MSNBC’s refusal to air former President Donald Trump’s victory speech and the media platform’s framing of his supporters as fascists serves as an omen of future election coverage, according to legal scholar Jonathan Turley.
Upon former President Trump’s victory at the Iowa Caucus, Rachel Maddow, MSNBC co-host, told her viewers that they would not air his speech because he speaks “untrue things.”
About his speech, Ms. Maddow said the news platform will “keep an eye on that” and let its audience know if he makes any “noteworthy, substantive, and important” statements.
“The reason I’m saying this is of course there is a reason that we and other news organizations have generally stopped giving an unfiltered live platform to remarks made by former President Donald Trump,” she said. “It is not out of spite. It is not a decision that we relish. It is a decision that we regularly revisit. And honestly, it is not an easy decision.”
It costs MSNBC to broadcast “untrue things,” she said.
She later framed Trump supporters of fascism when she stated, “If we are worried about the rise in authoritarianism in this country, if we are worried about this potential rise of fascism in this country, if we are worried about our country falling to an authoritarian and potentially fascist form of government, the leader who is trying to do that is potentially a part of that equation, but people wanting that is a much bigger part of that equation.”
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Co-host Joy Reid complained that Iowa is a state that is “overrepresented by white Christians.”
Ms. Reid said she reached out to Robert Jones of the Public Religion Research Institute to ask what “white Christians” get out of supporting Trump.
“He said the following: ‘They see themselves as the rightful inheritors of this country, and Trump has promised to give it to them,’” she quoted him saying.
She went on to claim that white Christians believe that anyone who is not them is a “fraudulent American.”
‘An Early Glimpse of What to Expect’
“In an early glimpse of what to expect from coverage of this election, MSNBC and CNN hosts went into full rage mode with the Iowa caucus results,” Mr. Turley wrote in his opinion piece. “MSNBC host Joy Reid led this effort by declaring that ‘White Christians’ are racists who want minorities to ‘bow down’ to them.”Mr. Turley said that in leftist’s attempt to point the finger at Trump supporters as racists, its own racism is exposed.
“Much like our politics, our media often seems captured by the most extreme elements of our society,” Mr. Turley said. “It explains why the media is now at an all-time low in terms of trust. However, the most concerning aspect is that this is just the beginning of January. We have to make it to November.”
‘Elite Panic’
Michael Shellenberger, author, journalist, and founder of the media platform Public, called MSNBC’s refusal to broadcast Trump’s speech “elite panic.”“It’s as primitive and superstition as the one that declared some women to be witches capable of casting spells,” he wrote on X.
Former President Trump towered in his win at 51 percent against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s 21 percent, Nikki Haley’s 19 percent, and Vivek Ramaswamy’s 7.7 percent.
“Both CNN and MSNBC carried the entirety of the speech by DeSantis after openly refusing to carry the speech by Trump, even though Trump won a landslide with 51% against Desantis’ 21%,” Mr. Shellenberger wrote on X. “It’s madness. CNN and MSNBC are flagrantly embracing their role as propagandists.”
In a Jan. 13 article, Mr. Shellenberger wrote that voters disagree with the “experts and journalists.”
“The latest polls show they have a more favorable view of Trump than Biden, and more would vote for Trump than Biden in six swing states,” he wrote. “In Iowa, where Republicans will caucus to decide who to nominate as president, Trump remains over 30 points ahead of his rivals.”
Mr. Shellenberger referenced more stories surfacing speaking of top Democrats like former President Barack Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder expressing fear of another Trump presidency, while former First Lady Michelle Obama said she’s “terrified about what could possibly happen” if Mr. Trump is reelected.
‘Undermined its Legitimacy’
Mr. Shelleberger said that though much can happen between now and Nov. 7, “the chances of Trump becoming America’s next president are higher than not.”“Biden could still drop out and be replaced by a more popular Democrat,” he wrote. “There could be a ‘black swan’ event, such as a financial crisis, terrorist attack, or war, that changes the calculus of voters. Or a court may order the incarceration of Trump and prevent him from being elected.”
However, there’s no guarantee that any of those events would “help rather than hurt Biden.”
“Even if voters don’t elect Trump president, the establishment has undermined its legitimacy in its reaction to him,” he wrote.
The Epoch Times contacted MSNBC and CNN for comment.
