Arianna Huffington is no pachyderm, politically speaking, but like the elephant, she apparently never forgets--or forgives. Three years ago, Donald Trump called Huffington "unattractive both inside and out." Arianna has now returned the favor, relegating HuffPo's coverage of Trump to its entertainment section.
On today's Morning Joe, HuffPo's Sam Stein was put in the unenviable position of defending his boss's decision, arguing that Trump is a mere "lounge act" whose position in the polls is simply "sustained by the media." Joe Scarborough blasted the decision as "absolutely absurd," and Mika Brzezinski, in the unkindest-but-truest cut of all, said that many would argue that one Barack Obama was similarly sustained by the media in 2008.
Mika also acidly reminded Stein and Jonathan Capehart that it was not "your job" to decide—his standing in the polls notwithstanding—that there is a "huge difference," as Capehart claimed, between Obama and Trump that renders the latter unworthy of serious coverage. And Scarborough rightly observed that if the media had created any Republican candidate, it was Jon Huntsman in 2008--the MSM's kind of Republican--but Republican voters didn't buy that dog food.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Sam Stein, the Huffington Post made a decision last week to put Donald Trump coverage in its entertainment section. So what was the reason behind that? Because clearly, he made some -- he's insulted your boss several times in a personal way. Is that what this is about?
SAM STEIN: No, it isn't personal.
MIKA: What is it?
STEIN: It's because he's a lounge act.
MIKA: He's not a candidate?
STEIN: He's a candidate in the fact that he's filed paperwork. But I think we're all concluding here that this is a campaign that is basically sustained by media attention . . . He is sustained by media attention, right? This is essentially a campaign that would not exist, would not be at this stage in the polls if it weren't for the fact that we're now ten minutes into this morning --
MIKE BARNICLE: There you go.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: That's just not true. That's just not even close to being true.
STEIN: A study just came out that 37% of nightly news coverage over the past month of all the candidates has been devoted to Donald Trump. 37%! That seems a little excessive.
JOE: Do you know why that is, Sam?
STEIN: Jonathan called him a lounge act. I think that we're just making an editorial judgment that we need to treat him as the lounge act that he is. Now you can still get any Trump news you want on our website. We're not saying we're not going to cover the guy. But we're also not passive observers in this process. We're making editorial judgments that any newspaper can make.
JOE: That is absolutely absurd to suggest that Donald Trump --
STEIN: -- I appreciate that.
JOE: -- that is absurd and we started this program talking about how this might be unsustainable, but Donald Trump is being covered by the news because Donald Trump is in first place in the polls . . . The media is not creating Donald Trump. If the media tried to create anybody, it tried to create Jon Huntsman and the crowds didn't follow, cause Jon Huntsman was their type of Republican. Donald Trump is not the media's type of Republican or Democrat or independent or whatever he is.
. . .
MIKA: In terms of the Huffington Post decision, I don't see Trump being covered only in the style [entertainment] section. I'm not sure about the decision -- hold on. You say the media sustains now Donald Trump. Many would argue that the media sustained candidate Barack Obama.
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Huge difference.
MIKA: Huge difference? Wait a minute. That's great. That's great. And that's by the way not your job. And not your [Stein's] job.
