‘Their bias is now on open display’: Pundits play ‘gotcha games’ with Speaker Mike Johnson, ignore economy, immigration
“Mainstream media figures now act as paid operatives for the Democratic Party.”
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“Mainstream media figures now act as paid operatives for the Democratic Party.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) joined four separate weekend shows during October, in which mainstream media pundits took aim at subjects such as January 6 and Trump’s off-the-cuff comments instead of talking about policies and the concerns that most worry American voters. As Johnson has gone onto the different shows, there has been a pattern of each of these hosts avoiding the topics of the economy and immigration, two of the most important issues to voters in this election cycle.
Johnson appeared in interviews with George Stephanopoulos, Kristin Welker, Margaret Brennan, and Jake Tapper during the last few weeks, and in each instance, the media pundits, in the words of Johnson, were playing "gotcha games" with the House Speaker on issues such as the 2020 election.
The House Speaker told The Post Millennial of the interviews, “People no longer trust the mainstream media because their bias is now on open display, and they have lied about so many important stories over the past several years—including the Russia collusion hoax, Hunter’s laptop, Covid, and so much more."
"Mainstream media figures now act as paid operatives for the Democratic Party, and everyone sees that clearly. This is not just unfair, it does real harm to our republic because a free and unbiased press is essential in the operation of a government of, by, and for the people. Our system relies upon an informed and engaged electorate, and if the public is unable to access honest reporting of the news, the system ultimately breaks down," he added.
On Sunday, Johnson posted a montage of several clips from the interviews, commenting, “THIS is what they focus on? The media is completely out of touch. The American people face real hardships CAUSED by Kamala—like record high prices for groceries and gas, rising crime, a wide open border, and America’s weakness on the world stage. But the networks harp on irrelevant quips and the election of 4 years ago. NO WONDER trust in the media is at an all-time low.”
The clips highlighted things such as Trump’s cholesterol levels, jokes at his rallies, and rehashing January 6 and the 2020 election, as issues such as illegal immigration have impacted the lives of millions. The pundits also did not focus on the issue that is on top of the minds of most Americans, namely the economy.
In an Oct. 6 interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week,” the left-wing pundit started by asking the House Speaker to condemn accusations that Eric Trump was blaming Democrats writ large for the assassination attempt on Donald Trump and questions about Joe Biden winning the 2020 election.
Stephanopoulos’ first question of the interview was “is it right for the president and his family to suggest that Democrats are behind the effort to assassinate him?” The host cited a line where the younger Trump used “they” to refer to the individuals who tried to assassinate Trump.
After back and forth with Johnson, the GOP leader grew frustrated with the pundit, saying, “Everywhere I go, George, large crowds are gathered, and they have questions. They have really important questions about how these crises are going to be solved for their families, how we're going to fix the economy, how we're going to get our energy policy going again.”
The ABC host, however, did not want to let up on his framing of the interview, and went onto the topic of the 2020 election, asking Johnson, “Can you say unequivocally that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Donald Trump lost.”
Johnson said that he would always follow the law with elections to certify the winner and then told the host he was just playing in a “gotcha game” by going over things that happened four years ago while he wanted to look towards future policies. Stephanopoulos did not follow up with any questions on policy issues.
A similar situation took place in two Oct. 13 interviews and one Oct. 20 interview with Johnson. Most questions had very little to do with the substance of what is at stake in the election but had to do with rehashing the 2020 election and January 6, 2021, as well as other extraneous points.
NBC’s Meet the Press anchor Kristen Welker asked Johnson about Trump’s cholesterol levels as she questioned the former president's health, to which Johnson responded, “Kristen, the American people, don't care about the cholesterol level of Donald Trump. They care about the cost of living and the fact they cannot pay for groceries, because Kamala Harris and Joe Biden's policies that put them in that situation.”
Welker did bring up immigration, but only in framing a question where she asked about Trump’s statements on Haitians eating “cats and dogs” in Ohio. The NBC host said that the former president has made false statements about the Federal Emergency Managment Agency (FEMA) and immigrants in claiming that disaster relief funds went to migrants. FEMA has directed funds as well as coordinated assistance for the housing of illegal immigrants, but the funds were part of a different budget than the disaster relief funds, though it all came through the same agency.
Then, like with others, Welker insisted that Johnson tell her if he would “commit to certifying the election results” come January 6, 2024 and referred back to the 2020 election. Once again, Johnson said he would certify the results. As in the interview from Oct. 6, he pushed to have Welker talk about economic and immigration policies.
CBS News cut out points that Johnson brought up in a taped interview with Maragaret Brennen. Johnson appeared on Face the Nation with Brennen on Oct. 13 and the interview as broadcast on CBS News did not include multiple important aspects of his answers.
When asked about Hurricane Helene relief effort, Johnson gave a personal account of going to North Carolina, which CBS chose not to air.
Brennen asked Johnson, “The FEMA Director says there's only $11 billion left from that $20 billion that was allocated. So that's a different accounting than this two percent you say was distributed."
The broadcast response from Johnson was: “So they've obligated some funds, but they've only distributed two percent,” at which point the aired broadcast cut off Johnson’s personal account. The outlet skipped to where he stated, “The rescue and recovery efforts are still going on, and then we address the rest of it. But FEMA was slow to respond.”
However, what he really said was much more in depth:
“So they've obligated some funds, but they've only distributed 2%, and when I was there on the ground, and you should go, I mean, bring the cameras and talk to the people there, they'll tell you, don't- don't take politicians words for this or the administration's word. Talk to the people there on the ground. They had not been provided the resources almost two weeks out from the storm that they desperately needed. And when I was there, 13 days post the storm hitting that state, people are still being rescued. They're stuck in the higher elevations in the mountains because the roads are down and all the rest. So, they need every available resource and all hands-on deck. The rescue and recovery efforts are still going on, and then we address the rest of it. But FEMA was slow to respond.”
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This type of selective editing was seen throughout the interview in multiple instances, cutting out several minutes of his answers. The hurricane relief funding question was really the only one that appeared to be more pressing on voters’ minds, even if that may be an acute problem in the grand scheme of federal policies. CBS has come under fire for selective edits of other recent programs as well, namely an interview with Kamala Harris.
Brennen, like the others, did not ask about the economy or immigration and following the questions on the hurricane funding, focused on January 6 as well as rehashing questions over the 2020 election.
Johnson also appeared on Jake Tapper's show, and pushed to talk about policy issues facing Americans. However, Tapper, like the others, appeared more interested in talking about Trump making a penis joke about golf legend Arnold Palmer.
Tapper began with the serious topic of classified military documents on Israel’s retaliatory attack plans on Iran being leaked but then launched into Trump's Palmer joke told at a Latrobe, PA rally over the weekend. Tapper asked Johnson, “Is this really the closing message you want voters to hear from Donald Trump, stories about Arnold Palmer's penis?”
Johnson responded, “I think that the headline that I read about the rally in Pennsylvania yesterday was the big question, and it's the one that Kamala Harris has not been able or willing to answer, and that is, are you better off now than you were under the Trump administration four years ago? And no one can answer that question with a yes.”
The House Speaker then tried to turn toward the issues of the cost of living and immigration, saying, “Look, everywhere I go, Jake, everybody has the same concerns. They're fed up and they're fired up about the cost of living that's unaffordable now and the rising crime rates everywhere and the weakness on the world stage and the wide-open border.”
“Why is he talking about Arnold Palmer's penis in front of Pennsylvania voters?” Tapper replied.
“Jake, you seem to like that line a lot," Johnson quipped.
“I don't want to be talking about this,” Tapper said. “But you continue to,” Johnson replied.
Tapper then attacked Trump for talking about the “enemy within” the country, and on the left, in a Fox interview with Maria Bartiromo, where the GOP nominee suggested that the military may need to be used, if necessary, if there is violence on election day from “radical left-wing lunatics.”
Tapper suggested that Trump will use the military to go after political rivals on Election Day because in different contexts, Trump has used the “enemy within” line to describe politicians such as Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
Johnson, like in other interviews, pushed back, “I did not hear President Trump in that clip say he's going to sic the military on Adam Schiff. That's not what he's saying. You have got two different clips in two different contexts.”
Tapper, like the other hosts, tried to turn to January 6 and the 2020 election. The four interviews, perhaps, represent a pattern for some of the most-watched news channels in the country taking place on Sundays, a day when many take the opportunity to catch up on what they have missed during the week’s news.
However, all four hosts chose to ask questions about things that happened nearly four years ago, with January 6 and the 2020 election and other extraneous topics that are not top of mind for many Americans such as the economy and immigration.
