During an appearance on CBS This Morning to preview Thursday’s GOP presidential debate, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul harshly criticized the media for giving Donald Trump so much coverage while ignoring the other 16 candidates running for president.
After Charlie Rose wondered why Paul’s message failed to connect with the voters in the same way as Trump, the Kentucky senator explained that Trump "had a little bit of help. Y'all covered him with about a billion dollars’ worth of news media.”
Paul admitted that he “had a little trouble getting traction” with his message among GOP primary voters which he didn’t “blame anyone” for, but insisted the media’s over-the-top coverage of Donald Trump did play a role in his low poll numbers:
But you have to admit that there's been an extraordinary amount of attention paid to one person. And I think anybody's numbers would rise with that amount of attention.
In fact, according to an analysis by the Media Research Center’s Rich Noyes, Trump has received the overwhelming amount of media coverage among all GOP presidential candidates since the start of this year.
In a review of every ABC, CBS, and NBC evening newscast from January 1 through July 31, including weekends, Donald Trump received 116 minutes of coverage whereas Rand Paul received a mere 17 minutes of coverage from the “Big Three” evening newscasts. The candidate who came in second in terms of network coverage was Jeb Bush, who received 72 minutes from the network evening newscasts.
See relevant transcript below.
CBS This Morning
August 6, 2015
CHARLIE ROSE: Let me go back to Norah's question about Donald Trump. What do you make of his rise in the polls? Is it in your judgment more rhetoric and bombast than it is policy and specific public positions?
RAND PAUL: Yes. And I think what he's tapped into, though, is that 90% of people are unhappy with Washington. In fact, that's why I ran for office. I'm a physician. I had never been involved in politics, and I was able to beat an establishment politician because I ran against the machine. I still intend to do so because 90% of people are unhappy. I think we need term limits. I'd wash the whole place out.
The whole place needs to be, you know, clean swept and start over again. I've met almost every leader on the stage in Washington, and there is no monopoly of knowledge up there. We need new people, and one of the big proponents and one of the things I will propose is that we have term limits. I think we ought to send them all home, myself included.
ROSE: Okay, but why has Donald Trump tapped into this rather than you according to the polls?
PAUL: Well, he had a little bit of help. Y'all covered him with about a billion dollars’ worth of news media. It's all your fault, Charlie.
ROSE: Oh, I see.
PAUL: You know. No, the thing is is that, for example, I've been talking about a flat tax where we eliminate the entire tax code to try to get American jobs to come home and American companies to come home. But I have really had a little trouble getting traction with getting the message out. And I don't blame anyone. I mean, the news is what the news is.
But you have to admit that there's been an extraordinary amount of attention paid to one person. And I think anybody's numbers would rise with that amount of attention. So our job is to break through. Our job tonight is to step up, defend and maybe demolish some other bad ideas that are out there or point out that maybe there are some empty suits without ideas.
ROSE: Who would that be?
PAUL: It could be -- there's 15 to choose from. So we'll see tonight who that is. But I think it is good to draw distinctions, and I'm a big believer, you know, I don't believe in hurling insults, but I'm a big believer in, you know, mixing it up. We ought to know the differences between the candidates. And let's see how much substance we can have come forward.
