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Viewers Debate If They Should Keep Watching David Muir, and PBS...Questions Election Integrity?

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Sep 18, 2024
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Demo-lition Project – ABC NEWS

There is a measurable response to the debate debacle that was witnessed last week. After receiving significant media applause for their performance – and specifically going after Donald Trump – it seemed a victory lap might be in order. Well…not so much.

A week out from that performance, we now learn Muir's program, "ABC's World News Tonight" is suffering from that evening's performance. For the three days immediately after the September 10 debate, Muir saw a drop of 12% in his audience.

Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO

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  • Finally committing journalism but still drawing the wrong conclusions.

The controversy swirling around Springfield, Ohio, and the perceived threats to the local pet population continues to bedevil the press. The desire is to label Donald Trump and J.D. Vance as liars all while avoiding the story and ignoring the impact from Joe Biden shipping immigrants in that has overwhelmed the community. 

Two problems have emerged in this deflection attempt. Calling Trump a liar for mentioning the issue has run up against reality – the residents have been bringing this problem up since at least this past March. Another concerns the narrative that Vance was not truthful by saying residents were contacting him about the problem. The Wall Street Journal was among the few to actually go to Springfield and (get this!) speak to the residents.

Following the name the Vance camp gave, they spoke with the woman, and she asserted that her pet actually turned up after missing for a week.

Steve Inskeep of NPR used this as a lecture to Vance, but missed the underlying point: Vance was actually correct that his constituents had been reaching him about the matter.

Blue-Anon – PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE

Yeah, those Republicans sure run on fear, right? At PBS, they are already cooking up the theory that the US Postmaster General (a Trump appointee!) is not doing enough to ensure mail-in ballots will be received in a timely fashion. 

Understand, these are the same people who always claim our election system is above reproach, and that Donald Trump is sowing doubts about election integrity which in turn threatens democracy. But now, it is acceptable to say ahead of time that the election is being threatened.

Gilded Reframe – THE HILL

At The Hill, Senate correspondent Alexander Bolton spoke with a number of Democratic lawmakers, and they strongly feel Kamala Harris will deliver their preferred agenda. These senators are rather confident that despite Kamala Harris giving voice to drastically different political positions today, in stark contrast to her previous stances, she'll come back to their left-wing ideas once elected.

That is to say, this confirms they believe she is lying today.

Low-Octane Gaslighting – MSNBC

  • That is an impressive amount of manure shoveled in under two minutes.

Of all the outlets struggling mightily with the reality that Donald Trump just faced a second assassination attempt, MSNBC has to be struggling the most. Bear in mind, this is the network that has had no hesitation spewing all manner of harsh invective about Trump on a daily basis. Fascist, Hitler, a threat to democracy, executing opponents – it has all been claimed numerous times on a quotidian basis.

So, to hear them claim Trump and the Republicans need to tone down their rhetoric it is more than desperate; it is hilariously pathetic. Exemplifying this was Jonathan Lemire on "Morning Joe," who in one segment belched out a litany of supposedly dangerous talk from Trump that caused this attempt on his life. Lemire even trotted out the disproven "bloodbath" lie, and then went on to make it all about himself, claiming that he has faced threats from MAGA people.