As our studies have shown, the overall tone of Trump coverage on the networks is very negative. They’re not going to be interested in any video that makes him look popular. Take the loud and sustained ovation Trump received at the Clemson-at-South Carolina football game in Columbia, South Carolina on Saturday:
South Carolina LOVES President Trump! pic.twitter.com/trAsVUkij3
— Brenden Dilley (@WarlordDilley) November 26, 2023
Unless you watched Fox, Newsmax, or NewsNation, you wouldn’t have seen that footage. All the liberal networks were skipping it. Had Biden come out on the field of a stadium and the crowd erupted with this level of thunder, it would have made news.
You can argue that one event doesn't signal the voters of an entire state. Back in 2015, leftists lunged to suggest Bernie Sanders drew raucous crowds at his rallies, but that didn't win him many primaries. Right now, Trump is dominating the GOP polls, and this wasn't a political event, so it could at least suggest South Carolina isn't buying the "budding Hitler" tone of some media outlets.
Let's look at how it was covered in print. Take Associated Press:
Donald Trump draws cheers, some boos in Haley’s backyard at Clemson-South Carolina football game
Reporters Meg Kinnard and Bill Barrow began: "Donald Trump used college football rivalry weekend to bask among his supporters in a state and region that are key to his presidential fortunes.|" Later the boos were described as small: ""At halftime, Trump came down to the field with [Gov. Henry] McMaster, drawing mostly cheers and a smattering of boos as he walked around, posed for a few photos and waved.|
The sad website called Newsweek tried to emphasize the boos:
Donald Trump responds to boos at South Carolina-Clemson game
Trump's response: What boos?
The Hill newspaper called this raucous crowd "mixed," which is bizarre:
Trump gets mixed reactions in Haley’s South Carolina
Nick Robertson began: “Former President Trump drew a smattering of cheers and boos as he oversaw South Carolina’s chief college football rivalry Saturday.”
Now compare that to The Hill back in April, when Biden was visiting Ireland and was cheered in County Mayo:
Biden gets rockstar welcome for final stop in Ireland
The Washington Post ran the "some boos" story from AP on Trump, and this was their County Mayo story for Biden:
Biden tells festive Irish crowd U.S. and Ireland are deeply linked
Post reporters Tyler Pager and Matt Viser touted "upon leaving County Mayo, Biden, clearly buoyed by the adoring crowd, reaffirmed his plans to run for president again in 2024."
The day before, Pager and Viser gushed in a story headlined: “Biden, the American president, seems awfully at home in Ireland; Biden this week has repeatedly wondered how anyone could leave the Emerald Isle.”
At the time, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was traveling with the president in Ireland in KJP Mode, repeating the Post reporting from Ireland, and he added a local headline, "BIDEN JOY."
