Politico columnist Michael Schaeffer sympathetically interviewed Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips, congressman from Minnesota, about how he's been "blackballed" by liberal media. "I’m disgusted that professionals who ostensibly have committed their entire careers to sharing truth and to providing facts and to sharing information with American voters … are fundamentally avoiding their responsibilities.”
Since declaring his candidacy on October 27, Phillips complained, he hasn’t been interviewed once on MSNBC. Ditto the big Sunday shows. Schaffer wrote "He’s been on CNN a handful of times, but never given the town-hall treatment afforded fellow single-digit candidates like Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie, both of whom happen to have challenged Donald Trump rather than Biden."
The only broadcast outlets that seem to want him are on the right or in the middle.
“Right media has been more than invitational,” Phillips says. By contrast, “I don’t think there’s an MSNBC viewer that even knows that I’m a congressman, because what’s being portrayed is designed to prevent that education.”
Phillips accused Team Biden of blackballing him.
“I do know of specific cases where representatives of the Biden campaign have been very clear to others about trying to not attend events of mine, to not support me, and to not platform me,” Phillips says, declining to name names. “It is almost antithetical to democratic principles, which include debate, deliberation and ultimately compromise.”
Asked about the accusation, Biden campaign spokesperson TJ Ducklo offered a three-letter response: “LOL.” A CNN representative shared a list of seven bookings on the network since the campaign launched (Phillips’ side said two of them subsequently canceled). MSNBC declined comment.
Via, @michaelschaffer a remarkable account of our new information ecosystem where a sitting congressman’s primary is ignored by his media tribe
— Jonathan Martin (@jmart) January 12, 2024
As Schaffer says, is akin to Kinzinger running v Trump and Fox blacking out > https://t.co/OzwuQNNKsq
Schaffer compared Phillips to a contrary congressman in the Republican Party, and he suggested Adam Kinzinger, and "even though the polls are awful and the Beltway pros give him no chance, he’s out there making the rounds in Iowa and New Hampshire." He argued "In this scenario, is the challenger ignored or given short shrift in the press? Of course not! The liberal-oriented media would be full of tributes to his courage and independence. If conservative outlets declined to give him airtime, it would be held up as evidence of their pathetic Trump fealty."
The article concluded with MSNBC only covering Phillips to make him look pathetic:
Meanwhile, MSNBC did cover Phillips this week, albeit without an interview. A brief Tuesday segment on Alex Wagner Tonight included footage of the candidate at a New Hampshire event where “literally zero voters showed up,” according to the host. “The people you see drinking coffee around Mr. Phillips here are his own staffers,” she added, before switching to coverage of an Iowa storm.
