CNN Reliable Sources host Brian Stelter briefly addressed Joe Biden's harsh, finger-pointing lecture at Fox News reporter Peter Doocy on Sunday. He played a clip where Biden says he never discussed business with his son. Stelter wasn't buying it: "Well, that seems very, very hard to believe. Obviously, a father's going to talk to his son about his business." Reporters note it's not true. That was as skeptical as it would get. Stelter moved on with an all-liberal panel, asking them softball questions with echoes of an internal Democrat tavern talk.
BIDEN to Doocy: Ask the right questions!
STELTER: This has become a chant of sorts on social media. Biden supporters love this moment, Samantha. Do you think he has a point?
Actually, conservatives are also seizing on the exchange as proof the Democrats can't take tough questions. But Stelter only talked about how Biden fans were delighted with the finger-pointing at the Fox journalist. After all the raging about reporters being insulted by powerful leaders, this reporter getting yelled at is a magic moment?
Naturally, Vinograd thought yes, Biden has a point, and ahem, there was a disclosure to make
SAMANTHA VINOGRAD: I'm not part of the Biden campaign. I do work at the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware, and I think he does have a point. There is a series of false equivalencies purposefully being set up by the Trump team, Rudy Giuliani and perhaps some members of the media.
How tight is the Biden Institute with the Biden family? Well, the vice chair is Biden's sister. This is how her bio begins on their website:
Valerie Biden Owens is one of the first women in the United States to have managed a modern U.S. Senatorial campaign, as well as a Presidential campaign. Mrs. Biden Owens has led every campaign in her brother Joseph R. Biden, Jr.’s political career, including his seven straight U.S. Senate victories and his run for two Democratic Presidential nominations. She also has been his principal surrogate on the campaign trail.
It's good for Vinograd to disclose this, but maybe she shouldn't be asked too many questions about Biden. Stelter then turned to Philip Bump of The Washington Post so they could express amazement/amusement at Trump attacking the news side of the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal.
Stelter also showed footage of Fox Business hosts Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo attending a recent White House state dinner. Undisclosed? CNN journalists have been to many state dinners without CNN painting it as a sign of being compromised.
Then Stelter threw a pro-Hillary softball to Democrat strategist Tara Dowdell
STELTER: Tara, is this "But Her Emails" all over again? Is that what this feels like to you?
TARA DOWDELL: It feels a hundred percent like "But Her Emails" all over again. And the trump administration and particularly those people around him, the communication strategists, consultants, all of those folks have realized -- they're master manipulators of the media. They've realized how to do it. They have a formula that worked in the past. And they're going to keep working that formula until -- until it doesn't work anymore.
This would seem to be Stelter's 2020 take on Biden scandals -- the Liberal Twitter take. Liberals can set up a private email server to get around the press -- at least the press that cares to hold Democrats accountable.
