OPINION
Premium

The Press Has Not One Critique of Tim Walz

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Aug 07, 2024
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

Legalized Press-titution – MSNBC

  • Sooo…not a single critical comment about the guy? We mean, NONE?!

As entirely expected, the gang at "Morning Joe" looked at the announcement and formal introduction of Tim Walz as the running mate of Kamala Harris with nothing short of rapturous applause. Look – there was no way they would dare take anything less than entire support and praise for whomever it would have been that Harris selected, not with the risk of allowing Donald Trump to win the White House!

The obsequious nature of this all was seen especially in Mike Barnacle's gushing assessment of Walz, which gave a bizarre paradox in that the more earnest he sounded in his praise, the less believable any of it became as we listened.

DNC PR Firm – FORBES / MSNBC

Following the decision of Walz, Forbes looked at things and felt it tabbed what pushed Walz over the top for the Democrats to decide on him. (Seriously, does anyone feel like this was Kamala's decision?!) Weeks back, MSNBC began auditioning a string of Democrat hopefuls, especially on "Morning Joe," and Forbes thinks that the Walz visit where he uncorked the now-beloved campaign talking point of Trump and JD Vance being "weird" is the turning point in his favor.

Recommended

Gallup: Significant Swing in Trump and Harris Favorability Guy Benson
Springfield Mayor Wants Trump, Harris to Stay Away From the Ohio Town. The Reason He Gave Is Laughable. Leah Barkoukis

So, the Dems were most impressed by the guy who concocted the playground taunt used by 12-year-olds. Okay, then.

Anti-Social Media – CNN

  • Jake was just lacking a striped jersey and penalty flag.

While it has mostly been accepted by those watching politics that Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro was passed over as the running mate selection due to his Jewish background and past comments regarding Israel and the current war, it is another thing to see journalists so casually mention this. 

Following the live rollout of Walz at an event last night, CNN had Jake Tapper moderating an on-site panel with Abby Phillip and Audie Cornish. Phillip actually intoned how the Democrats steered away from Shapiro for his Israel stance, stating she wondered if he would have antagonized Minnesota voters and their stance on the war currently in play. Tapper tried to inject reason, correctly noting that Shapiro and Walz had matching stances on the war, with the only difference being Shapiro being Jewish.

Cornish, though, would not take Jake's guidance and plunged ahead with the topic:

TAPPER: So, but, just to, just to, one point on the Gaza War. Shapiro has the same position on Israel that Gov. Walz, that Sen. Kelly has. He's actually been more critical of Netanyahu than the other two, but, he is Jewish.

CORNISH: He's also the face of the crackdown on the protests, right? He spoke very vehemently about those protests as being antisemitic. 

TAPPER: Not all of them. The ones that were antisemitic he criticized for being antisemitic.

CORNISH: Of course, but he was out front on the issue. So, I'm wondering if that's the kind of thing, again, for the activist wing of the party, was a slap in the face.

Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO

  • If true, few would be surprised.

Okay, we understand that compressing numerous items from a newsletter into a headline is always a challenge. But there should be some extra sets of eyes around to scan over things and make sure your choice sounds correct.

If not, then you end up with this jumble from NPR, which manages to make it sound like Tim Walz was picked to lead Hamas.

Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – POLITICO

In a bit of odd framing, considering we are talking about a terror group after all, in Politico's National Security Daily newsletter was this portion regarding Hamas formerly replacing its leader, considering its previous one had been reduced to rubble.

Considering how Politico made this sound like a typical PR note, you have to wonder if Hamas has Politico in its email blast list.

Reporting on the Mirror – NEWSNET

Word has come out that the upstart neutral news outlet NewsNet has shuttered abruptly. The Michigan-based effort to bring opinion-free, fact-based reporting was created by Manoj Bhargava, the creator and owner of 5-Hour Energy, who also has involvement with the transitioning Sports Illustrated.

After two years, the announcement to staffers was brief and quick, learning the same day they were no longer on the air. It was reported that his motivation for starting the news enterprise was that advertising for his product was getting too expensive, so why not sink that money into a fully backed network instead?