This was laugh-out-loud (LOL) stuff. Joy Reid's staff blogger proclaimed that what Republican presidential candidates really need to be successful is to appear on leftist shows like The Reidout. At MSNBC.com, there was this headline over an article by Ja'han Jones:
GOP's 2024 candidates have a major media problem on their hands
A new report suggests Republicans' insistence on appearing almost exclusively on right-wing networks like Fox News is hurting the GOP's electoral chances.
It appeared this way on Twitter:
The GOP’s love affair with Fox News could hurt its 2024 candidates in a big way, report finds. (via The ReidOut Blog) https://t.co/uxjXR9zA0b
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 15, 2023
Jones cited Eli Yokley at the Morning Consult asserting that “some top Republicans believe the eschewal of what many of their elected officials refer to as ‘fake news’ or ‘lamestream’ media has missed an important chunk of potentially swayable voters who still tune into those cable and broadcast networks — an outlook that’s supported by Morning Consult data.”
Then Jones pointed out that Yokley used the example of Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) appearing on The Reidout, which was certainly entertaining for Republicans. But everyone knows that submitting to CNN or MSNBC or CBS means you could be subject to rough and unfair questioning. We could point to Gov. Glenn Youngkin doing a CNN town hall where they throw a "trans" kid at you and imply you're a horrible human being.
Nobody thinks the next Republican nominee for president is going to run a general-election campaign that never contends with the alphabet soup of liberal networks. But why should any candidate running in a Republican primary feel obligated to appear on Democrat-friendly talk shows? Why should the GOP submit to presidential debate moderators who wish to damage their chances?
Does Joy Reid and her staff think Joe Biden should appear on Fox News or Newsmax? A few weeks after Donalds spared with Joy, President Biden chose to avoid a Super Bowl interview with Fox, even a Fox Nation interview with black actress and Biden voter Vivica A. Fox. Why can Biden campaign from the basement?
Jones attacked Ron DeSantis in particular for somehow being a coward:
Compare that with a fellow Florida Republican, Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose team recently vowed to boycott NBC News and MSNBC in a tantrum over host Andrea Mitchell’s phrasing of a question to Vice President Kamala Harris about DeSantis’ opposition to some uncomfortable-yet-necessary classroom discussion about the history of slavery and American racism. [You know, when Mitchell lied about DeSantis wanting slavery talk removed from schools.]
Over the weekend, DeSantis gave a sense of the kind of interviews he prefers, fielding easy questions from a Fox News host while playing catch on a baseball field. Some observers were quick to note that it was like DeSantis was literally fielding softballs.
Do Jones and Reid honestly believe DeSantis cruised to a 19-point victory om Florida last year without ever doing hostile press interviews or press conferences? Again, shouldn't MSNBC folks muster the introspection to wonder when Joe Biden is going to hold a press conference in 2023 or choose an interviewer tougher than Drew Barrymore and former Obama staffer Kal Penn?
