Pre-Written Field Reports – CBS NEWS
New Vice President, same old media assassin.
JD Vance made a Sunday appearance for a formal interview on “Face the Nation,” and two things have not changed – hostess Margaret Brennan is still the aggressive partisan that she showed herself to be during the vice presidential debate, and Vance is still cool with the media and beats them back with basic pragmatism.
Brennan’s accusatory questions were met with Vance’s unflappable logic, and she routinely exposed her bias. In referencing the Pete Hegseth confirmation where Vance had to be the tie-breaking vote, she asked how he could be in the role when he couldn't even unite his own party? For the record, his own party voted in support 50-3.
Brennan truly revealed herself in discussing the call to have states manage their disaster relief more than FEMA, and she turned deeply condescending. She listed out states that have lower incomes and insinuated they are incapable of properly administering relief in their areas. She said this with no reference to the supposed rich and elitist state of California showing for weeks now it has bungled its political leadership and caused rampant fire damage across its landscape.
The mainstream media suggesting that southern states are TOO STUPID to know how to deal with natural disasters without FEMA…
— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) January 27, 2025
…might be the most elitist crap I’ve ever heard
I’ll take a redneck with a tractor over FEMA all day, just ask anyone in Western North Carolina. pic.twitter.com/Lq8zlZB9Zz
DNC PR Firm – THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Recommended
The facts are secondary when there is a narrative to cling to.
Immediately following Pete Hegseth’s confirmation, Lindsay Wise came out with a fresh comment from Pete’s latest accuser, his former sister-in-law. Danielle Hegseth had strong words about why more women do not come forward, considering her written affidavit did not prevent Pete from being confirmed. (Curiously, she stated that she had been “promised” her statement would affect voting, which leads to serious questions.)
Of course, Danielle and Lindsay Wise need to ignore one core reality; the alleged victim in all of these charges – Hegseth’s ex-wife – has categorically denied the accusations of abuse. This essentially means we have come to an end of the “Believe All Women” era, considering a victim denying she was a victim and declaring others do not speak for her is being roundly ignored over a third-party testimony.
A statement from Danielle Hegseth after the Senate vote to confirm Pete Hegseth: “What happened today will make women who have experienced abuse and mistreatment even less forthcoming …” pic.twitter.com/XGxGEq60FM
— Lindsay Wise (@lindsaywise) January 25, 2025
Low-Octane Gaslighting – SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS
No proof, no documentation, no people going on the record – no problem!
Over the weekend, there was no shortage of outrage over the story that Donald Trump's policies to remove DEI standards from the government – including the armed forces – led to the Air Force removing history videos featuring the Tuskegee Airmen from training classes. This had not been under a direct order from Trump, as this outlet reported, and instead was a dose of sabotage from those inside the USAF who want to retain DEI standards and policies.
By Sunday, when the order came in to replace the videos in the training modules, the narrative shifted from it being a Trump order to a decision made within the USAF. This was a clear case of the press playing along with the activists.
Obeying Trump order, Air Force will stop teaching recruits about Tuskegee Airmen https://t.co/4Z2mrZUexj
— San Antonio Express-News (@ExpressNews) January 25, 2025
Presentation Paradox – NEWSWEEK
That problem that has been in place for years? Yeah, just blame it on the new guy.
There are some truly desperate souls in the press who are trying to sell the idea that we should have been seeing food prices dropping this week based on some promises Trump made about attacking high food costs on his first day – because that is how real life operates. Newsweek got in on this weak game by declaring egg prices have not dropped and are still rising.
Small matter that in its article, the outlet had this little nugget concerning the grocery item:
The main reason behind the rise in egg prices is a dramatic cut in supply due to the ongoing bird flu outbreak in the U.S. The outbreak began in February 2022 and has led to the killing of more than 111 million birds across the country, most of which were egg-laying chicken. In the past month alone, nearly 13 million birds have been infected or culled.
So, despite a steady increase in prices due to an issue seen over the past three years, it has been the fault of the guy in office for…(checks our watch)...seven days, nine hours, and five minutes.
Despite Trump's promise to bring down the cost of everyday goods, egg prices are still rising.https://t.co/eDiZ7bmbrS
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) January 27, 2025
Glossary Over Things – MSNBC
When accuracy defies a network directive, I don’t think the problem is with the reporter.
One of the reliable sources of amusement since Trump’s inaugural has been the press grappling with his implementing a zero-tolerance immigration plan and an aggressive eviction policy for illegals in the country. This dismay over the basic common sense application of the laws has many in the press unspun, and at MSNBC, it might have been revealed the network has mandated an on-air policy.
In a report about some of the raids taking place, reporter Priya Sridhar made the comment that dozens of “illegal aliens” had been rounded up, and hostess Alex Witt needed to gently chastise her correspondent on the air, telling her, “We call them undocumented immigrants.”
“We call them undocumented immigrants” – MSNBC anchor @AlexWitt correcting her own correspondent, @PriyaNBC Sridhar, who had referred to a roundup in Colorado of “50 illegal aliens” in a gang from Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/jX7GjvNRAF
— Brent Baker 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@BrentHBaker) January 26, 2025
Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – ASSOCIATED PRESS
So this crisis of a country that has been the case for generations is now Trump’s fault.
In an amazingly unblinking fashion, the AP spoke with the interim leader of Haiti who came forward with the claim that if Trump began sending Haitians back to their country, it would become catastrophic for the island nation. In citing Trump’s deportation policy, it is said this would lead to immense hardships for the nation.
Two main issues are mentioned; rampant hunger and roving gangs that have basically taken over the capital. Yet somehow, the country taking back its own citizens is said to be the real problem. In the entire article, there is little to nothing mentioned about the leadership of the nation addressing those two main problems, just Trump sending Haitians back to Haiti.
Haitian leader says the Trump administration’s plans will be 'catastrophic' for his country https://t.co/bFKrMb6WB3
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 26, 2025
Anti-Social Media – WASHINGTON POST
This could be the worst example of “The Deadline Game.”
One of the persistent tactics used by the press is when the focus of a story is the last to be contacted for information. This is almost always in the form of a hit piece, with an article already written after a lengthy period when negative information is gathered and numerous individuals are spoken with for information – and then the last step is to contact the subject with a brief window in which they can add something, “If you would care to comment.”
Usually, this is done – as we saw with the report that was the basis of the CNN defamation trial that recently ended – with the hope the individual had no time to respond, and then an insinuation can be made that they avoided the story and it makes them sound guilty.
In one of the worst examples seen, White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung posted an email he received from the Washington Post regarding a story that was to run about ICE agents having been issued arrest quotas in rounding up illegal immigrants. After he received the request for comment, the story was then published before a comment could be made – a span of just four minutes.
This is how dishonest some of the reporters @WashingtonPost are. They sent an e-mail at 1:54pm asking for a response to their fake story, and they publish at 1:58pm, giving us only 4 minutes.@mariasacchetti @NickMiroff pic.twitter.com/YmduSEDVRu
— Steven Cheung (@StevenCheung47) January 26, 2025
