As the coronavirus crisis deepens, the media continue to sink lower in their vile attacks on Donald Trump and conservatives.
Liberal journalists like NBC Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd have questioned if “there is blood on the President’s hands?” New Yorker editor David Remnick charged Trump’s “narcissism” and “lack of empathy” has “led to disaster....paid in human lives.”
Others like MSNBC host Chris Hayes have suggested media outlets should refuse to air Trump’s “dangerous” and “crazy” daily briefings. His MSNBC colleague Joy Reid sounded conspiracy alarm bells as she warned the “would-be King” Trump was exploiting the pandemic to become a “monarch.”
The following are the most recent examples of journalists displaying their rage against Trump and conservatives during the coronavirus crisis:
1. Trump's “Lies” and “Narcissism” Being “Paid In Human Lives”
“The cocktail of all his [Donald Trump] worst qualities is mendaciousness, his constant telling of lies, his narcissism, his lack of empathy for people in general, his obsession with money, classes, etcetera, has led to disaster, has led to delay….History will prove this -- this will be something that’s paid in human lives and that's an enormous tragedy.”
— New Yorker editor David Remnick on CNN’s Reliable Sources, March 29.
2. “Blood” on Trump's Hands
“Do think there’s already -- do you think there is blood on the President’s hands, considering the slow response? Or is that too harsh of a criticism?”
— Host Chuck Todd to former Vice President Joe Biden on NBC’s Meet the Press, March 29.
3. Is Trump “Responsible for Deaths of Americans?”
“Mr. Vice President, do you think President Trump is responsible for the deaths of Americans?”
— Host Brooke Baldwin to former Vice President Joe Biden on CNN Newsroom, March 31.
4. Trump Culpable for “Fatalities... Every Few Minutes”
“Mr. Vice President, what is President Trump’s level of culpability, what’s his level of responsibility, say, toward the illness and fatalities we’re witnessing every few minutes these days?”
— Host Brian Williams to former Vice President Joe Biden on MSNBC’s The 11th Hour, March 31.
5. Tallying “Trump's Death Toll”
“Trump death toll= Total dead- lives that would have been spared had he acted on warnings. The rest are victims of Trump’s stupidity and narcissism.”
— April 1 tweet by Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin.
6. It’s “Crazy” to Keep Airing Trump’s “Dangerous” Corona Briefings
“I personally can’t help but feel these daily sessions are bad for the country, even dangerous from a public health perspective….It seems crazy to me that everyone is still taking them when you got the My Pillow guy getting up there talking about reading the Bible.”
— Host Chris Hayes to Democratic Senator Chris Murphy on MSNBC’s All In, March 30.
7. Interrupting the President for “Fact Checks”
“And the White House coronavirus briefing is about to begin. But before we go to it, we want to note a few things. First of all we know these briefings have a tendency to veer in a lot of different directions, not all of them are informative or relevant in the midst of this crisis. So we will listen as the President talks and we will make sure we’re giving you a fact check and putting what he says in context on the other side….If it veers too much off, we will break in – we will break off and come back here.”
— Host Chuck Todd on MSNBC’s MTP Daily, March 31.
8. Show the Briefings on Tape Delay?
“In terms of carrying them live, I think there's a legitimate debate about that….There's been an avalanche of misstatements, exaggerations, incorrect information that has come out, and it's got to be fact checked. It's got to be fact checked in real time.”
— ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, April 1.
9. How Far Will Republicans Let Trump Go?
“Republicans let it go when he [Donald Trump] chipped away at our democracy, undermining the media. When he chipped away at our democracy and cozied up to dictators….Are we going to find out the hard way that it is not okay to let a President run roughshod over our democracy and go completely unchecked? Are we going to find out the hard way, are Republicans and Democrats and American citizens going to find out by watching their families get ill from a virus that the president tried to play down?...How far are we going to let him go?”
— Host Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, March 26.
10. Conservatives Are Culpable
“It’s easy to blame Donald Trump and the President has been inept from the start. But there’s a much larger story behind this fiasco. America is paying the price today for decades of de-funding government, politicizing independent agencies, fetishizing local control and demeaning and disparaging government workers and bureaucrats.”
— Host Fareed Zakaria on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS, March 29.
11. Trump Using Virus to Become a “Monarch”
“It's hardly news that Trump has always had designs on reigning as a monarch with unlimited power, rather than serving as a mere president in a democracy. But with the country facing an unprecedented public health crisis, what lengths might he, backed by an Attorney General whose writings and actions point to a fundamental belief in an all-powerful presidency -- at least when the would-be king is a Republican -- what lengths might Trump go to, to expand his power under the guise of national security?”
— Host Joy Reid on MSNBC’s AM Joy, March 29.
12. Cuomo’s “Inspiring” Leadership Is “What We Need” Instead of Selfish Trump
“[New York Governor Andrew] Cuomo’s rallying cry stands in sharp contrast to the rhetoric from President Donald Trump throughout this crisis. What Trump has always struggled to do....is to lead with empathy. To put the ‘we’ before the ‘me’....To grasp that leadership isn't just about dividing us for political gain but uniting us behind a common challenge and goal. That is something Trump has never grasped.”
— CNN politics reporter Chris Cillizza in March 24 CNN.com article “Everyone Needs to See Andrew Cuomo’s Inspiring Words On the Fight Against Coronavirus.”
BONUS QUOTES
Shameless: Cuomo Pushes His Own Brother to Run for President, Bash Trump
“With all of this adulation you’re getting for doing your job, are you thinking about running for president? Tell the audience.”
— Host Chris Cuomo to his brother and New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time, March 30.
Reporter Admits She Is On the Opposite “Team”
“I have to say thank you to Jeremy [Diamond] of CNN for giving me the opportunity to ask my second question. We know now that covering President Trump sometimes is like a team sport. We have to have each other's back in the press corps and Jeremy had my back today.”
— PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor on MSNBC Live, March 29.
On the Bright Side of Coronavirus…
“An interesting correlation to the coronavirus, if there is any, any silver lining, pollution levels way, way down.”
— Weatherman Al Roker on NBC’s Today, April 1.
For more attacks on Trump and conservatives during the coronavirus crisis, see these previous articles:
