01.16.24
Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – MSNBC
Sounding surprised about the result that was a foregone conclusion.
If there was any surprise from the Iowa Caucus results last night, it was that Donald Trump's margin of victory was not larger, but otherwise, everything was on point. Not that you would know this by watching the coverage on MSNBC, where they almost sounded surprised that Trump won, and we were granted all of the foreboding commentary of what they are trying to convince their viewers what Trump will do as president:
If we're worried about our democracy falling to an authoritarian and potentially fascist form of government. The leader who is trying to do that is part of that equation... Is a much bigger part of that equation.
That word "if" is doing a tremendous amount of lifting for the hostess Maddow.
JUST IN: Far-left MSNBC host Rachel Maddow has a meltdown after “fascist” Donald Trump’s solid performance in the Iowa caucuses.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 16, 2024
lol.
“I don't mean to be again, too dark as you said on this, but if we are worried about the rise of authoritarianism in this country, we are… pic.twitter.com/F8HJEziWRz
DNC PR Firm – CNN
The network that thought Trump commuting to an indictment was "historic" coverage, but covering his speech after a caucus win, not so much.
One might think that following his victory in the opening caucus of the primary season, hearing Donald Trump's speech would be considered somewhat historic and worthy of coverage. But the network that followed his cars as they drove from his home, then recorded him driving down the road, climbing the stairs to his plane, and watching it take off was all "historic footage," this speech did not require broadcasting.
Jake Tapper stepped in to interrupt the speech, and he erroneously said Trump wanting to battle illegal entry at the border means he is "anti-immigration." Then, to continue the ethical lapses, he insulted the voters in Iowa on Monday night, saying that "caucus-goers believe the lie."
CNN's Jake Tapper cuts away from former President Trump's Iowa victory speech immediately after he started talking about President Biden's border crisis.
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 16, 2024
"Here he is, right now, under my voice. You can hear him repeating his anti-immigrant rhetoric," he decried. pic.twitter.com/1FRLfyj62H
Race to the Bottom – MSNBC
We still await Joy delivering commentary that does not involve injecting race into the commentary.
On the panel with Rachel Maddow on Monday was Joy Reid, and as predicted, she managed to lean on her crutch when tossing her pair of pennies onto the pundit's table.
There she went invoking race, insulting Iowans, impugning their Christian religion, accusing them of being anti-immigrant, and then in sage-like fashion declaring Republicans would never support Nikki Haley because of her Indian background. Of course, you need to ignore the racist Republicans who elected her to be a governor of a southern state and the racist Donald Trump chose her as his U.N. Ambassador. But otherwise…
Joy Reid suggests Nikki Haley won't become the nominee because of... You guessed it, racism! pic.twitter.com/AoaPGhfNVo
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) January 16, 2024
Gilded Reframe – VARIOUS OUTLETS
Far less vigor seen in the reporting as the facts finally arrive…
This has become the "Israel Bombs Hospital" story on the domestic front.
As we mentioned yesterday, the energetic reporting on the Texas state officials barring federal border agents from certain areas leading to the drowning of an arriving illegal mother and her two children was inaccurate, and now the story looks even more woeful – for the press.
The journalists who ran with the accusatory storyline initially ignored that the tragedy took place on the Mexican side, and now, they need to ignore a detail provided by our DOJ. The Texas officials, who were first said to have contributed to the drowning, were not initially notified of the incident until one hour after the bodies had been discovered. The press has been rather reticent to eagerly report these updated details.
CBS News, which broke this story, has made corrections to the piece, but the original tweet linking to the story still retains the accusation.
Texas "physically barred" Border Patrol agents from trying to rescue migrants who drowned, federal officials say https://t.co/TH1C3hzodw
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 14, 2024
