On Thursday's New Day, CNN's Alisyn Camerota denied that true media bias against Donald Trump exists. Chris Cuomo asserted that Trump "has no beef with the media....he's got nothing but free air time by us." Camerota countered that the Republican presidential candidate "did call us 'scum'...He has a beef, but it's not a legitimate beef." [video below]
Moments earlier, Early Start anchor John Berman noted that Trump "did tell us he's about to spend a lot of money, which is interesting. If he follows through with that and puts up a lot of ads right now, that could change the dynamic in some places." Maggie Haberman of the New York Times replied that "he also said last night on the debate stage that...he's spending a hundred percent of his own money. That's just completely not true. He's raised $4 million. He's put in $2 million of it. He's spent almost all of it."
Cuomo then gave his take on Trump's campaign spending, which led to Camerota's objection:
CHRIS CUOMO: And remember, how little he needs to spend. I don't know what he's done infrastructure-wise. It's kind of hard to get a bearing on that — who on the ground — and that's going to be dispositive, in terms of who wins the later primaries. But he has no beef with the media. I mean, you know, he's got nothing but free air time by us—
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Well, he did call us 'scum.' I mean, in terms — he has a beef, but it's not a legitimate beef.
Berman later contended that "Jeb Bush went wrong by not bashing the media when he was on stage," and cited how the former Florida governor, "when he was asked about fantasy football, answered the question! He said seven and 0, when I think the popular response was the one Chris Christie gave — which was, fantasy football?" (Haberman interjected that the moment was "really painful to watch.")
The transcript of the relevant portion of the John Berman/Maggie Berman segment from the October 29, 2015 edition of CNN's New Day:
JOHN BERMAN: He [Trump] did tell us he's about to spend a lot of money, which is interesting. If he follows through with that and puts up a lot of ads right now, that could change the dynamic in some places.
MAGGIE HABERMAN, PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK TIMES: They've been saying that for a while. He also said last night on the debate stage that he's raising — he's spending a hundred percent of his own money. That's just completely not true. He's raised—
BERMAN: He's got a donate button on his website, right?
HABERMAN: He's raised $4 million. He's put in $2 million of it. He's spent almost all of it—
CHRIS CUOMO: And remember, how little he needs to spend. I don't know what he's done infrastructure-wise. It's kind of hard to get a bearing on that — who on the ground — and that's going to be dispositive, in terms of who wins the later primaries. But he has no beef with the media. I mean, you know, he's got nothing but free air time by us—
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Well, he did call us 'scum.' I mean, in terms—
CUOMO: Yeah, but—
CAMEROTA: He has a beef, but it's not a legitimate beef—
CUOMO: That's because you can't — right. You can't go wrong with bashing the media. You just can't, especially within that party right now—
CAMEROTA: Oh, no! That's a — that's winning—
BERMAN: But you know where you went wrong last night? Jeb Bush went wrong by not bashing the media when he was on stage. What you saw were these good athletes — you saw Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, turn the debate in the moment. Ted Cruz's line was not scripted. He brought up what had happened on the stage. He took what was given to him. Jeb Bush, when he was asked about fantasy football—
HABERMAN: Answered the question. (laughs)
BERMAN: Answered the question!
HABERMAN: It was really painful to watch—
BERMAN: He said seven and 0, when — when I think the popular response was the one Chris Christie gave — which was, fantasy football?
HABERMAN: That's right.
