On Monday’s Morning Joe, the liberal media’s concern about appointments to the Trump administration was once again observed concerning the latest controversial selection of White House chief strategist. Former Trump campaign chief executive officer, Steve Bannon was appointed last week to one of the most important advisory positions in the White House. Bannon, a former chairman of Breitbart News, has been accused by the leftist press of embodying too far right policies.
Last week, The Hollywood Reporter’s Michael Wolff published an article highly critical of Bannon after an exclusive interview with him at Trump Tower. Wolff wrote that the President-elect’s senior strategist is plotting “An Entirely New Political Movement."
Wolff appeared on the show along with the usual liberal commentators led by co-host Mika Brzezinski, stating:
"I think it's part of a very clear and quite thought out strategy. We, I mean, the media – the liberals are helping to - literally helping to define what they are not. And I think they find that very, very powerful. I think they find it energizing. Every slip that we make, the entire failure, The New York Times’ failure, which they talk about all the time, The New York Times is one of those strawmen that they keep hitting and hitting and hitting. It fills them with -- well, it fills them with glee, and I think it –"
In response, The New York Times’ Jeremy Peters argued that “Trump can't help himself. There's no plan there. I mean, that's who he is. He's impulsive and he can't help but react in situations like that.” Mark Halperin of Bloomberg Politics then interjected: “That helped (Trump) with the White House!”
The Hollywood Reporter’s Wolff then pushed back by opining:
“You would like that to be the case. I'm saying it's not the case. I'm saying it's very thought out. Who is the enemy? The very, very helpful enemy? The New York Times and The Times' failures – it’s seemingly constant failures just to make the point, last week, the transition was in disarray. This morning, headline, the transition is a spectacle. And I think the fact that The New York Times does not know what it's talking about relentlessly now works in the new administration's favor. They love it.”
Furthermore, Wolff went on to argue that the strategy behind the Trump campaign is to play on the mainstream media in order to further polarize the country, saying:
“I think they have really set out in a calculated way to create this kind of conflict. They're not talking to -- they're not talking to the media. They're not talking to liberals or to the extent they are talking to that group of people, it's to bait them and make them angry and that kind of reaction does their job for them. Their people, the more the media is shock shocked, the more the Trump country is -- seems to be delighted”
Here is the excerpt from the November 21st discussion on Morning Joe:
MSNBC's Morning Joe
11/21/2016
8:33:20 AM
BRZEZINSKI: Joining us now, author and media columnist for The Hollywood Reporter Michael Wolff, his new piece features an exclusive interview with Bannon.
Among the topics discussed is power!(....)
8:34:28 AM
BRZEZINSKI: Explain the convoluted reactions we're getting to Bannon. Some saying hold on. He's a great guy. Others saying, he should not be there at all.
MICHAEL WOLFF: I would certainly say that he is a remarkably intelligent guy,
full of energy, and in fact, vision. I think the other reaction is coming because he kind of invites it. I think he has found it very helpful, I think the Trump campaign, now administration or forthcoming administration, has found it helpful to create this sense of conflict. And I think for Bannon's point that he's the soul of darkness now is -- is that the media and liberals perceive him to be that. Therefore, they miss what's really going on and they miss the fact that the Trump campaign was caught on fire, caught the imagination of the nation.BRZEZINSKI: Yes, it did. Jeremy Peters, you spent time with Bannon, spoke with him last week. Did you see the soul of darkness?
JEREMY PETERS: Someone asked me to describe him the other day. Just as a person. And I said, if you sat down and had dinner with Steve Bannon, you would probably coming away thinking this is probably one of the most interesting people I have ever met. I think part of the issue with the negative perception he has in the media right now is because Steve is not known. People do not know who he is. People in the media, people in politics, so he's a blank slate. The Democrats have been very successful at painting a caricature of him by drawing out some of the really ugly stuff that Breitbart has printed and associated that, blaming Steve for that. It's not been helpful and Trump's problem, the whole trump campaign's problem is they haven't bothered to correct these perceptions because they don't seem to care. That's not going to be a sustainable approach going forward.
MICHAEL WOLFF: I kind of disagree with this. I think they have really set out in a calculated way to create this kind of conflict. They're not talking to -- they're not talking to the media. They're not talking to liberals or to the extent they are talking to that group of people, it's to bait them and make them angry and that kind of reaction does their job for them. Their people, the more the media is shock shocked, the more the Trump country is -- seems to be delighted.
BRZEZINSKI: That’s interesting. We have Bob Costa and Mark Halperin we still want to get in there, but just to respond to that, the calculating part of it, the conspiratorial part of it, I have been inside the Trump camp and headquarters, whatever you want to call it and talked to a lot of these people. I don't see them thinking any of this out, sitting around going, how can we make sure that liberals have a really horrible reaction, we frighten them more? That is not --
WOLFF: I sat there with Steve Bannon last week, and that's exactly what he was talking about.
BRZEZINSKI: He wants to conspire to frighten the left?
WOLFF: Yes, he finds it very convenient, this feeds into their hands. All of the, you know, I mean, why the Hamilton thing and Trump is doing his tweets and the media is taking this bait. Yeah, I think it delights them, and I think it's working for them.
BRZEZINSKI: But that's not them conspiring, they didn't do the "Hamilton" thing. The "Hamilton" cast did that and people in the audience booed. You're blaming that on them, as part of a conspiracy?
WOLFF: No, I'm not blaming – I am saying that Trump's tweet to do that was, he knows that that is -- that's the bait that the media is going to take.
(....)
8:39:59 AM
HALPERIN: This is about Trump, but it seems to me it's in nobody's interest and certainly not in the public interest to continue to let this sit out there and not explain himself. His interview with you was provocative, it didn't include any attempt to try to bring the country together. I get his critique of the media and I don’t think there's anynothing wrong with that from a political point of view. Why is he letting himself be defined on such negative terms?
WOLFF: That's what I'm saying. I think it's part of a very clear and quite thought out strategy. We, I mean, the media – the liberals are helping to - literally helping to define what they are not. And I think they find that very, very powerful. I think they find it energizing. Every slip that we make, the entire failure, The New York Times’ failure, which they talk about all the time, The New York Times is one of those strawmen that they keep hitting and hitting and hitting. It fills them with -- well, it fills them with glee, and I think it –
PETERS: That's just Trump's petulance…I mean… Trump can't help himself. There's no plan there. I mean, that's who he is. He's impulsive and he can't help but react in situations like that….
HALPERIN: That helped him with the White House!
WOLFF: You would like that to be the case. I'm saying it's not the case. I'm saying it's very thought out. Who is the enemy? The very, very helpful enemy? The New York Times and The Times' failures – it’s seemingly constant failures just to make the point, last week, the transition was in disarray. This morning, headline, the transition is a spectacle. And I think the fact that The New York Times does not know what it's talking about relentlessly now works in the new administration's favor. They love it.
BRZEZINSKI: That’s for sure…yeah!
