When it comes to elections, the media should be pro-debate, especially when no votes have officially been cast, but the post-non Trump debate coverage on Thursday’s Good Morning America on ABC and CBS Mornings dismissed the whole thing as a “fantasy land” that resembled a “job interview” in which the candidate has already been selected.
On GMA, chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl summarized the previous evening’s festivities, “we got to see a world, maybe it's a fantasy land. We got to see a world where Donald Trump was not a candidate, for a moment, for about 90 minutes in that debate you saw eight other Republicans debating. His name was not mentioned.”
This supposed alternative universe “It was a lively debate on some substantive issues and, you know, and people scored points, it was a pretty good primary debate and then you realize, we don't live in that world.”
Before host George Stephanopoulos interrupted him to change the topic to horse race-style analysis, Karl concluded, “Donald Trump is far and away the leading candidate. Did anything change? Not last night, but I think that if this keeps happening, if we keep-- if we continue to have more debates, Republican voters will get to see what that world looks like. There are other voices out there vying to—”
Over at CBS, chief political analyst John Dickerson also dismissed the idea the debate could be of any major significance, “It was a good night for Donald Trump for two—for a couple of reasons. One, there was no challenger that emerged.… It also means no one had a moment where a voter in Iowa could say, ‘You know, I love Trump but, boy, I was really interested in this.’”
Dickerson further added, “The candidates didn’t really give those voters that ‘this,’ but the other thing that struck me about that debate is it felt like a job interview in which there is already an internal candidate.”
Repeating himself, Dickerson lamented, “In other words, the interviews take place, all the motions are gone through, but the person’s already been picked. In that case it was Donald Trump's turf, not just because the moderators were very delicate and almost apologetic about raising any of the issues related to his presidency, but also the audience when anything was said that seemed anti-Trump, they booed the person who said it.”
Wednesday’s debate does not have to be a “fantasy land” or sham job interview. The media could have substantive discussions on domestic and foreign policy or give the non-Trump candidates more air time, but they choose not to.
Good Morning America was sponsored by Fresh Pet and CBS Mornings was sponsored by Toyota.
Here are transcripts for the August 24 shows:
ABC Good Morning America
8/24/2023
7:10 AM ET
JONATHAN KARL: Well George, we got to see a world, maybe it's a fantasy land. We got to see a world where Donald Trump was not a candidate, for a moment, for about 90 minutes in that debate you saw eight other Republicans debating. His name was not mentioned. It was a lively debate on some substantive issues and, you know, and people scored points, it was a pretty good primary debate and then you realize, we don't live in that world. Donald Trump is far and away the leading candidate. Did anything change? Not last night, but I think that if this keeps happening, if we keep-- if we continue to have more debates, Republican voters will get to see what that world looks like. There are other voices out there vying to—
…
CBS Mornings
8/24/2023
8:02 AM ET
JOHN DICKERSON: It was a good night for Donald Trump for two—for a couple of reasons. One, there was no challenger that emerged. The field is still roughly sorting itself out. Every day that sorts it itself out, that's better for him because he's the front runner by such a wide margin and in the polls and by everything our reporting tells us and that doesn't just mean that nobody laid a glove on him. It also means no one had a moment where a voter in Iowa could say, “You know, I love Trump but, boy, I was really interested in this.”
The candidates didn’t really give those voters that “this,” but the other thing that struck me about that debate is it felt like a job interview in which there is already an internal candidate.
In other words, the interviews take place, all the motions are gone through, but the person’s already been picked. In that case it was Donald Trump's turf, not just because the moderators were very delicate and almost apologetic about raising any of the issues related to his presidency, but also the audience when anything was said that seemed anti-Trump, they booed the person who said it.
GAYLE KING: They—yes, yes.
DICKERSON: That is a self-reinforcing process that keeps Donald Trump in the high position he has.
