Media Matters: How mainstream media failed when covering Trump’s State of the Union speech In 2020, many journalists are still desperately trying to normalize Trump's presidency
Prominent U.S. media outlets often project a compulsive need to normalize the bizarreness of Donald Trump’s presidency, and last night’s State of the Union address was no different. Although it was riddled with lies aimed at smearing Democrats and shamelessly boosting his image, many news outlets covered Trump’s speech through a traditional lens that lacked context of his last three years in office.
As The Daily Beast aptly characterized it, the speech was a “nationalist, anti-immigrant, socialism-hating game show.” Trump rewarded conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh's decades of spewing racism, homophobia, and sexism with the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- while simultaneously touting his own supposed support of women and African Americans. He railed against “illegal aliens” and painted all undocumented immigrants as ravenous criminals. Trump fearmongered that the Second Amendment is “under siege” in America, vowing to protect gun owners but not mentioning thousands of Americans who die each year by gun violence. He even used a toddler, born prematurely at 21 weeks, as a prop to push for restricting abortion access.
Trump’s speech was also riddled with lies, as we’ve come to expect of a president who is a compulsive liar, and he drastically misrepresented many aspects of his policy. In one example, Trump absurdly claimed that he is fighting to protect preexisting conditions as his administration is currently in court trying to slash the entire Affordable Care Act, which guarantees such protections. He also touted his “great American comeback” from the economic mess he supposedly inherited from former president Barack Obama -- a statement which has no bearing in reality.
Despite the nonsensical spectacle of Trump’s State of the Union, many in mainstream media rushed to normalize aspects of his speech. Some outlets gushed that Trump’s speech was a “78-minute extravaganza” and praised his “defiant showmanship” and “talent” as “somebody from the world of reality television.” Others were critical of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for ripping up Trump’s speech, longing for the days of decorum while ignoring the laundry list of norms Trump has broken since 2016. Some outlets also parroted Trump’s claims without context in headlines -- a problem media outlets have never successfully grappled with in the Trump age -- despite the fact that many of them were blatant lies.
While it is true that Trump managed to make it through the speech without hurling below-the-belt, childish insults at his enemies -- which is apparently the bar for success that many media figures have set for him -- his State of the Union speech was not the “dazzling” success some outlets confoundingly described it as in their coverage.
Gushing over Trump’s speech based on an extremely low bar
CNN’s Rick Santorum gushed, “This was the best delivered speech that I've seen the president give. I mean, this was the most presidential speech Donald Trump has ever given.”
ABC’s Chris Christie said that the speech was “Donald Trump at his best,” adding that he “was disciplined” and “laid out his argument … strongly and clearly and directly.” Christie concluded that Trump “gets an A-plus.”
CNN reporter Stephen Collinson analyzed Trump’s “dazzling” performance, writing, “If elections are won by defiant showmanship alone, Donald Trump, the grand political illusionist, will waltz to a second term in November.”
CBS’ Norah O’Donnell tweeted, “This was a speech unlike any other I have witnessed from President Donald Trump - the reality TV president took on the state of the union, a master showman at his best.”
CNN’s Jake Tapper praised the theatrics of Trump’s speech, saying that “we have never seen anything like that before,” adding that Trump is “somebody from the world of reality television” and “he was trying to have these moments for the American people to experience.” Tapper concluded that it “worked on a lot of people.”
ABC’s Martha Raddatz said that the speech was “Donald Trump measured, weaving an incredible story with a lot of heroes involved.”
ABC’s George Stephanopolous said that Trump “came out of reality television, and he displayed that talent tonight” in a “78-minute extravaganza,” adding that he “reached out to the African American community in an emotional way.”
Claiming Pelosi was “tossing shade” and lacking decorum in ripping up Trump’s speech
MSNBC’s Willie Geist said that “for my money, … ripping up the script at the end is not what the country needs.”
Geist also said that Pelosi was “tossing shade” by ripping up her copy of Trump's speech, saying that it “plays great on Twitter” and “plays very well to some very enthusiastic progressives” and asking, “Does it help matters to have the speaker of the House lower herself to the president’s level?”
CNN’s Dana Bash said “there’s no question” that Pelosi ripping up her copy of the speech is the “kind of reaction … she admonished her own caucus not to do” and “shows you we're at a completely different place right now.”
Responding to accusations that Trump’s speech was divisive, CNN host John Berman asked: “What message does it send when the House speaker … rips up a copy of the speech? What message does that send?”
Many outlets uncritically repeated Trump’s talking points about economic recovery
The Hill tweeted that “Trump credits economic progress to environmental rollbacks” without noting that there isn’t evidence of that.
The Hill also tweeted a quote verbatim from Trump: “If we had not reversed the failed economic policies of the previous administration, the world would not now be witness to America's great economic success.”
The Washington Post’s front-page headline claimed, “Trump sees vindication in [the] economy.”
The Wall Street Journal’s front-page headline declared, “Trump touts economic gains.”
The Boston Globe’s front page claimed that Trump’s speech “highlights ‘unimaginable’ US comeback.”
Many news outlets also parroted Trump’s claims that Democrats are trying to destroy health care through “socialism”
Politico tweeted a quote from Trump with no context: “We will never let socialism destroy American healthcare!”
The Washington Post uncritically parroted Trump’s claim that “132 lawmakers in this room have endorsed legislation to impose a socialist takeover of our healthcare system, wiping out the private health insurance plans of 180 million very happy Americans."
The Daily Beast tweeted the president’s talking points without pushback: “Trump talked about healthcare at tonight’s #SOTU, mostly going after Dems and Medicare-for-All, saying: ‘We will never let socialism destroy American healthcare.’”
Reuters also tweeted Trump’s quote verbatim: “We will never let socialism destroy American healthcare.”
Related research:
Media Matters: News networks ridiculed for airing Trump’s post-impeachment rant in its entirety
CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and Fox Business all aired President Donald Trump’s rambling post-impeachment “celebration” speech in its entirety.
It also aired on many broadcast networks:
There was widespread outrage at the networks for being so irresponsible:
This echoed the pattern of news coverage in 2016, when networks were so obsessed with giving Trump airtime that they even focused endlessly on his empty lectern.
Carlos Maza explained this phenomenon perfectly in March of 2016:
Much of Trump's dominance of the news cycle is a result of news networks' willingness to air many of his stump speeches and press conferences live, unedited, and without commercial breaks. Veteran campaign reporter Walter Shapiro called the airing of Trump's speeches by networks unprecedented, adding “No one has ever gotten to have all of their campaign speeches broadcast unedited.”His speeches make for good television -- he calls Ted Cruz a "pussy," imitates Marco Rubio, botches Bible verses, pulls bizarre supporters on stage. But beyond sheer entertainment value, there's rarely a good journalistic reason to give Trump's speeches so much attention.News networks' inability to look away from the Trump circus means Trump can rely on the media to deliver his campaign messages, unfiltered, to millions more voters than would otherwise hear them. And that special treatment means Trump's opponents in both parties are forced to compete in a news environment that gives Trump millions of dollars in free advertising and exposure.
Recently, CNN and MSNBC have been better about not covering Trump’s rallies. But it’s clear that when given even a fig leaf of justification beyond explicit electoral politics, networks will continue to give Trump all the time he wants -- no matter the consequences for democracy.
Media
- Obama Notices The GOP Are Like Nazis And Warns Us About Being Complacent (& Media Completely Ignores Obama's Warning!)
- We Know That Most People Only Read Headlines So Is Mainstream Media Being Incredibly Stupid Or Are They Intentionally Pushing Untruths?
- CNN's "Civility" Argument Shows CNN Anchors/Hosts Can't Put Facts In Context Of What's Going On!
- CNN Often Promotes (And Hires!) People Getting PAID To Push A Particular View - Or Professional Liars - And Don't Disclose It Thus Giving Liars A Platform To Become More Influential (By Not Saying That Some Of Their Talking Heads Are Infomercials & /Or Liars, CNN Is Deceiving Its Viewers)
- CNN Hires A Well Known And Proven Liar To EDIT The News In Secret (i.e. No Disclaimer On Anything Edited By Her!)
- War Based Money Con: Chuck Todd Of Meet The Press Promoted Pro-Iran War Views By Hosting A Lobbyist/Briber Without Disclosing That He Was Doing That And Helped The Guys Companies Stock Go Up!
- BREAKING: Corporate Media Is Helping The GOP With Their Lies On Iran The Way They Did With Iraq
- CNN's "Editor At Large" (Chris Cillizza) Lies About And Frames Elizabeth Warren! What's That About And Who's Paying/Influencing Him To Do It? DNC/Biden?
- Media Uselessness Example: Ignoring Historical Context To Explain The Trump VS Lincoln Poll Of Republicans
- Moment Of Zen: Fox News Was Designed To Protect A Republican President From The Constitution!
- The Many Times The Washington Post Has Betrayed The Public's Trust
- Mainstream Media Is Markedly Pro-Right Wing Lies
- Media Uselessness Example: Corporate Media Gives Steve King A Pass On White Supremacism
- Here Is Chuck Todd Skewing Viewers Perceptions With A Pro-Republican Piece Using NBC's Meet The Press
- The Coast Guard Domestic Terrorist Is Just The Latest Right Wing Terrorist Enabled By Media Silence On Fox News Incendiary Rhetoric
- Why Do News Outlets Bring On Non-Scientists To Argue Against Science?
- Examples Of How The "Fact Based" News Media Distorts Public Perception Of Truth Because Of Unusually Bad And/Or Incompetent Journalism
- As Fox News Launches Fox Nation, I Would Like To Note That Mainstream Media Lets Fox Lie Unchallenged And Don't Fight Fox To Dominate The Ratings By Suppressing Their Lies... Thus Fox Has Been #1 For Decades. "Fact" Based Media Has Enabled Right Wing Hate & Are Thus A Threat To National Security!
- BREAKING: Fox News Is The Real President
- Don't Let Chuck Todd Fool Ya. The GOP Really Is Very Very Bad
- Chuck Todd: Spreading Lies By Sanitizing Right Wing Nuts Talking Points
- The Last GOP Bill Condemned 28,600 Americans To Death (Approx), Media Ignores Story
- Trump's Terrorist Attack On the Press (With Fox News Support)
- Fox News Has Literally Been Created For Obstruction Of Justice (i.e. Choosing Party Over Country Is What They Are All About)
- The Ultimate Proofs That Fox News Is Basically Just A Group Of White Supremacists/Nationalists/Nazis
- The Infowars Style Group Of Hate & Violence Mongers, Include Fox News & Fox Business!
- Fox News Is A MAINSTREAM Fearmongering Media Channel Mistakenly Labelled Real News Followed By A Bunch Of Sheep Who Don't/Can't See The Con!
- Media: How The "Left" Enables GOP Tyranny - The Southern Strategy By The GOP Created Modern Politics But They Continuously Get Away With It!
- Media: How The "Left" Enables GOP Tyranny: The Paul Ryan Example, i.e. "Paul Ryan Is A Bad Person", So Why Won't The Media Tell The American People?
- The Main Political Commentators At Fox News & Alex Jones (Infowars) Are Now Joined At The Hip
- How Media Enables The GOP's Southern Strategy: The Puerto Rico & Hurricane Maria Example
- NRA, Infowars, Fox News, Breitbart And Sinclair Function As A Terrorist Propaganda Wing Of The GOP That Seeks To Build Hate & Muddy The Waters (Kinda Like State TV)
- Note - Gerrymandering Is A Subset Of "Rigging Elections" Or "Election Fraud", An Important Aspect That Gets Left Out Of Media Coverage
- Fox News - And Right Wing Media - Is Nothing More Than A Conspiracy & Nazi-Style Propaganda Ring
- Media: How The "Left" Enables GOP Tyranny - Making Russia Seem Worse Than The GOP (& How Russia & The Right-Wing/GOP Are Really In A Symbiotic Relationship!)
- Media: How The "Left" Enables GOP Tyranny - The Ongoing Iraq War Lies Coverup By Richard Engel & NBC
- The Right Wing Are Basically Terrorists Or "Terrorist Creators" (Alt Right Terrorists Is The Politically Correct Term)
- The Last GOP Bill Condemned 28,600 Americans To Death (Approx), Media Ignores Story (Choosing Politeness Over Saving Lives?)
- The Liars & Bullshitters Of The Iraq War (Such As John Bolton) Are Still Treated With Respect By Mainstream Media (Despite Being Constantly Wrong... Its Like Being Respectful To Nazis Because They Are Americans)
- FLASHBACK: The Tea Party Wasn't Authentic Because Outside Groups (Fox News & The Kochs) Created, Organized And Spread It
- Outlining The Kochs Treasonous Agenda: Proofs That The Koch Brothers OWN The Right Wing & Thus The GOP Could Be Renamed "KOCH"
- NBC/MSNBC's Hidden Role As "The Rights, Left"
- CNN's Model For Reporting & Journalism Has A Problem With Conveying The Whole Truth Based On Facts To Its Viewers Because Of Its "Both Sides" Format That Places Outright Lies On the Same Footing With Facts On Their "Facts First" Apple-Banana Channel
- An Introduction To, & Overview Of, The Mainstream Corporate Media
- FCC's Anti-Constitutional Push Under Trump To Cut Of Net Neutrality To Increase Authoritarianism
- BREAKING... The Misunderstood Economy: What Counts and How to Count It OR Real Economics VS Fake Economics: How The Kochs Are Destroying America By Attacking Its Societal Structures In Favor Of Social Darwinism Or "Survival Of The Fittest"
- Trump's America: The GOP Sentences At Least 15,000 To 17,000 Americans To Death EVERY YEAR! (i.e. The Effects Of 13 Million Uninsured)
- How "Liberal" Media Helps The GOP With It's Fake Healthcare (More Examples Of The Corporate Media's Coverups)
- Corporate Media's Iraq War Coverup: Incontrovertible Proof Of Network News & The Beltway Media Covering Facts About The Iraq War For Their GOP Masters
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