MSNBC may have let the cat out of the bag on Friday morning’s episode of Morning Joe. The liberal media want Donald Trump to be the GOP nominee, and will hail his skill at manipulating them. Joe Scarborough admitted that the way the media covers Trump is way over the top. “We were going over homework and we turned on the TV and I'm glad I did. It was Trump's plane landing in Des Moines. And I swear to God -- It was like the pope had landed with the Middle East peace pact to end 3,000 years of war.”
Mika Brzezinski explained that the media knew Trump's schedule to a T, and willingly marched to the beat of his drum on the day of the debate. “I was talking to him and he said “I'm going to land exactly at this time and I’m going to come on stage exactly at this time.” And all those things played to perfection and had all the cameras pitched toward him all night long.”
“It’s all planned out masterfully. It’s all in his head. He knew in the morning we were calling, we were calling Fox and saying what's going to happen?” Scarborough agreed.
This is not the first time the media has gone above and beyond what is reasonable to cover the presidential candidate. Former Treasury Official Steve Rattner recounted the media circus surrounding Trump's visit to Arizona, even comparing it to the coverage of a “king.” “He did the same thing at that rally in Arizona. Where he had the whole crowd in the hangar, he landed the plane, the cameras are ready, the plane taxis up, you see “Trump” across the side, he descends like he's the pope or the king or something.”
Even Trump’s boycott of the GOP debate got him favorable screen time on TV. The network morning shows gave Trump a whopping 21 minutes of coverage while only giving the rest of the field 7 minutes (and 43 seconds). That's almost three times as much coverage. In the Thursday run-up to the debate the networks gave Trump a staggering 10 minutes of coverage. In contrast they only gave 1 minute and 29 seconds to the debate proper, or more than six times as much coverage.
MRC's study of Trump coverage has shown that very little of the coverage is of Trump’s liberal past. Of the 684 minutes of Trump coverage, from the evening news, only 9 minutes and 25 seconds are of his liberal past. Such information could be helpful to a GOP primary voter conflicted on whom to vote for. The rest of the coverage is of the many Trump controversies that could hurt his, and the GOP’s chances of winning in November. This kind of selective coverage is reminiscent of the media’s king-like coverage of Obama during the 2008 and 2012 elections.
Transcript below:
MSNBC
Morning Joe
January 29, 2016
6:05:09 – 6:06:43 a.m. EasternJOE SCARBOROUGH: Like last night she [Mika Brzezinski] was like “you have to turn on the TV.”
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: And you’re glad you did.
SCARBOROUGH: Kate was there. Jack was there. We were going over homework and we turned on the TV and I'm glad I did. It was Trump's plane landing in Des Moines. And I swear to GOD –
BRZEZINSKI: It was unbelievable.
SCARBOROUGH: It was like the pope had landed with the—
NICOLLE WALLACE: Probably a nicer plane.
SCARBOROUGH: -- with the Middle East peace pact to end 3,000 years of war. It was-- I’m just following up what Cokie said. The grand spectacle of it all was every bit as remarkable as the story Heilemann told in Iowa –
BRZEZINSKI: And he planned it.
SCARBOROUGH: Yeah he planned it.
BRZEZINSKI: I was talking to him and he said I'm going to land exactly at this time and I’m going to come on stage exactly at this time. And all those things played to perfection and had all the cameras pitched toward him all night long.
SCARBOROUGH: That’s the thing that people don’t understand. He doesn't have a team of 500, he has a
team of like three. And—It’s all planned out masterfully. It’s all in his head. He knew in the morning we were calling, we were calling Fox and saying what's going to happen? He said “I'm going to do what I'm going do, I'm going to fly in at this time and everybody's camera is going to be on me.”
BRZEZINSKI: How do plan exactly all of that?
STEVE RATTNER: He did the same thing at that rally in Arizona. Where he had the whole crowd in the hangar, he landed the plane, the cameras are ready, the plane taxis up, you see “Trump” across the side, he descends like he's the pope or the King or something –
BRZEZINSKI: He’s Donald Trump, actually.
SCARBOROUGH: But—But the thing is he-- Everybody thinks that he just sort of bumbles into this stuff. The whole thing has been planned.
