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Welker Uses Trump to Launch MTP, and Ayman Mohyeldin Repeats CNN's Debunk Blunder

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Sep 18, 2023
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

09.18.23

DNC PR Firm – NBC NEWS

  • Well, it appears very little has changed. At all.

As first impressions go, it seems that "Meet The Press" will either be just as left-leaning as it had been under Chuck Todd's reign or possibly more so. Now, hostess Kristen Welker took over the desk on Sunday, and the desperation to launch is seen with the choice to go with a ratings draw of an extended interview with Donald Trump. To say this was a shameful display is to traffic in the obvious.

First, there was the decision in the hour-long discussion to use the commercial breaks as a time for the network to run fact-checks on Trump's comments. This is a tad ironic, given Welker's repeated delivery of falsehoods herself throughout the Q&A. Much of the interview centered on abortion, and Welker's questions were blatantly from the standpoint of the left and leveled accusations about the positions on the right. This was pure slanted journalism and really would be considered embarrassing by an objective observer.

Low Octane Gas Lighting – THE DAILY BEAST

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  • Maybe Kristen should have consulted with Kaitlan Collins before going forward with this…

In what is becoming an apparent reality for many in the media, an interview with Trump is a lose/lose proposition, as those on the right will note the bias and those on the left will never be satisfied with anything less than a host shouting down Trump and preventing him from speaking.

A case of the latter example is from The Daily Beast, where Welker was criticized for allowing Trump to steamroll the discussion and for not correcting him enough. (We point again to the edited correction from the network.)

The wildest part, though, of this review of the interview, was in the claim that the show should have opted for a Joe Biden interview. (Uh yeah, Corbin? They wanted ratings, yesterday.) Get a load of this claim about why the current, and not the former president was the "preferred choice":

Perhaps current President Joe Biden would have been a better interview subject for her first episode as Meet the Press moderator, as they at least would have been able to start from the same set of facts.

He actually wrote that – about Biden. "Facts." Just…wow…

Prose & Contradiction – MSNBC

  • Repeating the already mocked "debunking" from CNN is just a remarkable example of living inside the bubble.

Over the weekend, Ayman Mohyeldin attempted to either join in with CNN or, at least, repeat the failed attempt at debunking the Republican investigation into Joe Biden. I tore into the ridiculously lame attempt by CNN to fact-check the GOP claims, all while they managed to only show the Republicans were accurate. A good breakdown from Tim Graham is here.

Mohyeldin managed to continue with this farce by doing the very same thing while making it slightly worse for himself – he was posing on air with the very contradictions onscreen beside him, as he literally owned the patently obvious contradiction to his claims.

Low Octane Gas Lighting – ABC NEWS

  • The breadth of this provable lie shows how embarrassment is in short supply in the press.

Jon Karl has been one of the voices with the longest record of insisting there is "No Evidence" regarding Joe Biden's involvement with shady money deals. Even as more evidence mounts, and the official messaging of the White House has had a monumental shift. ('Never had any involvement in Hunter's calls and meetings" has become "he always calls his son and sat in on meetings because he loves him.")

It has now reached a laughable level with Karl, as he just sat with Nancy Mace. And even as she listed off a heady batch of items that are truly evidence, Karl, in what can only be described as a dopey, delusional fashion, keeps repeating the "no evidence" empty claim. 

Stay to hear Mace sweep his leg by bringing up Watergate and pointing to a time when journalists used to perform investigative research. 

Reporting on the Mirror – MSNBC

  • When will these reporters start doing their job of getting Kamala nominated?!?!

There are a number of signs that the Democrats are in a state of anxiety and disarray. One is how mad journalists get that people keep bringing up Joe Biden's age. Another is in the question regarding whether he will actually run again or not, and on that front, there is another quandary. The obvious name to replace him is Kamala Harris, but they face a staggering reality with her: few people actually like her.

Riding to the rescue is Molly Jong-Fast, as she is ardently cheerleading for Kammy. This is hilarious to watch, as Harris was not only an also-ran in the 2020 primary (she received zero primary votes), but in her home state, she was polling a very distant fourth place, leading to her dropping out. There has been no improvement on that front; she is not liked by Democrats – today.

In seeing this segment, note one question: When was the last time you heard members of the press suggesting what reporters need to do in order to help Republicans?

News Avoidance Syndrome – VARIOUS OUTLETS

  • Remember back then when you defended, um, both of these?!

Let's peer back for a moment to a time when the press had fawning coverage of a few entities. When Joe Biden announced he was ordering a massive cash infusion for the IRS, the press raved about this 87,000-agent-strong hiring program. Anyone who dared criticize the expenditure or the expansion of this pernicious agency was anti-American, in the words of some journalists. Now, let us also recall the way the press treated whistleblowers as beatific saviors who needed to be protected at all costs from intimidation, legal action, or retribution.

I bring these up because some very odd and disturbing news has been announced: Hunter Biden will be suing the IRS over defamation he claims to have suffered, as well as those who went public with the details of his crimes and the attempt inside the agency to cover those up.