’ card for decades now, it’s second nature. They even play the ‘media bias’ card when things are going well, as in, ‘despite liberal media bias, the people are getting the word …’ stuff like that.

  9. Scott says:

    I always told my children that the phrase “its not fair” is my least favorite phrase. It is one thing coming from 4th graders but from adults it is intolerable. Trump is not running for “Whiner-in-Chief”.

  10. J-Dub says:

    @Jen:

    Despite Manafort’s exhortations that all is well

    Like Kevin Bacon’s character at the end of Animal House.

  11. J-Dub says:

    @Scott:

    Trump is not running for “Whiner-in-Chief”.

    Has anyone told him that?

  12. cian says:

    As crazy this election cycle is, its not nearly as crazy as it’s going to get. Apparently Ivana Trump is on holidays in Europe and has sent a snapchat photo of herself and Rupert Murdock’s ex enjoying the sights of Dubrovnik. Rupert’s ex is Putin’s present girlfriend (can this possibly be true?). That’s how small and nasty the world is for these people, and to think that 16 million plus Americans still believe this charlatan of a candidate cares what happens in their lives.

  13. James Pearce says:

    “I’m not running against crooked Hillary Clinton,” Trump said in Fairfield, Conn., on Saturday night. “I’m running against the crooked media.”

    I encourage Trump to continue behaving as if this is true…

    (Still, it’s pretty ironic that Trump is complaining about the media now, after all the call-ins and the interviews with Anderson Cooper at Trump Tower.)

  14. Neil Hudelson says:

    “I’m not running against crooked Hillary Clinton,” Trump said in Fairfield, Conn., on Saturday night. “I’m running against the crooked media.”

    You may scoff at this strategy, but come November 8th I can all but guarantee you that more votes are cast for Trump than for “the Media.”

  15. C. Clavin says:

    Trump is nothing more than a spoiled little child.
    The idea that this man could actually do the job of POTUS is laughable.
    And dangerous.

  16. Gavrilo says:

    This is an attempt to stop the bleeding. I think the Trump has been hemorrhaging support from his hardcore base since the RNC. The Trump campaign is now trying to shift the focus away from Trump’s monumentally stupid statements to the biased media that’s just out to get him. It’s a sign of desperation, but it might work. I’ve noticed some of the hardcore Trumpkins on social media, who’ve been pretty quiet the past few weeks, are starting to parrot the biased media talking points.

    Trump is on his way to a crushing defeat.

  17. Franklin says:

    For anybody who doesn’t already know (for example, Trump), this is basically how the media works these days:

    A story gets written. If it gets clicks on the Internet, it gets promoted, which leads to more clicks. If it doesn’t, the story “disappears” (in the vernacular of media bashers). Most of this is done automatically, even some of the story-writing part.

    So if there’s anybody to blame, it’s the end users who choose to click or not click on a particular headline. And let’s face it, people love to watch a train wreck.

  18. CSK says:

    Oh, this is rich. Trump is asking his fan club to take an online “Media Accountability Survey.” When they complete it, they’re asked to donate $2500 in order “to stop the mainstream media.”

  19. DrDaveT says:

    On what basis can a self-declared libertarian label anyone’s actions, of any kind, “irresponsible”? What source of obligation, or definition of responsibility, could you be appealing to?

  20. grumpy realist says:

    @CSK: Anything to divert from the fact that his campaign manager ended up on the list of “people to pay large sums to” of the Ukrainian pro-Russian political establishment.

    (oh, and the pro-Ukranian plank of the Republican Party platform was toned down considerably. Surprise, surprise.)

  21. Kylopod says:

    One of the basic problems is that Trump is running as if he’s still in the primaries. He’s playing to the base of the party and making no effort to expand his coalition. That should be obvious by now, but it’s important to reflect on why. He ran in the primaries doing what he does while virtually everyone in the mainstream–pundits, politicians, and others–loudly insisted there was no way he would ever capture the nomination. Therefore, he’s inclined not to listen when he hears people tell him that what he’s doing isn’t an effective way to win. If they were so wrong about the primaries, why should he heed the same people’s advice now?

    So it doesn’t matter how much people say that primary elections and general elections are totally different animals, and that what works in one won’t necessarily work in the other. The people who said he couldn’t win the primaries have lost credibility in his eyes and in the eyes of his supporters, and therefore they just assume his instincts on how to win must be flawless. That’s why he’s caught doing ridiculously pointless things like setting up campaign operations in New Jersey.

    It isn’t only in Trump-land where you find this attitude. It’s reflected in things like Michael Moore’s recent prediction that Trump will win by eating into white working class support in supposedly safe Rust Belt states, and while Moore is himself an attention-seeking blowhard, I’ve been hearing variations on this argument incessantly on both the left and right for months. There’s this tendency for people in awe of Trump’s unanticipated rise in the primaries to shut their brain downs and just assume he has some kind of endless magical ability to break all the rules and win, suggesting (implicitly or otherwise) that anyone who thinks differently is just as much in denial as they were when they said he couldn’t win the nomination. It’s almost a Pavlovian reaction, where they just utter phrases like “Rust Belt!” and “white working class!” and drool, without bothering to look for evidence that these factors are producing the results they assume. When governed by that sort of thinking, Trump has no incentive to adjust.

  22. Tony W says:

    In retrospect Palin’s lack of vetting was nothing.

    I can’t wait for the upcoming HBO special documentary on the Trump campaign.

  23. Jen says:

    @Tony W: I have been saying the same, but I wonder if his campaign workers had to sign the same sort of “keep yer mouth shut” agreements that he forces his regular employees to sign before going to work for him…I will be sad if the threat of legal action denies us an avalanche of “inside the Trump campaign” tell-all books/movies/etc.

  24. Jenos Idanian says:

    Contrary to his campaign’s claims, for example, Trump’s economic policy speech last Monday in Detroit was covered extensively both before and after it occurred by both CNN and MSNBC, and it was broadcast live on both networks with only minimal interruption.

    I don’t visit this site too much any more. Could anyone post a link to Doug’s article about Trump’s economic policy speech?

  25. al-Alameda says:

    @Jenos Idanian:

    I don’t visit this site too much any more. Could anyone post a link to Doug’s article about Trump’s economic policy speech?

    Show some initiative – blame Obama for not providing the link.

  26. MarkedMan says:

    I think talking about Trump’s ‘strategy’ with respect to the media is a category error. Doug got it right in his headline when he described it as ‘irrational’. The more I see of Trump the more I suspect that he ends up in a battle with whoever is in front of him and then, due to his logorrhea*, feels driven to publicly attack them. Before the convention he was around Republican leadership and he went after Ryan and McCain and a number of others. Now his eyes have landed on the Media and he is attacking them. Hillary is being smart in keeping her attacks on Trump steady but non-melodramatic (which admittedly, along with ‘mildly boring’, describes Hillary to a “T”).

    *Medical Definition of logorrhea. : pathologically excessive and often incoherent talkativeness or wordiness that is characteristic especially of the manic phase of bipolar disorder.

  27. Mu says:

    The media gave Trump a billion dollar of free air time, expecting him to bring in a billion dollar in ads. Now Trump isn’t paying up, and the gloves have come off. And he doesn’t get that there is actual business behind the media.

  28. C. Clavin says:

    @Jenos Idanian:
    Could anyone post a link to Doug’s article about Trump’s economic policy speech?
    You can simply refer to any article about Republican Economic theory from the last thirty years…because it’s all the same pablum…and Trump is all in on protecting the rich folks money and leaving the middle and lower classes with bubkis.
    So go ahead…vote against your interests again. And then complain about the economy that results. Fool.

  29. James Pearce says:

    @Jenos Idanian:

    Could anyone post a link to Doug’s article about Trump’s economic policy speech?

    What is there to say about it? It wasn’t a very good or interesting speech, and it was overshadowed by Trump’s typical behavioral issues. If you want a few more paragraphs on it, let me know….I’ll e-mail it to you.

  30. Unsympathetic says:

    @Jenos Idanian:

    Trump did his best to deliver an “Economic Policy Speech.”

    Unfortunately, his actual “policy” consists of taking money from Russia and a mishmash of lies better known as standard Tea Party rhetoric.

    If he’s the best you’ve got, strap in for years of irrelevance.

    I’m not even sure Trump represents the GOP economic plan — the national leadership is planning to pull the plug on Trump’s funds, just like Haley Barbour did to Bob Dole in 1996.

  31. CSK says:

    @grumpy realist:

    Manafort got $12.7 million, to be precise. I wonder what Trump got. No wonder he doesn’t want to release his tax returns.

  32. David M says:

    It is amusing that our resident troll would be the one who is confused how this works:

    Media: now for our report on Trumps economic speech from—-
    Trump: 2nd Amendment folks, when are you taking out Hillary?
    Media: BREAKING!!!!

    Media: now for our report on the Clinton Foundat—-
    Trump: Obama Founded ISIS
    Media: BREAKING!!!!

    Media: We now bring you this policy proposa—-
    Trump: Abolish the 1st Amendment
    Media: BREAKING!!!!

  33. Scott F. says:

    But, you see, Trump and his supporters are absolutely certain that Hillary isn’t just wrong on policy, but that she’s evil.

    So, if reporters are reaching a different conclusion, they must not be doing it right.

    It really is as simple as that.

  34. grumpy realist says:

    I bet that Trump’s run for POTUS is nothing more than Round II of this.

  35. grumpy realist says:

    And if I were running for POTUS right now and were a billionaire with a value of $10B, I’d be donating a million or two to Louisiana to help with all the dispossessed people and the flooding.

    (Just donated $100 to Cajun Paws.)

  36. Just 'nutha ig'rant cracker says:

    @James Pearce: I don’t think it’s ironic at all; it’s just business as usual. “Look, I see and remember all of your past achievements and efforts, but that all happened in the past; what’s really important is what did you do for me today?”

  37. Just 'nutha ig'rant cracker says:

    @DrDaveT: The responsibility to behave the way that I want you to?

    Don’t misunderstand, I see your point, but there is an alternative view…

  38. Kylopod says:

    @Jenos Idanian:

    Could anyone post a link to Doug’s article about Trump’s economic policy speech?

    In case you haven’t noticed, Doug does not generally write posts on policy; he writes on the horse race and on his judgment of the character and temperament of the candidates. He hasn’t written much on Clinton’s (many) policy speeches either, but he’s written plenty about the email controversy.

  39. Just 'nutha ig'rant cracker says:

    @Jenos Idanian: You’ve been absent? Funny, I hadn’t noticed.

  40. James Pearce says:

    @Jenos Idanian: Trump just gave a speech on foreign policy. He continues to blame the US government for ISIS’s worst atrocities.

    Let us all hope he says something stupid again so no one talks about this speech, too….

  41. Neil Hudelson says:

    @Jenos Idanian:

    Did every conservative in the nation take a long ride on the whaaaambulance? I took a look at the articles at your old digs, and they didn’t cover his speech either. Two posts claiming Hillary was in poor physical health, but nothing about Trump’s speech.

    Anyway, you were complaining that bloggers didn’t cover the topics you were interested in in a manner you favored. Please, continue.

    Also, while were at it, Doug, I’m really tired of the lack of cooking and baking posts on this site. It’s something I’m interested in, and while I could just go write on my own blog, I’d rather complain to you about your lack of ouput on this subject.

  42. Andrew says:

    @Scott F.:

    So, if reporters are reaching a different conclusion, they must not be doing it right.

    Same reasoning (or lack there of) behind the flat-earthers who want kids to learn how the earth is not round, or the people that think Jesus rode a T-Rex and want that taught. Or any idea that is not grounded at all in reality.

    Unhinged people think the world is upside down, and they seem to be surround by a$$holes. Except, they themselves are the anuses.

    People that think the economy is run like a normal check book, or how lowering taxes on the billionaires or trickle down economics is a good idea.

    Stubborn, Pig-headed, unhinged, delusional people.

    Think for myself?! Why? Trump says everything I want to say!

  43. Jenos Idanian says:

    If “taking money from Russia” is now a Bad Thing, someone better tell Hillary that her campaign manager took a bundle from Russia, and the Clinton Foundation took about $145 million as part of a deal to help Russia corner the US uranium supply.

    I guess that “RESET” button Hillary gave Putin actually said “BUY NOW.”

  44. Jen says:

    @Jenos Idanian:

    1) Campaign chairman, not campaign manager. There is a difference.

    2) He didn’t “take a bundle” — he sat on a board of a company that develops fuel out of waste CO2, which received money.

    3) An awful lot of places, including MIT, received that “warning” letter from the FBI. It was a smart heads-up/CYA letter–it does not mean that the recipients had done anything wrong.

  45. anjin-san says:

    In other news…

    Giuliani Claims There Were No Terror Attacks On US Soil Before Obama

    Janos – Do you have Rudy’s back?

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rudy-giuliani-forgets-sept-11-donald-trump

  46. Neil Hudelson says:

    @Jenos Idanian:

    If “taking money from Russia” is now a Bad Thing

    When Jenos immediately changes the subject, it usually means he really felt the spanking commentors just laid down.

    I honestly think this is how every exchange with Jenos goes down.

    Jenos: *Man, that Breitbart/Ace-of-Spades/Limbaugh quote is noice. I’ve examined it from every possible angle (mine), and there’s no way the OTB commentors are going to outfox me this time. Alright, here we go…

    “TRUMP IS LOSING BECAUSE THE LAMESTREAM MEDIA REFUSES TO COVER HIS SPEECH!”

    Commentors: *Logically explains why Jenos is a complete moron.*

    Jenos: *Does not compute! How can this be happening again!? AHH!*

    “HILLARY’S CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN, WHO I THINK IS THE SAME THING AS A CAMPAIGN MANAGER, IS SECRETLY TAKING BRIBES FROM RUSSIA!”

    *Ah, well done again, Jenos my man. I bet no one even noticed my smooth transition to a more comfortable topic.*

  47. James Pearce says:

    @Jenos Idanian:

    If “taking money from Russia” is now a Bad Thing, someone better tell Hillary that her campaign manager took a bundle from Russia, and the Clinton Foundation took about $145 million as part of a deal to help Russia corner the US uranium supply.

    Sounds like an issue her opponent could have exploited, if he didn’t have so many personality issues, that is.

  48. wr says:

    @Just ‘nutha ig’rant cracker: “@Jenos Idanian: You’ve been absent? Funny, I hadn’t noticed.”

    Yeah, he tends to run off and sulk like this when he gets his butt kicked for posting obviously moronic lies over and over again. Then he comes back pretending that nothing ever happened. Enjoy it while it lasts.

  49. grumpy realist says:

    @Jen: That reminds me, I have to go talk to the local FBI flunky to let her yammer at me about Chinese spying….

  50. grumpy realist says:

    @anjin-san: Especially amusing since Giuliani was nicknamed “Mr. 9-11 and a verb”.

  51. Andre Kenji says:

    @Kylopod: Trump´s biggest appeal is his appeal to White Identity and to Male Identity. He can´t appeal to Women and Minorities and not alienate his base. In this sense, he is not different from McGovern and Mondale.

  52. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @grumpy realist: Thanx. My youngest and his animals may well be among those you help. (haven’t heard from him since sat. when the water was lapping at his door)

  53. CSK says:

    Has Mr. “I’m Worth $10 Billion Dollars” Trump offered to send any relief to Louisiana? Has he taken time out from whining to even mention it? Is he, in fact, aware that it’s happening?

    Come on, Donald. You’re allegedly on the side of the little guy. Show us what you’re made of and step up to the plate.

    I suspect he’s not even aware that Louisiana is drowning.

  54. grumpy realist says:

    @CSK: If Trump actually has the value he claims he does, he should be bringing in at least 2-4%/year. $1M is a portion of a percent of that.

    The problem of defining your worth by your feelings: if you do an analysis of (income/year)/(capital), it will turn out that Trump is an unbelievably crappy financial manager.

    Are we surprised?

  55. CSK says:

    @grumpy realist:

    Nope, we’re not surprised in the least. All you have to know about Trump’s management ability and financial acumen is the fact that he bankrupted the Eastern Airline shuttle (Boston-New York-Washington) in three years. Started in 1962, it was running regularly and profitably till 1989, when Mr. Genius bought it. I took that flight many times. Trust me, no one using it on a regular basis wanted gold emergency door openers, or gold toilet fixtures. They just wanted to get to New York or Washington in 45-50 minutes and not have to pay a king’s ransom to do so.

    He bought it for $10 million and lost $100 million on it when it folded.

  56. grumpy realist says:

    @CSK: That’s the same airplane fleet that Trump wanted to have lined in marble.

    I kid you not.

    So that’s a “no, no knowledge of aerodynamics” as well….

  57. grumpy realist says:

    @grumpy realist: Ah, my mistake. Not lined in marble. He simply wanted the sinks in the lavatories to be marble.

  58. Thor thormussen says:

    MarkedMan–he’s been attacking The Media nonstop for a year. He knows that republicans are programmed to bark at that word, like so many others.

  59. CSK says:

    @grumpy realist:

    Yes, and no aeronautical engineer in the world could convince him that this was not a good idea, that planes have to weigh as little as possible commensurate with safety.

    I recall the Boston departure lounge for Trump Airlines, as he insisted on calling it. Free copies of every magazine in the world, when all you want to do is get on and off the plane as quickly as possible unencumbered. Free this, free that. Except it wasn’t free.

    That was a very efficient, very low cost operation when Eastern was running it. Sorry it’s gone.

  60. Jenos Idanian says:

    Campaign chairman, campaign manager — my bad; I was too busy dodging sniper fire in Tuzla to double-check my comment. Regardless of title, Podesta’s a long-term member of the Clinton cabal.

    And why should I defend Guiliani? I don’t bother defending Trump, I just point out when the bullshit about him hits critical mass. I follow the local custom — “never defend, always attack” — and keep bringing up the unpleasant details about The Smartest And Most Qualified Woman In The World that no one here wants to acknowledge.

    But back on topic — Trump is treating the mainstream leftist media as a hostile force. This is something that Good Republicans are not supposed to do — Romney didn’t, McCain didn’t, George W. Bush didn’t, and each was thoroughly savaged by that media in their campaigns. Trump is refusing to play his scripted part.

    And again, I’m truly impressed by so many people here’s ability to ignore the bad things Hillary’s done because you’re so verklempt over some bad thing Trump says. The triumph of style over substance writ large.

  61. Tyrell says:

    Politicians blaming the news media is nothing new. Think about Spiro Agnew, Nixon, and many others. I have a different criticism of the main line news networks that I will briefly outline here. Most of the mainline news is slanted propaganda.
    The news networks seem to ignore the important issues and create diversions.
    Professional journalism and objective reporting is scarce these days. How often I turn on the television at 6:30 in the evening and fondly recall the days of Conkrite and Brinkley. Now we see blantant favoritism, and the moderators hollaring and disrespectful of their guests ! Sad.
    I now get most of my news from other sources, including magazines, radio, and internet.

  62. Just 'nutha ig'rant cracker says:
  63. Just 'nutha ig'rant cracker says:

    @Tyrell: I, too remember the days of Cronkite and Brinkley (and even remember when Huntley was on the show, too. But I don’t remember them featuring interviews with guests. Perhaps you’re not actually watching the variety of news show that you remember so fondly. Maybe you are watching pseudo-news interview shows instead of the nightly news reports from the major networks.

    Helpful hint: if you are not watching a show titled *[Name of Network] Evening News* you have no reasonable expectation that it will be like what you remember. Additionally, this correction may not work if the name of the network is FOX NEWS, CNN, or MSNBC.

    You’ve made this comment on two different threads in the past two days, so I became concerned that you may misunderstand what has happened. If you’re just doing “old man shouting at the ‘young hoodlums’ on his lawn, I apologize for interrupting your rant,

  64. Chris M says:

    @Tyrell: I would respectfully submit that Fowler and Patrick (and Reagan) should have probably thought about the long-term consequences when they trashed the Fairness Doctrine. Of course, I doubt any of them could have envisioned a world where Donald Trump was their party’s nominee for president.

  65. James Pearce says:

    @Jenos Idanian:

    And again, I’m truly impressed by so many people here’s ability to ignore the bad things Hillary’s done because you’re so verklempt over some bad thing Trump says.

    More e-mail server crap? Or did you have something else in mind?

  66. grumpy realist says:

    @Jenos Idanian: Look, a lot of us will readily admit that Hillary isn’t really our cup of tea. I was for Bernie myself, if you remember.

    It’s just that Trump is so mind-boggingly ghastly that there’s no real comparison.

    (P.S. And what’s with this “Hillary is in bad health” meme? Anyone who wants to start that sort of rumor should first be forced to have a colonoscopy, or if female, a pelvic exam.)

  67. Paul L. says:

    Let’s ask the Duke Lacrosse players/rapists how fairly they were treated by the NY times.

  68. DrDaveT says:

    @Jenos Idanian:

    And again, I’m truly impressed by so many people here’s ability to ignore the bad things Hillary’s done because you’re so verklempt over some bad thing Trump says.

    And again, I challenge you to do what you have so far refused to do: list all of Hillary’s worst faults or risks, then score Trump on those same criteria, on the same scale.

  69. Mikey says:

    @DrDaveT: The key here is Trump has no political experience on which he can be judged. Clinton has served as Secretary of State, a position with ample opportunities for both excellence and error.

    Now, if we judge Trump on what he actually has done, in business, we see failure after failure after failure, multiple lawsuits for racial discrimination, a current case for defrauding people out of multiple tens of thousands of dollars…and if you include his one political instance, his current campaign, you can add yet another abominably-managed disaster to the list.

    And then of course there are Trump’s myriad of statements that indicate he would be the most Godawful disaster as President our nation has ever seen, statements for which Mrs. Clinton has absolutely no parallel (thank goodness).

    And when it comes down to it, I fervently hope that if someone were to judge my life, I would be judged on things I’ve done and not merely on what I’ve said.

  70. anjin-san says:

    @Jenos Idanian:

    Trump is refusing to play his scripted part

    True that. Nobody in the GOP had scripted him to take a flamethrower to the Republican Party, day in and day out.

    How’s your Trump fetish working out anyway – have you seen his numbers among millennials? I’m surprised that no one at the RNC has thrown themselves out of a window yet.

  71. Jen says:

    @grumpy realist:

    And what’s with this “Hillary is in bad health” meme?

    I’ve noticed this too–it’s been around for a while, but seems to have kicked into high gear recently with Drudge posting that 6-month-old photo of her tripping on steps. Trump worked it into his speech yesterday, saying that she isn’t “physically or mentally fit” to be president. This, from a man who issued the World’s Most Comical health statement and appears to eat an awful lot of junk food.

    I’m in my mid-40s and I’ve slipped on occasion too–flat on my backside last winter on some ice.

    I think we’re at the “spaghetti noodle” phase of the Trump campaign: throw any accusation or suggestion out there and see if it sticks.

  72. C. Clavin says:

    In yesterdays yyuuuge foeign policy speech Trump said:

    “Those who do not believe in our Constitution, or who support bigotry and hatred, will not be admitted for immigration into the country.”

    Looks like Trump and his followers will have to self-deport.

  73. Mikey says:

    @Jen:

    seems to have kicked into high gear recently with Drudge posting that 6-month-old photo of her tripping on steps

    There’s also a forged medical report making the rounds on the Right, and a doctored video that purportedly shows Mrs. Clinton having a seizure, despite the fact she continues smiling and talking and keeps a firm grip on her coffee, things I can assure everyone do not happen when someone actually has a seizure.

    The more of this nonsense I see, the more convinced I am that the American Right is not only completely disconnected from reality, but entirely uninterested in re-connecting.

  74. CSK says:

    @Jen:

    Jen, yes, the campaign workers are forced to sign non-disclosure agreements. I don’t know how enforceable they are.

    It’s interesting that one of the first people to reTweet the news about Paul Manafort’s pay-off was…Cory Lewandowski.

  75. Tyrell says:

    @Just ‘nutha ig’rant cracker: Those are good points. The “interview” type of news programs have degenerated so much that I avoid them. They harangue, insult, and hollar at their guests. I do remember Conkrite, Brinkley, and others talking with important people. They showed respect and calm.
    Back then there were a lot of good field reporters. I remember the amazing Charles Kuralt and his “on the road” programs. He could find an interesting story literally out in the middle of nowhere.

  76. Lynn says:

    @Scott F.: “But, you see, Trump and his supporters are absolutely certain that Hillary isn’t just wrong on policy, but that she’s evil.”

    And that view dates back to 1992, when she said “I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession which I entered before my husband was in public life.”

  77. michael reynolds says:

    @Neil Hudelson:

    Also, while were at it, Doug, I’m really tired of the lack of cooking and baking posts on this site.

    GBBO (the Great British Bake-Off) comes back to BBC 1 on August 24. ( I’ll be getting it via YouTube or Pirate Bay, sadly, because BBC still hasn’t yet figured out that it’s 2016 and if you won’t sell it, we’ll pirate it.) Last year I picked 3 out of 3 semi-finalists like two episodes in. And I picked the winner of the 3. My proudest prophetic moment.

  78. Jen says:

    Trump’s team apparently is continuing to solicit donations from outside the country, despite it being illegal, and despite being warned against doing so.

    I suppose this is another example of media bias? This is against. the. law. Can anyone imagine the outrage if this had been done by the Clinton camp? Even once?

  79. Jen says:

    @michael reynolds: I love that show!

  80. bill says:

    dougs Donald Trump’s Attacks On trump The Media Are Irresponsible And Irrational.
    and kind of embarrassing, i mean really- every day there’s insane faux outrage over the lamest of things.

  81. grumpy realist says:

    @michael reynolds: One of the funniest essays I’ve ever read is Nora Ephron’s report on a Pillsbury bake-off. After a long description of casseroles made with such ingredients as canned cream of mushroom soup and dried onion rings, Ephron comments:

    “All I could think of was a steak.”

  82. CSK says:

    @Jen:

    I wonder if Team Trump simply bought up every magazine e-mailing list available?

    I’ve been bombarded by emails from the Trump campaign–seven or eight per day in recent weeks. I never signed onto his campaign, but I get a tsunami of entreaties from them clogging my inbox I suspect the foreign nationals who’ve been solicited probably subscribe to one or more U.S. political journals.

  83. CSK says:

    @grumpy realist:

    That was a goody. Didn’t Ephron say something about how all the dessert recipes had to have some iteration on “sweet ‘n’ creamy” in the recipe name?

  84. al-Alameda says:

    @bill:

    dougs Donald Trump’s Attacks On trump The Media Are Irresponsible And Irrational.
    and kind of embarrassing, i mean really- every day there’s insane faux outrage over the lamest of things.

    The “insane faux outrage” of political observers is completely of Trump’s making: Trump seeks out attention, he sucks all of the media oxygen out of a room. He craves the bright lights, and he considers himself the master of his image and expert in managing his message. Now the stage lights are on 24/7 and he’s proving to be far less than he represents himself to be.

    Look, I’m a liberal, so you know where I’m coming from.

    Trump is hair-on-fire all the time. After Sarah Palin’s 2008 consistently embarrassing cringe-inducing performance on the big stage I did not think that any national politician could be as relentlessly un-thoughtful and uninformed as she was and still is.

    Clearly I was wrong, Trump is locked into a pattern of 1 step that’s-not-backward, and 3 steps that are. What worked for Trump in the primaries – when he was speaking/selling/pandering to those with tell-it-like-it-is, nativist and protectionist sentiments – has obviously not played well with the larger audience that now actually pays closer attention to the candidates.

  85. Jen says:

    @CSK: I find the list question an important one. His campaign spokesperson claims that “spammers” must be adding these foreign names by signing up for the campaign or some such nonsense.

    It’s standard practice to have an email vendor clean lists before sending. It isn’t hard to scrub all emails from a certain place once the error is discovered–like, say, the government in Australia, members of whom have repeatedly indicated that they continue to receive solicitations. At this point, it can’t be said that it’s an accident–they are knowingly and intentionally soliciting donations from overseas. Which, again, is against the law.

  86. CSK says:

    @Jen:

    Oh, I agree; the list question is very important. I was just trying to figure out how the Trump campaign had gotten their hands on the names and email addies of so many foreign nationals, and culling them from magazine and newspaper subscription lists seemed one of the most obvious.

    It’s the only explanation I can think of for why I’m getting emails from the Trump family.

  87. grumpy realist says:

    @CSK: Yes. And how nothing fresh was used if a dried, packaged version was available.

    It sounded like all the worst recipes from the 1950s mixed together.

    (Actually, another great book is Square Meals by Jane Stern. If you’re nostalgic about those diner meals from the 1950s, here’s a complete collection of recipes from the 1930s through the 1950s.)

  88. grumpy realist says:

    @michael reynolds: Michael, this one’s for you.

    (Take a bunch of people who would post on Jezebel, a bunch of the world’s worst recipes from the 1950s, and, well, imagine the results.)

  89. DrDaveT says:

    @grumpy realist: grumpy, if you like that one you’ll probably also like this one.

  90. Moosebreath says:

    @grumpy realist: @DrDaveT:

    Those put me in mind of James Lileks’ books of snarky commentary on such food, such as Gastronanomalies.

  91. DrDaveT says:

    @Mikey:

    The key here is Trump has no political experience on which he can be judged.

    Irrelevant. The complaints against Hillary are not political; they are personal and ethical. Trump has more than enough track record to be scored on those criteria.

  92. DrDaveT says:

    @Moosebreath: Yes, Lileks’ Gallery of Regrettable Food has long been a favorite of mine.

  93. Andre Kenji says:

    @michael reynolds: There is a Brazilian version of GBBO , it´s called Bake Off Brasil.But it´s more difficult to pirate and it´s on Portuguese. When you travel to São Paulo I can translate that for you.

    Ironically, it´s presented by the wife of a Meat Packing Industry billionaire.