In a Thanksgiving morning photo-op on Nantucket island, President Joe Biden took a swipe at the news media, complaining that most Americans think the country is on the wrong track because when they “turn on the television, you don’t see a lot of good news.”
Later on Thursday, a panelist on FNC’s Special Report refuted the Commander-in-Chief, arguing that Biden’s jab “flies in the face of reality,” saying the “American people are hearing good things [from the media] about Democrats,” but the media spin didn’t help the incumbent party overcome negative facts like the worst inflation in decades.
As his event at a Nantucket fire station was concluding on Thursday morning, an off-camera reporter asked Biden an open-ended question about how “many Americans are worried about the future this holiday season. What is your message to them?”
Instead of admitting that his administration could have done a better job on inflation, the border, or a host of other issues, Biden chose instead to respond with a critique of the media environment (although he claimed he wasn’t going after the press). “I mean, this is not a criticism of the press,” Biden insisted, but if “you turn on the television, you don’t see a lot of good news. Even stuff that is good news doesn’t seem to sell very well.”
A few hours later, fill-in host Gillian Turner played the clip for the panel on FNC’s Special Report. Republican strategist Erin Perrine cited an MRC/NewsBusters’ study to prove how wildly off-base Biden was in his critique:
When you look at how Democrats were covered, there was a study released after the election that said Democrats and Kamala Harris received 78% positive coverage in the news. Compare that to Donald Trump’s almost 90% negative coverage. Joe Biden can’t blame the media for the fact the American people aren’t feeling good. The American people are hearing good things about Democrats. They certainly did during the election but you can’t have that fly in the face of reality, that it feels like your paycheck doesn’t go as far.
Biden’s Thanksgiving Day complaint shows how Democrats have become so dependent on a favorable press environment, that they find it upsetting when even the liberal media can’t wash away the problems caused by their policy errors. That’s not a good sign for a party that’s supposedly trying to learn the lessons of 2024 so they don’t repeat those failures in the future.
Here are the relevant transcripts from the November 28, 2024 edition of FNC’s Special Report (click expand to see the whole thing).
Fox News Special Report
November 28, 2024, 6:04pm ETCorrespondent LUCAS TOMLINSON: President Biden spoke at length at a firehouse here on Nantucket all on Thanksgiving, where he appeared to blame the media for his poor job approval ratings, and his Vice President’s loss.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: If you think about it — I mean, this is not a criticism of the press. I mean this, you know me too well — is that, you turn on the television, you don’t see a lot of good news. Even stuff that is good news doesn’t seem to sell very well....
Fox News Special Report
November 28, 2024, 6:50pm ETPRESIDENT BIDEN: A couple of weeks ago there was a survey done on how people feel about where they are, it was 62%, 35% thought they were doing pretty well. On the direction of the country, 35%, only 35% said that we’re moving in the right direction. I think there is an explanation for that. If you think about it — I mean, this is not a criticism of the press. I mean this, you know me too well — is that, you turn on the television, you don’t see a lot of good news.
Fill-in host GILLIAN TURNER: Welcome back. That was President Biden earlier today from Nantucket ...It’s a little hard to make out the President there, but, Erin, what he said was, you know, if you turn on the TV you are not going to see a lot of good news lately. I am willing to bet a lot of money that a lot of Trump supporters feel there’s a whole lot of good news lately, especially.
Republican strategist ERIN PERRINE: They absolutely do, but it just flies in the face of reality. When you look at how Democrats were covered, there was a study released after the election that said Democrats and Kamala Harris received 78% positive coverage in the news. Compare that to Donald Trump’s almost 90% negative coverage. Joe Biden can’t blame the media for the fact the American people aren’t feeling good. The American people are hearing good things about Democrats. They certainly did during the election but you can’t have that fly in the face of reality, that it feels like your paycheck doesn’t go as far. I remember, poignantly, during this campaign cycle a woman on NPR said chips felt like a luxury at the grocery store. That’s what the American people were rejecting with Kamala Harris and Joe Biden in this election.
