On the Wednesday's New Day, Hogan Gidley, the press secretary for the Trump campaign, called out the "the biased coverage against this President," adding that "95 percent of the news coverage attacks him at every single turn.” What is funny is that while he was making the point, CNN proved it. During the broadcast, it was a tale of two interviews, with representatives from both the Trump and Biden campaigns being held.
The difference between the two were staggering, Biden adviser Symone Sanders was able to finish her answers to calm easy questions while Gidley was given curveballs and barely able to finish a sentence. From watching these two interviews, it is clear that CNN is on the side of Joe Biden.
Gidley’s comments mirror data that has been research by the Media Research Center, the media coverage is heavily biased favoring Joe Biden. The two interviews highlighted how different the coverage was. The only time that co-host John Berman challenged Sanders was to excitedly push to find out if Biden and former President Obama would appear together. Otherwise, she got to give what amounted to an eight minute and fifty-one second ad to push for her candidate.
Throughout the interview, Berman was happy to serve up easy soft balls like: “Symone, what about that? What about this claim from the White House science policy office listing ending the pandemic as an accomplishment?” With this questions, and several others, she was able to hype her candidate and attack the President, convenient.
Berman further gave Sanders opportunities to attack the President, such as when he played a clip featuring the President’s son-in-law. The leftist host gave much better treatment to Joe Biden.
On the flip side, Alisyn Camerota constantly harassed her guest, Gidley, and asked him leading questions: “How can ending the pandemic be the top accomplishment of the White House? “ It should be noted that Camerota did not even left him finish his answer before declaring another: “Do you think the White House has ended it?”
Throughout the course of the interview, over ten separate times Camerota interrupted his point to argue with it, demean it, call it “just a fallacy”, and occasionally yell at him. It is no wonder Republicans and conservatives often reject invitations to come onto CNN if this is how they are treated.
While a journalist is supposed to push a campaign press secretary, the double standard and unfair treatment violates the spirit of the job. Neither is asking leading questions like: “[Wisconsin’s Governor]'s basically saying staying home is saving lives. Why is Vice President Pence going there for a rally?” This is not a fact finding question, this is an attack.
CNN once again showed its biased, helping and covering for Joe Biden while constantly attacking Trump.
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A transcript of the October 28th Coverage is included below:
New Day
10/28/20
7:15 AM ETJOHN BERMAN: This morning, coronavirus cases are surging across the country. Record numbers of new cases. It is clearly not over. Yet, the White House lists, quote, ending the covid-19 pandemic as one of its top accomplishments. Joining us now is Symone Sanders, she is a senior adviser to the Biden campaign. Symone, what about that? What about this claim from the White House science policy office listing ending the pandemic as an accomplishment?
SYMONE SANDERS [Senior Adviser, Biden Campaign]: Well, good morning, John. I am -- I -- you know, it pains me to think about the callousness of this White House. Obviously, the pandemic is not over. More than 220,000 Americans are dead. And now we know from a new study from Columbia University, at least 210,000 of those American lives could have been saved. So, what we have been saying from the onset, frankly, of this pandemic, is that you have to take this seriously. That the White House has to put measures in place to mitigate this virus. And frankly, Donald Trump and the Trump administration have failed the American people on this.
BERMAN: I want to ask you about election night. November 3rd. We've had reports this morning, talking about how Pennsylvania will process the ballots. They're not going to start opening ballots until November 3rd, even though they have more than a million in their pockets right now. So I want to know what your plans are for reacting to the returns as they are made public that night? And if, for instance, President Trump comes out and declares victory. Says, hey, based on the count now at 11:59 P.M. November 3rd, I've won. How are you going to handle that?
SANDERS: Well, John, frankly, I don't think the American people will stand for that. Look, I don't have any new news to break for you this morning on our process yet, just for election day, but this is what I can tell you. I can tell you that over the next couple of days, vice President Biden, senator Harris, Dr. Biden, Doug Imhoff and our entire campaign are working to get out the vote, we view election day as the deadline, because people are voting right now all across this country. And when election day comes, you know, we are buckling down and we're looking forward to seeing those returns come in. We know that millions of people, I believe, more than 70 million people have already voted across this country. We believe the American people will be heard, John. And I think it's incumbent upon all of us, especially the news media to ensure that that is, in fact, the case.
BERMAN: But isn't there a messaging thing if you, as well. Doesn't it make sense or to what extent does it make sense to start warning now that the results may not be available next Tuesday night?
SANDERS: Well, look, I think what we have been saying throughout the last couple of weeks have been consistent. We've been saying, look, the American people shall be heard. The President is trying to scare people about this election. The President has actively been engaged in voter suppression efforts, trying to undermine this election. So it should be no surprise to folks that the President is floating things, such as, well, we have to know on election night. I believe that in 2016, we didn't have a definitive answer on the election until the wee hours of Wednesday morning. So the American people have to be vigilant. But to be clear, if folks come out and make their voices heard all across this country, if they come out and vote for protection of pre-existing conditions, if they vote for an economy that works for everyone, they will be heard and I think that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be victorious, if we do the work. We're working on doing the work over the next couple of days.
BERMAN: All right. You know Democrats, right? You're a Democrat. You know how Democrats like to panic.
SANDERS: Just a little bit.
BERMAN: Or like to be nervous. Sometimes appropriately, sometimes it's just because it's what they do. So I want to put up a headline from "The Boston globe" for you from late October of 2016. This is "The Boston Globe." I think the date was like October 21st. Clinton leads democratic charge into red states. This is as Hillary Clinton went to Arizona. So vice President Biden went to Georgia yesterday. He's going to Iowa on Friday. Both of those states are states that Donald Trump won by a lot last time, and there are Democrats who are saying, hey, wait a minute, maybe that time would be better spent fighting in the blue wall in Pennsylvania every day. Just planting in Pennsylvania and not leaving. So why or why not is 2020 similar or different than 2016?
SANDERS: Well, John, look, I'll say this. I think that we have been very clear about where our priorities are as a campaign. Now, we're also, we've been very clear that we want as many paths to 270 as possible. But we have invested real resources in Pennsylvania, in Wisconsin, in Michigan. Vice President Biden and our entire campaign have been to Florida a number of times. I do believe earlier this week, Vice President Biden was, in fact, in Chester, Pennsylvania. So we are not taking anything for granted. We don't believe we have anything in the bag. Nothing quote/unquote is safe. But what we do believe is that we have to work for every single vote in places all across this country. Today, Senator Harris will be in Arizona. Vice President Biden will be in Delaware, getting a briefing on COVID-19 and speaking to the American people. Just yesterday, Dr. Biden was in Maine, with Saria Gideon, campaigning with her in Maine's congressional district. So we are not taking everything for granted. We are all about ensuring that we are fighting for every single vote.
BERMAN: Will Joe Biden go back to Pennsylvania before November 3rd?
SANDERS: I think it is safe to say that we believe Pennsylvania is important. And they have seen a lot of our campaign and that won't stop before election day.
BERMAN: Former President Barack Obama, our Jeff Zeleny has reported that there will be a joint appearance, some joint campaigning between Joe Biden and Barack Obama as soon as this weekend. What can you tell us about that?
SANDERS: Well, what I can tell you is that President Obama has been such an effective, just champion for vice President Biden's campaign and we were so excited to have him on the campaign trail yesterday, giving a very fiery speech. I tuned in. I know folks all across the country were watching. And we're looking forward to, yes, him, too campaigning in the closing –
BERMAN: Together? Together?
SANDERS: I don't have any news on where.
BERMAN: But they are doing it together?
SANDERS: But –
BERMAN: They are going to campaign together?
SANDERS: But -- President Obama will be out on the campaign trail as will Joe Biden.
BERMAN: I want to get your last take on something Jared Kushner said the other day, senior adviser to the President. He was talking about engagement with African-Americans in the country and this is what Kushner said.
JARED KUSHNER [Senior White House Adviser]: One thing we've seen in a lot of the black community, which is mostly Democrat, is that President Trump's policies are the policies that can help people break out of the problems that they're complaining about, but he can't want them to be successful more than they want to be successful.
BERMAN: Symone, when you heard that, what did you think?
SANDERS: I thought a couple of things, John. First and foremost, I thought it was ignorant and a trope of black people in America. But what I also thought when I heard it is that, I don't think -- I don't think requiring the President of the United States to take this virus seriously is complaining. I do not think black business owners across this country, many of whom have had to shutter their doors are complaining when they are asking for a plan from the federal government to mitigate this virus. I don't think it's complaining to know that more than 220,000 Americans are dead and disproportionately those folks are black and Latino in this country. I don't think it's complaining. And so I really think that this is just a further demonstration of how this administration has failed the American people, has failed black Americans in this country. And I'll end with this, John, since March, 1 in 1,000 black people in this country have died. Are dead due to COVID-19. Projections are estimating that as soon as the end of this year, it will be 1 in 500. As we sit here today, 1 in 8 black Americans in this country are unemployed. That is a failure of the federal government. That, to me, is Donald Trump's policies failing black Americans. So I will just say that folks have a choice this election. A choice between the leadership that they've seen and the vision that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have laid out. And over the next couple of days, we will be actively making a forceful case for why Joe Biden should be the next President of the United States and why his plan is a plan that will benefit all Americans.
BERMAN: Symone Sanders, we appreciate you being with us this morning.
SANDERS: Thank you so much.
New Day
10/28/20
8:14 AM ETALISYN CAMEROTA: Just six days left until election day as the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. Is getting worse this week. More than 73,000 new coronavirus cases were reported just yesterday. That's the fourth highest day ever. More than 44,000 Americans are hospitalized, that's up 50% in just the next month. Almost 1,000 Americans died from the virus yesterday. Yet the White House's science policy office is listing ending the covid-19 pandemic among the Trump administration's first-term accomplishments. Here is part of their press release from the outset of the covid-19 pandemic the administration has taken decisive actions to engage scientists and health professionals in academia, in industry, government, to understand, treat and defeat the disease. Joining us now is Hogan Gidley, the Trump campaign's national press secretary. Hogan, good morning.
HOGAN GIDELY [National Press Secretary, Trump Campaign]: Good morning, Alisyn. Thanks so much for having me. I appreciate the time.
CAMEROTA: Thanks for being here. How can ending the pandemic be the top accomplishment of the White House?
GIDLEY: Well, look, I think the President took leadership on this issue very early on when so many on the left refused to acknowledge T we remember Nancy Pelosi in chinatown saying this wasn't a real thing. We remember Governor Cuomo leaving his state open days after the rest of the country began to lock down. This President has understood that this virus was traveling through the world, it was unprecedented, it was unforeseen, unleashed on this -- on this global community by China –
CAMEROTA: Do you think the White House has ended it?
GIDLEY: The world health organization lied about all the malfeasance and covered it up.
CAMEROTA: I'm not talking about fighting it. I'm talking about ending T do you think the pandemic has ended?
GIDLEY: We're moving in the right direction. I think that's what the President has talk being on the campaign trail. We're seeing a reduction in deaths by 70%.
CAMEROTA: Almost 1,000 people still died. Hogan, I'm just talking about the language why does it say as the top accomplishment ending the covid-19 pandemic? Do you think it has ended?
GIDLEY: I didn't write the document, I don't know who said that.
CAMEROTA: But you think that's erroneous?
GIDLEY: I don't know. I have not seen the document.
CAMEROTA: I'm reading it to you.
GIDLEY: I don't know, I'm just telling you we're moving in the right direction.
CAMEROTA: If the document said ended that would be wrong?
GIDLEY: I'm not looking at the document. I don't know what the document says or how it characterizes the word ending but I'm not going to quibble over semantics, the fact is we're moving in the right direction.
CAMEROTA: It's just the conclusion.
GIDLEY: Shut this country back down again which is what Joe Biden is trying to do. The American people don’t deserve that, and they can't handle another shutdown across this country.
CAMEROTA: You know what Hogan; I do want to ask about what happened this Wisconsin because the shutdown comes into play there. So, Vice President Pence is going to, I think, central Wisconsin today to hold a rally and the Governor there has really come out with, I think, a very -- he's basically imploring people to stay home. He said there is no way to sugar coat it, we are facing an urgent crisis, there is an imminent risk to you, your family members, friends and neighbors and the people you care about. He's basically saying staying home is saving lives. Why is Vice President Pence going there for a rally?
GIDLEY: Well, I understand democratic governors don't like it when a Republican President shows up to talk about the record setting accomplishments and record setting time. I think it should be noted, however, that these Governors are largely silent when people lock arms and march through our city streets and burn down churches, smash storefronts and assault innocent Americans –
[Note they start talking over each other]
CAMEROTA: I don't think that the Governors have been silent about that.
GIDLEY: - leaving them to die in the middle of the street.
CAMEROTA: I’m just saying today –
GIDLEY: - However, when you want to exercise your first amendment right -
CAMEROTA: Why hold a big -
GIDLEY: -- To stand –
CAMEROTA: -- Rally –
GIDLEY: Again, it’s your first amendment right to peacefully assemble. And in this particular instance, when anyone shows up to our events we take all the necessary health precautions, we hand out masks, tell people to wear them, we temperature check everyone who comes into the facility –
[Gidley finishes his thought as Camerota starts talking over him].
CAMEROTA: Does President Trump –
GIDLEY: There is more hand sanitizer than one could ever use. And that is important.
CAMEROTA: let me just ask you that, Hogan, does President Trump and Vice President pence from the podium say, okay, now, everybody put on your masks?
GIDLEY: I'm not -- I haven't been to a rally in a while, I'm not exactly what they're saying from the podium. They are given the masks and people are told to wear them. People also have a right in this country to do what they want to do, because we have certain freedoms -
[Camerota again interrupts him]
CAMEROTA: Well of course -
GIDLEY: - that we are afforded by the United States of America.
CAMEROTA: - I'm just talking about public health.
GIDLEY: The states where there are mask mandates, as documented by the Governors there, then they should follow those restrictions and follow those guidelines –
CAMEROTA: I understand -
GIDLEY: - absolutely, but you can't mandate masks from a federal level because that's unconstitutional. Something that Joe Biden has said he wants to do but then had to admit he couldn’t
CAMEROTA: You could encourage it, you could model it.
GIDLEY: Of course we've encouraged it we are the ones who put out the guidelines. Listen, it was Joe Biden who said he would call all these governors. Why hasn't he been doing that is correct number one? And number two, a lot of these Democrat governors haven't put mask mandates in their states. If he is, quote/unquote, the party, then why aren't they listening to the leader of their party? Because they know people in the states want freedom and they're going to act responsibly when their own health is at risk.
CAMEROTA: Well, let's talk about acting responsibly. Just again with Wisconsin are you at all concerned given that there has been an outbreak in the Vice President's orbit of people around him and that there is currently an outbreak -- I mean, hospitals in Wisconsin are near capacity and so does that give you any pause or the Vice President any pause about going there and holding a big rally?
GIDLEY: No, it doesn't. The Vice President has the best doctors in the world around him, they're obviously contact traced and have come to the conclusion it's fine for him to be out on the campaign trail. The American people have the right under the first amendment to peaceably assemble, too. The fact is, we are seeing some good news about coronavirus and all of the sadness that we've seen not just from the loss of life but the loss of livelihoods, the loss of businesses, we are seeing a reduction in deaths of 70%, 45% reduction in deaths in the nursing home population alone. That's encouraging. We're seeing four potential vaccines in phase three clinical trials at this moment. Of the excessive death rates in this country, as modeled around the globe, a third of those aren't even related to covid, they are related to heart disease and diabetes and other issues. –
[Camerota begins talking over him]
CAMEROTA: Hogan, that's not fair.
GIDLEY: So we are seeing some good information out there as we are moving forward.
CAMEROTA: Just because some people have comorbidities doesn't mean they would have died last month. They're dying because of covid.
GIDLEY: That's not what I said. I'm saying a third of those weren't related to covid virus, in fact, they were related to other illnesses.
CAMEROTA: Hold on. Let me just clarify. Of the 225,000 deaths -- sorry, 226,000 deaths you don't believe that those are from covid?
GIDLEY: No, that's not what I said. I said the excess mortality rate of which we are one of the lowest in the world, a third of those have now been discovered to not be related to covid virus at all but to other issues.
CAMEROTA: I'm just talking about the covid deaths right now. Let me play something that the President said that I need you to help clarify for us. It sounds like he's basically saying he's getting sick of hearing about covid on the news. Let me just play this for you from yesterday.
DONALD TRUMP: Covid, you turn on the news, covid, covid. Do you know when they're going to stop talking about it so much? November 4th. You're right. November 4th. It's a whole crazy thing. [Spliced Clip]: All they want to talk about is covid. But the good news on the 4th they'll stop talking –
CAMEROTA: So can you explain that, Hogan? Why does it go away on the 4th?
GIDLEY: I think the President is being pretty clear there that the coverage of this virus has been exorbitantly negative, even when there are breakthroughs and good news, when you have just last week the scientists and the scientific community pointing to several of the therapeutics coming online. -
CAMEROTA: - We reported on that.
GIDLEY: Remdesivir and also regeneron, those are good things to tell out there. Absolutely that's good news.
CAMEROTA: Explain to me why is it going away?
GIDLEY: -- Leadership that those things are even being talked about right now because Operation Warped Speed is something that Joe Biden couldn't have done. He worked with the public/private partnerships, he developed those to ensure that the American people could get these vaccines in record-setting time.
CAMEROTA: Believe me, we talk about the vaccines and the timeline all the time. You expect -- I'm sorry, when?
GIDLEY: I said we expect to get that very soon.
CAMEROTA: But why is the coverage going to go away on November 4th?
GIDLEY: Look, I think the President is pointing out the fact that the media has largely made this -- made this issue one that has been political in nature, saying that basically if Joe Biden gets elected then all of your problems and all of your ills and all of your woes will go away regardless of what the American people are facing out there. I listen to CNN quite regularly and I think that's largely what a lot of anchors and reporters opine about. –
CAMEROTA: Is he suggesting that it's a media hoax and that on November 4th we're not still going to report on the deaths and the record hospitalizations.
GIDLEY: Alisyn, he is not saying it's a hoax. -
CAMEROTA: Why wouldn’t we report on it on November 4th?
GIDLEY: The biased coverage against this President when 95% of the news coverage attacks him at every single turn. If we had the record setting success of trade deals that work for the American people and peace deals no one thought possible, defeating ISIS, bringing hostages home, cutting taxes, high employment records for –
CAMEROTA: Hogan, I’m just talking about coronavirus deaths.
GIDLEY: - African Americans, Asian American, Hispanic Americans, and women. -
CAMEROTA: Hogan, I hear your message. I'm just trying to figure out –
GIDLEY: -- On top of that, when a global pandemic faces this country, and this President steps up and saves countless lives because of his moves, we know that because the doctors, Fauci, Burke, Hahn and Redfield have all said so. You guys would be turning cartwheels -
CAMEROTA: [Sighs] Hogan 226,000 Americans are dead.
GIDLEY: - saying wow look at this. If he had a D by his name you would be saying he's going to sail to reelection and you know that.
CAMEROTA: Hogan, all of that is just a fallacy. And I can assure you that sadly on November 4th we still expect to be reporting on record deaths and record hospitalizations and whatever happens, and we will still be reporting on it as we do every day. I wish we didn't have to, but we do report on that every day. Hogan, we really appreciate you coming on with a message from the campaign and the White House. Obviously we are watching very closely and we will see you again soon.
