OPINION
Premium

A Years-Old Trump Slam Is Brand New, a Missing President Is No Worry, and Scar-Joe Is Seeing Russians!

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

Get access to Brad Slager's "Riffed From the Headlines," a daily VIP feature where he looks to bring accountability to the mainstream media. Use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership.

News Avoidance Syndrome – VARIOUS OUTLETS

  • Are we to understand a lack of a leader is of no concern?

At Axios, Alex Thompson was covering a recent comment by Joe Biden, where he suggested that when it came to Donald Trump, they need to “lock him up.” Thompson reports that he received a note from a current administration contact who essentially told him that nobody listens to what Biden has to say any longer. 

That nobody seems to think this is possibly a problem, considering his current role, seems a tad problematic.

Democratic Custodial Services – CNN

  • You cannot call it misinformation if you do not even let the information get out.

Bearing in mind that CNN is currently energetically sharing the blatantly false story put out by Jeffrey Goldberg, it is equal parts pathetic and amusing that the same network cannot tolerate hearing a verified story that is negative about the Kamala Harris campaign.

During a panel run by Abby Phillip, Scott Jennings dared go to the edge of bringing up the story of Doug Emhoff abusing a former girlfriend. I said “to the edge” because from the moment he invoked the topic, the rest of the panel shouted him down, and before he could even continue, Ms. Phillip drew a fast end to the entire discussion.

BlueAnon – MSNBC

  • It seems Scar-Joe found an old playbook out in the dumpster.

We don’t want to suggest that the press sees a Kamala failure up ahead and are in sheer desperation mode – we will flat out say it: They are in panicked desperation mode.

As evidence, here is Joe Scarborough looking for anything to impact Trump’s fortunes, and he resorts to the tired, never-effective, and entirely laughed-off strategy of saying that “Russian influence” is a factor in Trump’s run.

Scar-Joe exposes his idiocy in reaching back to the 2016 election (did the Russians take 2020 off, Joe?) and uses mealy words like “threat” and “susceptible to influence” because he knows there was no actual impact on that election from Russia.

Low-Octane Gaslighting – NBC NEWS

  • We swear this guy is considered a surprise to only the folks in the press.

Onetime Chief of Staff for Donald Trump John Kelly has come out with scathing critiques of his former boss. Yes – again. It seems to be a regular seasonal cycle with this guy. We heard him barking in this fashion this past March, also about one year ago, and a couple of other times in 2022. We get it, Johnny, you loathe the guy.

But for some reason (possibly to influence the election?), his mewling is in the news once again – and we mean all across the news. What makes this pathetic and humorous is that Garrett Haake might be revealing why this is the case: He actually says in his report, “We’re hearing for the first time from John Kelly in his own words sounding the alarm on Donald Trump’s fitness for office.”

Atta boy, Mr. Professional Reporter Journalist Guy!

Body-Checking the Fact-Checkers – THE NEW YORK TIMES

One of the more pathetic narratives following Trump’s McDonald's visit has been the many outlets announcing that he claimed Kamala Harris never worked at McDonald’s – “without evidence.” Something about being unable to disprove a negative seems like a key component there.

The New York Times shamed itself when it supposedly came up with proof she had once worked at the chain. That “proof” came from her campaign and a friend saying so... based on a tale Kamala’s mother once told this person. Yes, this was considered definitive evidence. 

This friend is a bit more than a figure from Kamala’s past. She has been on tour with Harris during the campaign and has appeared on her behalf on shows at MSNBC. So, essentially she is just another campaign voice. But…evidence, we suppose.

Stealth Story Evolution – NEWSWEEK

  • Just cannot help themselves with the Trump obsession.

In a dose of curiously convenient timing, the press enraged over Trump’s McDonald’s visit have been energetically reporting on an outbreak of E. Coli in some of the restaurants. Newsweek felt that it was helpful to include a photo of Trump with its report of this outbreak, delivering a strong implication he was somehow involved in that issue. Newsweek caught enough shame that it deleted that post.