Even as Joe Biden routinely dodges questions from the press or voters, on Wednesday, the network morning shows were thrilled that President Trump was hit with a “barrage” of “tough questions” at Tuesday night’s ABC News town hall event. Rather than reward the President for actually engaging with the American people, the leftist media instead gleefully reveled in how he was “grilled” by alleged “uncommitted voters” handpicked by reporters.
Leading off ABC’s Good Morning America, co-host and Democratic Party operative George Stephanopoulos, who orchestrated the prime time ambush, happily proclaimed: “Face-to-face, President Trump and uncommitted voters in Pennsylvania at the ABC News town hall overnight....The President grilled on health care, race, taking tough questions on his handling of the pandemic.”
Minutes later, correspondent Cecilia Vega teed up some of the harshest queries thrown at Trump: “Overnight President Trump face-to-face with those uncommitted voters....His handling of the pandemic under fire from the beginning.” This series of soundbites ran:
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Why did you throw vulnerable people like me under the bus?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Why don’t you wear a mask more often?
ELLESIA BLAQUE: Please stop and let me finish my question, sir.
(...)
AJANI POWELL: If you believe it’s the president’s responsibility to protect America, why would you downplay a pandemic that is known to disproportionately harm low-income families and minority communities?
The reporter then hailed “The President also on the defensive over health care” and touted “This pastor, born and raised in Philadelphia, taking this moment of racial reckoning directly to the President and not letting up.” Voter Carl Day was shown ranting: “You’ve coined the phrase ‘Make America Great Again.’ When has America been great for African-Americans in the ghetto of America? Are you aware how tone deaf that comes off to African-American communities?”
Talking to the pastor after the event, Vega eagerly wondered: “I got to ask, who are you voting for? Do you know?” Day predictably replied: “Man, well, I’ll say it won’t be Trump. I’ll say that...” Sure didn’t sound like he was that open minded.
Following Vega’s hit piece, White House correspondent Jon Karl joined the program to declare the event a failure for Trump:
And to his credit, he did not do what he often does when he faces tough questions from reporters in the briefing rooms, he did not lose his cool. He listened, he engaged. That said, he did almost nothing to talk about his vision for a second term and nothing to overcome what is his biggest weakness in this race, and that is his handling of the pandemic....That is not going to overcome the doubts that a lot of voters have about how serious he is taking this.
Apparently something changed over just a matter of hours, because ABC’s Nightline, aired at midnight, provided positive reviews of how “empathetic” and “calm” Trump was during the “pretty good “ town hall.
“Tough questions. Undecided voters take on President Trump in a nationally televised town hall,” co-host Savannah Guthrie declared at the top of NBC’s Today show. Correspondent Peter Alexander celebrated the onslaught of hostile questions:
For the President, this town hall style event really represented a rare moment that put him face-to-face with voters who are not his fierce supporters. President Trump on the defensive over his handling of the coronavrius, touting a view of the pandemic that is starkly at odds with what many of his own top health officials are saying....Overnight President Trump in battleground Pennsylvania facing a barrage of challenging questions from undecided voters.
Opening CBS This Morning, co-host Anthony Mason announced: “Tough questions. President Trump defends his coronavirus response during a town hall with voters who demand answers.” Correspondent Weijia Jiang later sneered: “Voter after voter pressed President Trump about his handling of the pandemic....And each time, the President defended himself and deflected blame.”
When exactly will Biden be forced to answer a “barrage” of “tough questions” from voters or reporters? Given that most in the media are the Democratic nominee’s strongest base of support, the public sadly cannot rely on the press to properly vet the presidential candidate. Trump is at least willing take to the heat.
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Here are excerpts of the September 16 coverage on ABC’s GMA:
7:00 AM ET
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Face-to-face, President Trump and uncommitted voters in Pennsylvania at the ABC News town hall overnight.
AJANI POWELL: Why would you downplay a pandemic?
ELLESIA BLAQUE: Let me finish my question, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Why don’t you wear a mask?
STEPHANOPOULOS: The President grilled on health care, race, taking tough questions on his handling of the pandemic.
(...)
7:02 AM ET
STEPHANOPOULOS: Yeah, that was a different kind of forum for President Trump last night, taking questions from voters who haven’t yet made up their minds. Some supported him in the past and this is not something he’s done very, very often and you saw the questioners really revealed what’s on the minds, I think, of a lot of voters out there in the country right now. We’re gonna have more on that coming up.
(...)
7:08 AM ET
CECILIA VEGA: Yeah, these were really tough questions from these uncommitted voters here in this crucial battleground. Some of whom say they made up their minds after what they heard last night.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: High-Stakes Town Hall; President Trump Faces Uncommitted Voters]
Overnight President Trump face-to-face with those uncommitted voters.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Why did you throw vulnerable people like me under the bus?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Why don’t you wear a mask more often?
ELLESIA BLAQUE: Please stop and let me finish my question, sir.
VEGA: His handling of the pandemic under fire from the beginning.
AJANI POWELL: If you believe it’s the president’s responsibility to protect America, why would you downplay a pandemic that is known to disproportionately harm low-income families and minority communities?
(...)
7:10 AM ET
VEGA: The President also on the defensive over health care.
ELLESIA BLAQUE: Mr. President, I was born with a disease called sarcoidosis. And from the day I was born, I was considered uninsurable. I want to know what it is that you’re gonna do to ensure that people like me who work hard, we do everything we’re supposed to do, can stay insured.
DONALD TRUMP: We’re going to be doing a health care plan very strongly and protect people with pre-existing conditions. I will say this, they will not do that.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Mr. President...
TRUMP: They have socialized –
STEPHANOPOULOS: I have to stop you there. I just have to stop you there because just on a couple points. Number one, Joe Biden has ran against Medicare for All in the primaries, but much more importantly, ObamaCare guaranteed people with pre-existing conditions could buy insurance. You fought to repeal ObamaCare.
(...)
7:11 AM ET
VEGA: This pastor, born and raised in Philadelphia, taking this moment of racial reckoning directly to the President and not letting up.
CARL DAY: You’ve coined the phrase “Make America Great Again.” When has America been great for African-Americans in the ghetto of America? Are you aware how tone deaf that comes off to African-American communities?
TRUMP: Well, I can say this, we have tremendous African-American support. You probably have seen it in the polls, we’re doing extremely well.
DAY: I mean your statement is though make it great again. These things have historically been happening for African-Americans in these ghettos and we have not been seeing a change.
(...)
7:12 AM ET
VEGA: And when it was over, we followed up to ask the question. I got to ask, who are you voting for? Do you know?
DAY: Man, well, I’ll say it won’t be Trump. I’ll say that, you know, weigh my options, still undecided.
(...)
7:13 AM ET
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let’s get more on this from Jon Karl right now. And Jon, maybe that town meeting was a form of debate prep for President Trump, an unusual for forum for him.
JON KARL: This is something we almost never see, George, to see the President interacting with voters who are not his most loyal and enthusiast supporters. And to his credit, he did not do what he often does when he faces tough questions from reporters in the briefing rooms, he did not lose his cool. He listened, he engaged. That said, he did almost nothing to talk about his vision for a second term and nothing to overcome what is his biggest weakness in this race, and that is his handling of the pandemic. In fact, as you heard in Cecilia’s piece, he once again suggests that it will just go away even without a vaccine. That is not going to overcome the doubts that a lot of voters have about how serious he is taking this.
(...)
Here are excerpts of the coverage on NBC’s Today show:
7:00 AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Tough questions. Undecided voters take on President Trump in a nationally televised town hall.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Why would you downplay a pandemic?
(...)
7:09 AM ET
CRAIG MELVIN: President Trump facing some tough questions in a town hall overnight from a group of uncommitted voters in battleground Pennsylvania. NBC’s Peter Alexander is at the White House with more. Hey, Peter.
PETER ALEXANDER: Hey, Craig, good morning to you. For the President, this town hall style event really represented a rare moment that put him face-to-face with voters who are not his fierce supporters. President Trump on the defensive over his handling of the coronavrius, touting a view of the pandemic that is starkly at odds with what many of his own top health officials are saying.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Trump Faces the Voters; President Questioned on Pandemic, Health Care and Racial Issues]
Overnight President Trump in battleground Pennsylvania facing a barrage of challenging questions from undecided voters.
ELLESIA BLAQUE: Please stop and let me finish my question, sir.
ALEXANDER: During an ABC town hall, the President contradicting his own admission that he intentionally downplayed the coronavirus.
(...)
7:11 AM ET
ALEXANDER: Earlier Tuesday, Biden in Florida with Telemundo’s Jose Diaz-Balart, blasting the President’s handling of the pandemic.
JOE BIDEN: He knew how deadly this pandemic was and he denied it. He didn’t say a word to the American people about it. It’s been near criminal the way he’s handled this, it’s absolutely bizarre.
ALEXANDER: President Trump was also pressed on his reluctance to address racial injustice.
(...)
Here are excerpts of the coverage on CBS This Morning:
7:00 AM ET
ANTHONY MASON: Tough questions. President Trump defends his coronavirus response during a town hall with voters who demand answers. How he responded, plus Joe Biden’s new efforts at Latino outreach.
(...)
7:12 AM ET
ANTHONY MASON: President Trump is used to tackling reporters’ questions, but last night, he faced a new challenge from undecided voters. The ABC News town hall covered a series of issues, including the coronavirus pandemic that is still causing nearly 1,000 deaths a day in the U.S. As Weijia Jiang reports, the President defended his response and saw a lot of push-back.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Why did you throw vulnerable people like me under the bus?
JIANG: Voter after voter pressed President Trump about his handling of the pandemic.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Why don’t you support a mandate for national mask wearing?
JIANG: And each time, the President defended himself and deflected blame.
AJANI POWELL: If you believe it’s the president’s responsibility to protect America, why would you downplay a pandemic that is known to disproportionately harm low-income families and minority communities?
(...)
7:14 AM ET
JIANG: President Trump was asked what he would do to address the fact that black people in the United States are more than three times more likely to be killed by a police officer than white people. Following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others at the hands of police.
TRUMP: Well, I think they were tragic events, and I do feel that we have to also take into consideration that if you look at our police, they do a phenomenal job.
JIANG: But most of the President’s answers defended law enforcement.
TRUMP: We have to give the police the respect that they deserve, and we have to give them their mojo.
JIANG: There was this emotional exchange with a recently naturalized citizen who lost her mother last month to cancer.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I came to the United States with my mom. Sorry.
TRUMP: That’s alright, and just take your time. That’s fine.
JIANG: She asked on behalf of her mother how the President planned to reform immigration, but he could not provide any details.
(...)
