Filling in for MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell on Monday, NBC national correspondent Peter Alexander wrung his hands over President-elect Donald Trump using social media to circumvent the liberal media: “...one of the real challenges here with social media is that Donald Trump can spew an idea that millions of people voted illegally and ultimately not be pressed to defend such a thing. We just talked about fake news, this sort of stuff propels a lot of people to believe it.”
Carly Fiorina’s former deputy campaign manager Sara Isgur Flores pushed back, pointing out how journalists had failed to adapt to the new media environment: “Well, I think the press is gonna need to find a new way to cover Donald Trump....Ronald Reagan was the television president, maybe more so than other president, and I think the press then struggled on how to cover someone who was also talking directly to voters....I don't think the press has figured this out yet.”
She went on to criticize how “the press's over...hyperventilation on each tweet misses what I think voters are hearing.”
Alexander dismissed her: “So okay, let's focus less on the press’s role in this and really just focus on Donald Trump because ultimately he's the president for this country in less than seven weeks from now, okay?” Proving her point, he immediately started discussing Trump’s Twitter reaction to a Saturday Night Live skit: “So he watches it and immediately goes to Twitter....he doesn't necessarily need to get bogged down in this. Some people said, for heaven's sakes, you're president, they’re bigger fish to fry.”
<<< Please support MRC's NewsBusters team with a tax-deductible contribution today. >>>
Flores responded: “Politically I actually think it's very smart and probably disagree almost to the opposite point.” Alexander was in disbelief: “On the SNL, you think that’s smart?” Flores explained: “Absolutely. He's watching TV. How many people tweeted about SNL that night? The answers is thousands and thousands.”
An exasperated Alexander declared: “But do Americans want their president-elect or their president to be tweeting? This is a guy who even acknowledges he hasn't read through a lot of these briefing books, has work to do.”
Flores again noted the media disconnect: “He is speaking directly to voters and I think – I know you don't want to talk about the press, but that is something that I think gets under the press's skin a little bit, is that voters hear something different, they hear a regular guy....we’re not going to do things the way we’ve been doing them because for so many Americans that wasn't working, so at least we're going to try something different.”
On Monday’s NBC Today, Alexander devoted a full report to “Trump’s Twitter Troubles,” decrying the President-elect’s proclivity for sharing his thoughts online.
Appearing with Andrea Mitchell on November 30, former Defense Secretary William Cohen lectured on the press obsession with Trump’s tweets: “I think we have to be less concerned with tweets, chasing every one as if it's some sort of revealed wisdom that's going out into a rabbit hole....Why are you chasing it?”
Here is a full transcript of Alexander’s December 5 exchange with Flores:
12:24 PM ET
PETER ALEXANDER: Speaking of social media, the President-elect showing no signs of backing off one of his own social media accounts, on Twitter. Taking aim at one of his favorite targets, the media. Within the last hour, Donald Trump tweeted, “If the press would cover me accurately and honorably, I would have far less reason to ‘tweet.’ Sadly, I don't know if that will ever happen!” But some of Trump's recent tweets continue to make headlines, including a false claim that he would have won the popular vote, quote, “If you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.” But even some of Trump's closest colleagues are struggling to defend his unsubstantiated claims.
SCOTT PELLEY [60 MINUTES]: Trump tweeted in the last week or so that he had actually won the popular vote if you deduct the millions who voted illegally. Do you believe that?
PAUL RYAN: I don't know. I'm not really focused on these things.
PELLEY: Wait a minute, wait a minute. You have an opinion on whether millions of Americans voted illegally.
RYAN: I have no way of backing that up. I have no knowledge of such things.
PELLEY: You don’t believe that.
RYAN: I don’t – it doesn't matter to me. He won the election.
MIKE PENCE [THIS WEEK]: The fact that voter fraud exists is...
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: But you can't provide evidence –
PENCE: ...a fact in this country.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Can you provide evidence to back up that statement?
PENCE: Well, look, I think he's expressed his opinion on that.
ALEXANDER: Joining me now is Sara Isgur Flores, the former deputy campaign manager for Carly Fiorina, she is also a Republican strategist. Sara, nice to see you. So Mike Pence and Paul Ryan, sort of different ways of handling this, right? Paul Ryan saying, “I’ve got no evidence to prove that.” Mike Pence saying, “Hey, well, you know, voter fraud exists.” But one of the real challenges here with social media is that Donald Trump can spew an idea that millions of people voted illegally and ultimately not be pressed to defend such a thing. We just talked about fake news, this sort of stuff propels a lot of people to believe it.
SARA ISGUR FLORES: Well, I think the press is gonna need to find a new way to cover Donald Trump. We’ve had revolutions in how politicians reach voters. Ronald Reagan was the television president, maybe more so than other president, and I think the press then struggled on how to cover someone who was also talking directly to voters. This is a new way to do that, no question, but I don't think the press has figured this out yet.
You know, when we talk about fake news for instance – and I'm not trying to equate any two things – but in 2012, the Southern Poverty Law Center calls the Family Research Center [sic] a hate group and someone goes there and commits violence. There are mentally ill, horrible people who are going to spend some time in jail now who do these things, but the press's over – I don’t know – hyperventilation on each tweet misses what I think voters are hearing.
ALEXANDER: So okay, let's focus less on the press’s role in this and really just focus on Donald Trump because ultimately he's the president for this country in less than seven weeks from now, okay? So the latest example just this weekend, he's watching Saturday Night Live, he sees an item that he doesn't care for, and he weighs back in. So here’s the clip from SNL that aired this weekend.
ALEC BALDWIN [AS TRUMP]: Oops, I did it again.
KEENAN THOMPSON: Mr. Trump, please stop retweeting all these random real people. You're not getting any work done.ALEXANDER: So just minutes after SNL parodies the President-elect as a compulsive tweeter, he appears to prove the point, right? He blasts SNL. Mind you, this is like after midnight. So he watches it and immediately goes to Twitter. He says that the spoof – he calls Alec Baldwin “totally biased” and “sad.” Before the show even ends, Baldwin quickly replies, he says, “Release your tax returns and I'll stop.” So the question is, does Donald Trump’s tweeting need to stop? Perhaps there’s like a middle ground here. It’s appropriate to tweet on policy issues as a way to communicate, what he calls “a modern form of communication,” but he doesn't necessarily need to get bogged down in this. Some people said, for heaven's sakes, you're president, they’re bigger fish to fry.
FLORES: Politically I actually think it's very smart and probably disagree almost to the opposite point.
ALEXANDER: On the SNL, you think that’s smart?
FLORES: Absolutely. He's watching TV. How many people tweeted about SNL that night? The answers is thousands and thousands.
ALEXANDER: But do Americans want their president-elect or their president to be tweeting? This is a guy who even acknowledges he hasn't read through a lot of these briefing books, has work to do.
FLORES: He is speaking directly to voters and I think – I know you don't want to talk about the press, but that is something that I think gets under the press's skin a little bit, is that voters hear something different, they hear a regular guy. This was his populist message and he's following through on that. Whether it’s the Taiwanese call or tweeting about SNL, we’re not going to do things the way we’ve been doing them because for so many Americans that wasn't working, so at least we're going to try something different.
ALEXANDER: Yeah, the bottom line, with 25 million or so followers from Twitter to Facebook, he’s got a lot of people who are paying attention to everything he says. Sara, nice to see you.
FLORES: You bet.
ALEXANDER: Appreciate it.
