One reason that journalists can't seem to understand the seriousness of the immigration issue raised by Donald Trump is because they are "baffled" by him, according to a reporter who has worked for the Daily Beast and Slate. Betsy Woodruff appeared on Fox News's MediaBuzz, Sunday, and said this of political reporters: "They see him as a fraudulent, petulant goofball blowhard who is only running for office so reporters will write about him and that makes reporters not want to write about him."
She added, "We have resisted as long as possible, but he's polling like crazy." Anchor Howard Kurtz wondered if "your colleagues" are "wrong and he's touching a nerve." Woodruff conceded, "For most national politics reporters, the love of Trump is baffling and that is, itself, a bubble "
She explained the confusion amongst her fellow journalists:
BETSY WOODRUFF: Look, the majority of national politics reporters live in New York and D.C., in urban areas. They tend to skew left. They don't spend time with Donald Trump fans and they/we are all very surprised to see blocks and blocks in Phoenix full of people waiting for hours in 100-degree weather to hear this guy.
If reporters can't understand why the immigration issue is connecting for Trump's campaign, how will they comprehend it for more plausible Republican candidates?
A partial transcript is below:
MediaBuzz
7/12/15
11:42HOWARD KURTZ: Is he cleverly, diabolically manipulating the media or are the media just kind of rolling over because, as we say in television, he rates?
BETSY WOODRUFF: Look, the media and national political reporters that I know and spend time with have one view of Donald Trump. We see him, they see him as a fraudulent, petulant goofball blowhard who is only running for office so reporters will write about him and that makes reporters not want to write about him. We have resisted as long as possible. But he's polling like crazy.
11:44
KURTZ: What about the people who you say who your colleagues who don't really want to write or talk about him were calling him a blow hard? What if they're in a bubble? What if they're wrong and he's touching a nerve with the primary Republican electorate?
WOODRUFF: Well, I think to an extent, they really are. Look, the majority of national politics reporters live in New York and D.C., in urban areas. They tend to skew left. They don't spend time with Donald Trump fans and they/we are all very surprised to see blocks and blocks in Phoenix full of people waiting for hours in 100-degree weather to hear this guy. For most national politics reporters, the love of Trump is baffling and that is, itself, a bubble.
