The Media Research Center’s Rich Noyes appeared on Fox Business, Wednesday, to slam the media’s obsession with a “secret” meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. Regarding an after-dinner discussion at the G-20 discussion, Noyes marveled, “There is no evidence of anything going on except an after dinner conversation, but the media are so paranoid about Donald Trump, they want to... suggest there's another crime happening before their eyes.”
The MRC research director also compared the media hype over the meeting to Barack Obama in 2012 secretly telling Russia’s then-President Dmitry Medvedev he would have “more flexibility” after the election:
We actually went back and checked. Last night, CNN gave 75 minutes to this breaking story on Trump having a conversation with Putin with no quote showing any shenanigans. Four years ago, when the Obama/Medvedev thing came out when you had a quote of him suggesting he was being different with the Russians in private than in public, just 25 minutes. So, just three times as much coverage of this innocuous conversation than of the suspicious hot mic audio.
A transcript is below:
Cavuto: Coast to Coast
7/19/17
1:33pm ET[Montage of journalists talking about “secret meeting.”]
NEIL CAVUTO: You know, when I first saw the hoopla over that, and everyone aghast over that, you know, I had to say, “Let me expose what's going on here.” This concerns a meeting the president had hereto for undisclosed or unknown, at least by our media with Vladimir Putin. Gets up from the table where all the world leaders and their respective others are gathered. Now this is a schmoozing bunch. I don’t know if you’ve ever covered these sorts of things. In my reporting days, I did. They all go schmoozing around. This one got the attention because it was Donald Trump, the President of the United States, schmoozing with all people, Vladimir Putin. Now, we don't know how long the conversation went on.
We’re told a few minutes to upwards of an hour. Hard to say. The fact that we found out about this days later, weeks later, more to the point, you have to wonder, what was that about. But, again the issue seemed to be that something nefarious was at hand and it was a Russian interpreter who was doing the interpreting and not an American one. And on and on it went. I'm just saying, “Is there any there there? Right now, reaction from Media Research Center Director Rich Noyes. Rich, I certainly said go on about whether he was actively involved enough in the health care thing to get us to the point now where he seems to be re-engaged, fine. But, this, I don't know. I just don't see anything. What about you?
RICH NOYES: Well, I would say the liberal media that has a culture of suspicion, I guess you will, about Donald Trump has reacted in sort of a paranoid way about this. This was a massive story on CNN and MSNBC last night. It was the top story on MSNBC and CBS this morning. It only got a minute on ABC which makes them different from the rest of the pack. They are putting this out in a very suspicious way. It doesn't really make sense. This is an after dinner conversation. One of the criticisms is the President didn't have an interpreter with them. Well, he had an interpreter, but that interpreter spoke Japanese because the President was sitting with the Japanese Prime Minister. He didn’t speak Russian.
CAVUTO: We should explain this. Each leader is allowed one interpreter. Because, obviously, it’s a crowded affair. It’s a long table. It's not the Cavuto Thanksgiving for the extended family. Pass the stuffing. This is just all the leaders, their respective key staff members and significant others on one long, long table. So, they all go around and get up and talk to each other. They are politicians, keep in mind, who have been elected leaders of their respective countries of the IMF. But what to make of the fixation on Donald Trump with Vladimir Putin? I know the back story so I can understand the attention it would get. I’m just curious as to the attention it’s getting now.
NOYES: It is getting more attention than it deserves. The Russia's story, there's important elements of that, but it’s been over covered. This story — there is no evidence of anything going on except an after dinner conversation, but the media are so paranoid about Donald Trump, they want to sort of create — suggest there’s another crime happening before their eyes. You know, the whole Russia's story has just taken over the news cycle. Over the last 10 days, it’s gotten almost three times as much coverage on the big three evening network as health care. This is not just this meeting, of course, but going back a whole 10 days with different aspects to it.
CAVUTO: But in this case, Rich — And that is fair game if the administration gives inconsistent stories on this and Donald Trump Jr. Had a meeting with Russians. Turns out there might have been seven or eight under the table. Fine, fine. You left yourself open to that, Donald Trump Jr. But in this case what I’m wondering, what are we to gleam from this, that he shouldn’t talk to him at all? And secondly, isn’t it an issue if they don’t talk at all? Wouldn’t that be deemed an issue if they’re not even talking at dinner? At all?
NOYES: It would. I guess I ask what would they be doing if President Obama had a one-on-one with Vladimir Putin and they would say it was a chance to better relations. It was a positive thing. Same thing with President Clinton. They simply don’t trust Donald Trump to speak alone with anybody. I think that’s their problem in terms of the trust.
CAVUTO: What about When Barack Obama secretly was whispering, thinking it was off mic with then Russian President Medvedev about, you know, “a lot more flexibility after the election?” And that didn’t get near the amount of the attention and that was something we knew he said?
NOYES: Yeah. No. We actually went back and checked. Last night, CNN gave 75 minutes to this breaking story on Trump having a conversation with Putin with no quote showing any shenanigans. Four years ago, when the Obama/Medvedev thing came out when you had a quote of him suggesting he was being different with the Russians in private than in public, just 25 minutes. So, just three times as much coverage of this innocuous conversation than of the suspicious hot mic audio.
CAVUTO: That's a glaring example. If you're going to go crazy, you want to go crazy, fine. But go crazy with everyone. Rich, always good having you.
