Lord knows, the New York Times serves as a reliable media arm of the DNC. But let the newspaper stray from that mission for a millisecond, and the liberal establishment will come down on it like a ton of bricks.
On Joy Reid's show today, MSNBC contributor Maria Teresa Kumar of Voto Latino was furious at the Times in general, and its Ken Vogel in particular, for reporting the story of how Joe Biden intervened to have fired the prosecutor who was investigating a company that was paying Biden's son Hunter.
At one point, Kumar made a telling slip of the tongue, saying, "the Democrats -- excuse me, the American people -- expect [the Times] to be talking to them, and giving them the analysis, and not equivocating [sic, meant "equating"] things because they would like to have access."
MARIA TERESA KUMAR: I think the biggest challenge, too, is that Ken Vogel doesn't actually declare the source, that Peter Schweizer is underwritten by the Mercer family. The Mercer family is a neo-fascist family that underwrites Steve Bannon, that does the Breitbart reports, all of it. So it is not credible.
And what they have done so stealthily, they do it so well, is that they know that if they can have any type of story in an established newspaper as is the New York Times, that immediately [inaudible] any sense of legitimacy. And then, what happens, Fox News takes it, Breitbart takes it, all the ultra-right-wings take it and say, look: the New York Times is saying it, so it must be true.
In other words, Kumar was saying that the Times should only report the Democrat spin -- the alleged Trump request that Ukraine investigate Biden, but should not report on the "neo-fascist" focus on Joe Biden's reported intervention with Ukraine on behalf of Hunter. The liberals cannot stand it when the Times cooperates with Peter Schweizer, as they did on investigations of Hillary and Bill Clinton in the last cycle.
Vogel's sin, in the eyes of Kumar and other liberals, was having said on Nicolle Wallace's MSNBC show this past Friday that Hunter Biden’s Ukraine activity “is a significant liability for Joe Biden,” and that "there is a story here. We’ve told some of it. There is more to be told."
Kumar's allegation that the Times is trying to curry favor and gain access to President Trump by reporting Biden's intervention with Ukraine on behalf of Hunter is absurd on its face. The paper pounds the President day in and day out, and he, in turn, has made it one of his favorite media targets.
Kumar also indulged in some unintentional comedy, claiming that Breitbart is not conservative, whereas George Will, Bill Kristol, and fellow panelist Jennifer Rubin are!
KUMAR: So that is lack of due diligence. And what they’re trying to equate is this idea that Breitbart is, is a conservative-leaning paper. It is not. George Will is a conservative. Bill Kristol is a conservative. Jennifer Rubin is a conservative. And they actually have ideologies that promote democracy and institution building. They have no other choice but to ensure that you create doubt in the American people on any candidate and try to equivocate [sic] the two. And it's disappointing in the New York Times quite frankly. Because when they try to equivocate something with Biden and Trump, they’re trying to make sure they continue having access to the president, and that is not the way to do it. And that is not really giving and shelling out the information that the American people demand of the New York Times.
The New York Times, as is the media, are the fourth estate, the Democrats -- excuse me, the American people -- expect them to be talking to them and giving them the analysis, and not equivocating things because they would like to have access.
