Another day, another lawsuit for the creepy porn lawyer. It seems as though it was only yesterday when Michael Avenatti was touted as being a potential Democratic 2020 presidential candidate and the golden boy of the liberal media as a whole. The incessant fawning over Avenatti by his friends at CNN and MSNBC was difficult to forget, however, the networks were failing to acknowledge the enabling role they played in his rise to fame.
MediaBuzz host Howard Kurtz elaborated on the media's complicity during an appearance on Fox News Wednesday night. “Well the first thing that CNN and MSNBC did was put him on day after day, sometimes multiple times a day when he was out there pushing the Stormy Daniels case," Kurtz told fill-in host Ed Henry on The Story. There was a period of time when a person could not turn on their television without seeing Avenatti on the talk show circuit.
Avenatti’s ascension to fame was due in no small part to his opposition to President Trump, which the liberal media were only too happy to capitalize on. A point Kurtz noted in his interview: “The media were Avenatti's enabler there is no question about it and of course they loved his message. Attacking Trump as unethical, predicting Trump was going to go down and all this stuff."
With all of the recent information on Avenatti coming to light, it seems the responsible action to take on the part of the media would be to condemn his transgressions and apologize for the constant coverage of him for months on end. Kurtz said as much on Fox News: “So, I think the media has a lot to answer for here, he was on Colbert, he was on The View. Now we know why Stormy Daniels cut her ties with her former lawyer."
Here are excerpts of the May 22 segment:
FNC's The Story
May 22, 2019
7:25 p.m. Eastern(...)
ED HENRY: It's fitting you mention 2020, because CNN's Brian Stelter and a whole bunch of other people in the media had mentioned Michael Avenatti just a few months ago and they called him a contender. They took it seriously, the possibility he might run. Donald Trump Jr. tweeting about that today , saying, wait, with these new charges are you saying he is no longer leading the field of 2020 Dem hopefuls? I remember when CNN and MSNBC had pretty much anointed him the front runner #good times. Front runner may be a stretch but he was puffed up there as a potential contender.
HOWARD KURTZ: Well the first thing that CNN and MSNBC did was put him on day after day, sometimes multiple times a day when he was out there pushing the Stormy Daniels case, her allegations of contact with president trump. Which he denies, by the way. When he says, I'm going to Iowa to explore a run for the presidency, by the way, any time he was on they would run a video of stormy over him for obvious reasons. So, I think the media has a lot to answer for here, he was on Colbert, he was on "The view." Now we know why Stormy Daniels cut her ties with her former lawyer.
HENRY: In fact, a pundit on CNN was saying at one point, I think you are a serious contender because of your presence on the media. So they put him on in an endless loop, created him as a pundit, if you will, then said because you are such a big pundit, because you have such a presence, you are on cable TV so much, you might actually run for president.
(...)
7:27 p.m. Eastern
KURTZ: The media were Avenatti's enabler there is no question about it and of course they loved his message. Attacking Trump as unethical, predicting Trump was going to go down and all this stuff. A new Vanity Fair piece quotes an ex-girlfriend on the record saying he physically and emotionally abused her, he denies that, but also telling her, this ex-girlfriend, that she shouldn't take a waitress job because she could be a future first lady if she stayed with him. But you know what the worst thing the media did here in tarnishing a reputation was during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings and Michael Avenatti represented the third accuser. Completely unsubstantiated, yet some media news outlets gave him a platform for his empty promises.
HENRY: A last point you mention, Vanity Fair, in the article Avenatti says, someone argued that I flew too close to the sun. As I sit here today, yes, absolutely, I know I did, no question. Talking about Greek mythology, last point.
KURTZ: The last point is he in a couple of public statements has said that he is being targeted because of the cable fame, these are different grand juries in different places, charging him with a very different crimes, but you know, flew too close to the sun, that is a pretty good epitaph for his reputation, we'll say what happens with the criminal cases.
HENRY: We will see whether there is any media accountability.
