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There Are Nothing but Biased Concerns Seen in Tonight's Presidential Contest

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Jun 27, 2024
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The Debate & Switch edition

Legalized Press-titution – CNN

  • Just 48 hours later...

Remember all the way back to Tuesday? That was when Kasie Hunt of CNN (the host network for the first 2024 presidential debate) got into a contentious snit with Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, all because she mentioned Jake Tapper's past of biased coverage of Trump. Leavitt was shut down and the interview ended over her delivering accurate information.

Today, Ms. Hunt had on Biden spokesman Cedric Richmond, and the tongue bath interview was hitting saccharine levels of fawning support.

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Reporting on the Mirror – CNN

  • Is this intended for 6-year-olds? (No, wait – our 6-year-old mastered the remote years ago.)

With a list of concessions made for this debate, differing from prior arrangements by the traditional Commission of Presidential Debates, one of the more lauded has been that CNN will be controlling the microphones and turning them down while the other candidate is speaking. We get a lengthy explanation video from the network about what this all means, how these will be operated, and what it will represent on screen while we are watching tonight's mental battle royale.

This is an overwrought and self-important display, for something that can be summed up in six words:

We'll Be Using a MUTE Button.

DNC PR Firm – THE NEW YORK TIMES

Another of the concessions over prior debates is that there will be no audience for this matchup. Well, technically no general audience. There will, in fact, be a herd of media in attendance. We know this because The New York Times announced it is sending a massive squadron to the debate hall, with half of those being dedicated fact-checkers. Care to wager a guess where the bulk of their focus will be applied?

Both Kinds of Standards – CNN

  • If only Joe had some kind of track record of lying...

Recall just weeks ago when Joe Biden conducted a CNN interview, and amid a flurry of falsehoods their resident "presidential fact-checker" Daniel Dale busied himself with correct Donald Trump lies? Well, Danny has announced his return from retirement, it seems, and will be fully occupied tonight. Joe needn't worry.

Also focusing on the fraudulent content is the network's Brian Stelter replacement, Oliver Darcy, who in his newsletter declared that the role of correcting Trump's lies cannot be left to Joe Biden alone. Ollie has definitively stated that his network needs to undertake the burden of taking on Trump alongside the president.

First Amendment Strike Force – CNN

  • This kinda sounds like one of those threats to democracy things.

As another sign of how CNN is deviating from the standard norms of debate practice, the network has made it known that it will not be making the feed of the matchup available to all media. Instead, only approved outlets can have the direct feed, with all others being directed to watch through the CNN portals, like through its streaming service or the network's YouTube channel.