In a Wednesday appearance on the Fox Business Network’s Trish Regan Primetime with fill-in host David Asman, NewsBusters executive editor Tim Graham ripped into The New York Times by comparing the newspaper to the current Congress, complete with a lefty leader being besieged by their “radical base.”
Asman began that portion of the interview by reading this jaw-dropping exchange between a journalist for the paper and an editor (click “expand”):
“Hello, I have another question about racism. I’m wondering to what extent you think that the fact of racism and white supremacy being sort of the foundation of this country should play to our reporting. Just because it feels to me like it should be a starting point, you know? Like these conversations about what is a racist, what isn't a racist. I just feel like racism is in everything. It should be considered in our science reporting, in our culture reporting, in our national reporting. And so, to me, it's less about the individual instances of racism and sort of how we are thinking about racism and white supremacy as the foundation of all of the systems in the country.”
“You could certainly say, obviously we had a slavery problem in the United States for a long time followed by a long period of Jim Crow. But again, the fight then becomes what about right now,” Graham said.
He then looked at what the exchange exposed about the inner workings at The Times. “So, what you have is people in The New York Times newsroom, who are to the left of Dean Baquet, the executive editor,” he explained. “He's sort of the Nancy Pelosi in this newsroom. He’s the ‘centrist’, and he’s got this radical base of ‘journalists’…”
“And it just shows you, again, there’s no objectivity at The New York Times,” Graham argued, pointing to how the journalists were “constantly saying, ‘why aren't we calling Trump a racist? We should call all these Republicans racist, all the Trump supporters are racist.’ That's what his reporters want to do.”
“Well, that’s not journalism. I mean, it’s not journalism to have an agenda like that,” Asman agreed. “And as you say, you’re right, the managing editor now is the Pelosi. Hopefully, it will have some effect. But I don’t know, it’s a pretty strong trend in that newspaper and all of journalism in America.”
Shortly before ripping into The Times, Graham took the rest of the liberal media to task for refusing to hold Democratic Congresswomen Ilhan Omar (MN) and Rashida Tlaib (MI) accountable for their anti-Semitism (click “expand”):
Well, the interesting thing here is that, our press, the media, The New York Times, the major networks, never really question where Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib are on this issue, or AOC. They’re not questioning them as in the minority of Democrats or in the minority of Congress. And they’re not questioning-- all these people talk about holding people accountable. They’re not holding these women accountable for their positions, for their associations with Muslim extremists and Hamas.
“But I think the news media's absolute attachment and promotion of these women shows you where the press is. How extreme the press is, and that's just an amazing thing,” he added.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
Fox Business Network’s Trish Regan Primetime
August 21, 2019
8:38:10 p.m. EasternDAVID ASMAN: So Tim, sometimes the truth wins even in Hollywood.
TIM GRAHAM: Yeah well, this is one of these things where Bill Maher sounds like a conservative to some people. But when it comes to religion and government, he’s going to come down and say too much Islam in your government is kind of what he's saying. Let’s be clear, this BDS movement is basically about destroying the Jewish state of Israel, trying to turn it back into a Muslim state. And this is one of the reasons why it lost so badly in the Congress.
ASMAN: And frankly, as Maher said correctly, 93 percent of Congress believes that. So, this group “The Squad” is such a small, tiny minority, and they’re being put far into a corner by Bill Maher. But I just wonder if somehow or not the wagons are going to circle around them and defend them. Particularly if Donald Trump senses they are being too far disassociated from the Democrat Party.
GRAHAM: Well, the interesting thing here is that, our press, the media, The New York Times, the major networks, never really question where Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib are on this issue, or AOC. They’re not questioning them as in the minority of Democrats or in the minority of Congress. And they’re not questioning-- all these people talk about holding people accountable. They’re not holding these women accountable for their positions, for their associations with Muslim extremists and Hamas.
ASMAN: But Bill Maher is. And are you saying that what he's saying are falling on deaf ears, that none of what he says is being picked up by anybody except perhaps us?
GRAHAM: Yeah. I mean, I think if you look at the news tonight, if you listen-- I was listening tonight to NPR and PBS. The scandalous person here is Trump. It's never The Squad. The Squad are always these wonderful progressive woke victims. They are never somebody they question.
That’s why people realize the press is phony when they say they are about holding government accountable because they don't hold these women accountable.
ASMAN: I must disagree with you on one part because I was listening to NPR and I did hear Bill Maher's comments come out. So, there is pushback at least in terms of airing the remarks of Bill Maher. So, I would just say right on to him. But, again, I think the President, the message is getting across to voters. That's one reason why the President continues to harp on The Squad.
Hopefully, to get the Democrats circled around them which puts them in the same league as the Democrat Party. That is to say they are viewed almost as the mainstream of the Democrat Party and that's very bad for Democrats going into an election.
GRAHAM: Well, this is the whole point obviously why Trump is singling them out. But I think the news media's absolute attachment and promotion of these women shows you where the press is. How extreme the press is, and that's just an amazing thing.
ASMAN: Well, if we needed another example of that, all you have to do is looking at The New York Times meeting that was outlined by Salon magazine. One of the best things Salon ever did. There was a meeting between the managing editor and reporters. And here is what one of the reporters listed as a staffer had to say to his manager editor.
“Hello, I have another question about racism. I’m wondering to what extent you think that the fact of racism and white supremacy being sort of the foundation of this country should play to our reporting. Just because it feels to me like it should be a starting point, you know? Like these conversations about what is a racist, what isn't a racist. I just feel like racism is in everything. It should be considered in our science reporting, in our culture reporting, in our national reporting. And so, to me, it's less about the individual instances of racism and sort of how we are thinking about racism and white supremacy as the foundation of all of the systems in the country.”
In other words, racism is this huge thing which is no longer about hating somebody because of their race, but now it's because of all these other things you might disagree with the liberal establishment about.
GRAHAM: You could certainly say obviously we had a slavery problem in the United States for a long time followed by a long period of Jim Crow. But again, the fight then becomes what about right now? So, what you have is people in The New York Times newsroom, who are to the left of Dean Baquet, the executive editor.
He's sort of the Nancy Pelosi in this newsroom. He’s the “centrist”, and he’s got this radical base of “journalists” who are saying it’s our-- You look at the transcript in Slate. It's constantly saying why aren't we calling Trump a racist. We should call all these Republicans racist, all the Trump supporters are racist. That's what his reporters want to do. And it just shows you, again, there’s no objectivity at The New York Times.
ASMAN: Well, that’s not journalism. I mean, it’s not journalism to have to have an agenda like that. But the point is, Tim, it's not just Donald Trump. It's the entire United States of America. Not only the foundations, not only our founding fathers, but our science, our culture, everything that was listed in there that should be viewed through the prism of racism. It's all racist all the time.
And as you say, you’re right, the managing editor now is the Pelosi. Hopefully, it will have some effect. But I don’t know, it’s a pretty strong trend in that newspaper and all of journalism in America.
Tim great to see you. Thank you very much. Appreciate you being here.
GRAHAM: Thank you.
