There is something deeply wrong with DC media that is different, and worse, than the usual DC media terribleness.
For months, we have had a media obsessed with taking down Joe Biden. I’ve written about it. It seems to somehow become worse every day, especially since the debate. The sharks smell blood in the water, and they are in a feeding frenzy.
There are legitimate questions to be asked about Biden’s age, and his ability to campaign. But the terrible behavior of the media is hard not to see. Historian Rick Perlstein sees it, and he is one of the people who believe that Biden should step down.
…falls into agenda-setting elite political journalists' narcissicism sweet spot: it makes themselves the center of the universe, while denying they have any political agency at all…
— Rick Perlstein (@rickperlstein) July 11, 2024
Then there was this today, where the press corps sounded like a pack of hyenas yelling at Biden.
I’M HOLLERING pic.twitter.com/jbPXAF5gQt
— chris evans (@notcapnamerica) July 11, 2024
Also, the Washington press corps is crying out for a Democratic shitshow Survivor-style fight for a new nominee. There’s this from Anne Applebaum in The Atlantic:
Okay, so I instantly thought of our own Cassandra’s post back in February. “Politics would be interesting again?” What on earth are you going on about, Anne? This era is the very definition of the joke about “may you live in interesting times” being a curse. If you want “interesting” stupidity, go become a reality show producer.
Yet another example of the media insanity was Monday’s ridiculous press briefing, where White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did her best to handle questions about Biden’s health. If you haven’t seen it, it was grotesque. MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell covers it here.
Meanwhile, Trump’s gaffes are largely ignored, such as when he seemed to think that his son Don Jr. was married during his Tuesday rally. Margaret Sullivan had a fantastic column this week about the curious pass given to Trump.
There really is no comparison in the amount or intensity of coverage. One journalist, Jennifer Schulze, counted New York Times stories related to Biden’s age in the week following the debate; she counted a staggering 192 news and opinion pieces, compared to 92 stories on Trump – and that was in a week when the US supreme court had ruled he has immunity for official acts.
Not to mention late last week, court documents were released that gave some details about Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, including the very real possibility he had sex with underaged girls. Next to no reporting on this, which is something that is difficult to imagine happening if Biden was involved.
It’s But Her Emails on steroids. And it’s putting our democracy in even greater danger than it already is.
The last word goes to Midnight Oil.
