In contrast to ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS Mornings on Tuesday, NBC’s Today downplayed two lengthy stops for attendee medical emergencies cutting short a Monday townhall with former President Trump that became both a jamfest and chance for Trump to mingle with supporters. Instead, they touted it as a “bizarre” scene and chance for Vice President Harris to “rais[e] concerns about [his] fitness for office” and “mental acuity.”
Co-host Hoda Kotb immediately took it down the Harris team’s preferred narrative in an opening tease: “Trump’s rally derailed by two medical emergencies, turning it into a bizarre dance party...The Harris campaign using that to question the mental fitness of her opponent. Trump pushing back, raising his concerns about his rival.”
Moments later in setting up their 2024 coverage, Kotb got the closest anyone did the show’s two hours to explaining the truth: “And that Trump rally is making headlines after two people fainted after extreme heat inside the hall. The former President asked his campaign for music as first responders made sure they were okay. Trump staying on stage and continuing to play songs for the rest of the event.”
The focus changed a few minutes later with a segment by senior Washington correspondent Hallie Jackson buying the Harris team’s rancorous hypocrisy hook, line, and sinker with this as her chyron: “Dem Focus on Trump’s Mental Fitness.”
Co-host Savannah Guthrie put the ball on the tee, declaring “Harris is raising concerns about her opponent’s fitness for office” with Trump “launching personal attacks on her intelligence and cognitive ability.”
Jackson didn’t lead off with the reason the rally was cut short or making clear Trump was perfectly fine.
No, no. She let the doubt hang in the air:
It is all front and center this morning given that Trump rally overnight with Vice President Harris in response to it tweeting simply, “is he okay?” Part of a bigger spotlight she’s putting on the former President’s health. Mr. Trump’s team saying, overall, he is, in their words, “sharper and more focused than ever before.”
She added (click “expand”):
JACKSON: Former President Trump’s extended soundtrack session overnight cast by his campaign as indulging a crowd that “wanted to hear more songs from the famous DJT Spotify playlist,” but to the Harris campaign, Mr. Trump appeared “lost, confused and frozen,” part of their strategy to put a new focus on Mr. Trump’s health with the Vice President all but daring her rival to release his medical records.
HARRIS: Are they afraid that people will see that he is too weak and unstable to lead America?
JACKSON: The Vice President looking to flip the script after months when President Biden was the one on the ticket and under scrutiny as the oldest presidential nominee in history. But now? It’s Mr. Trump who is the oldest in this race at 78. Democrats trying to cast doubt on his mental acuity, including Harris running mate Tim Walz.
GOVERNOR TIM WALZ (D-MN): He’s confused. He’s a nearly 80-year-old man.
JACKSON: An recent ad showing Mr. Trump appearing to slur his words.
TRUMP [in Harris ad]: [inaudible]
MARTHA MACCALLUM [in Harris ad]: The former President has been off his game.
TRUMP [in Harris ad]: [inaudible]
Jackson’s only attempt at balance was underhanded by dismissing Trump’s call for Harris to take a cognitive test and questioned the legitimacy of a doctor’s note Trump’s team released last year.
She then went right back to suggesting something’s off in Trump’s health with gripes that his rallies contain “multiple asides...and run-ons” and touted an answer on child care to the Economic Club of New York to imply a lack of grip on reality.
She only said Trump has “defended his verbal gymnastics...as rhetorical flourishes.”
Missing? Any mention by Jackson of the many word salads Harris has tossed. Conveniently, our friends at the Free Beacon have documented 26 separate garbled messes in her vice presidency (as of this post).
With audible laughs heard on the Today set, Guthrie conceded “the Trump campaign also likes to play clips of Kamala Harris saying she’s not making sense, it’s word salad” but quickly gave weight to Harris’s “concerted effort” to attack Trump’s “age and cognition.”
Jackson closed by gushing over the 49-point swing in NBC polling of which candidate is seen as healthier from Biden vs. Trump to Harris vs. Trump and, in the second hour, she doubled down (click “expand”):
Look at the polling. Back when President Biden was still in the race, Mr. Trump held a 29-point edge on this question of the mental fitness and physical health to be president. But fast-forward to this fall, and our NBC News poll shows Vice President Harris is holding a 20-point lead on the same question. That is a swing of nearly 50 points. To your point, Savannah, keep in mind the Harris campaign has only really started ramping up this strategy in the last couple of weeks. It is something we’re likely to see more of until Election Day, Savannah
(....)
[in the second hour] Both candidates have been on the campaign trail in this cycle’s biggest battleground, of course, the Commonwealth of PA, with former President Trump’s event overnight turning into an impromptu soundtrack session, cutting short his townhall after two long interruptions because of medical episodes in the audience and then spending about an half an hour or so listening to music with the crowd. His campaign casting it as a chance for supporters to “enjoy the playlist,” Vice President Harris in a response overnight tweeting simply, “hope he’s okay,” part of a push to put Mr. Trump’s health in the spotlight.
To see the relevant NBC transcript from October 15, click here.
