MRC’s Contributing Writer Stephanie Hamill was a guest on Wednesday’s Fox News at Night with host Trace Gallagher and District Media Group President Beverly Hallberg to discuss media bias in the 2024 election cycle –– and there’s no shortage of examples when it comes to the unfair coverage by some of the major networks.
One of the most egregious examples of it happened on Monday night when former President Donald Trump gave a late-night victory speech –– MSNBC and CNN immediately cut away from it as they were ‘trying to protect’ their viewers from his ‘anti-immigrant rhetoric’ and ‘untrue things.'
"Let people listen to the candidates and let them decide. The American people aren't stupid. If the rhetoric is so bad, let them hear it for themselves, said Hamill."
Full transcript below:
Trace: Stephanie you first, the X post saying looks like Donald Trump just won Iowa, he's the clear front runner on the other side at this point but here's the thing this election was always going to be the you and me versus extreme Maga Republicans. So it's not what I've done for you, it's what Maga Republicans will do to you. Stephanie...
Stephanie: It's Absolutely absurd for President Biden to tweet this when only one-third of American adults support the job he's doing, as in his job performance. Being divisive and demonizing those who have supported president Trump and/or the other half of the country, if you will, isn't going to bring people to your side. It's very unpresidential, if you will. Instead he should be talking about policies and how he's going to reverse course to make the lives of the American people better.
Trace: We talked about the media backing the president. Here's joy Reid on MSNBC saying all Christian trump voters are racist. Watch.
[Video Clip Joy Reid]: All the things that we think about, about electability, about what are people gaming out, none that that matters when you believe that God has given you this country, that it is yours, and that everyone who is not a white conservative Christian is a fraudulent American.
Trace: I said racist I meant evil and racist Beverly.
Beverly: Don't forget both words, have to get them both in. When you hear this, it's not surprising that when you take a look at the public's level of trust in the media it's below 20% not only because they report on stories like Russian collusion, which didn't prove to be true or suppressing information about covid, the origins of it or masking, but because they demonize their own readers or the people they want to read their story. It's interesting that media outlets take it upon themselves to scold the American people on what they think instead of focusing on putting out information and facts and letting people decide for themselves.
Trace: Speaking of MSNBC, this sound bite from Rachel maddow explaining why they had to cut away from Trump's victory speech, you can't let people decide for themselves you have to tell them what to think.
[Video Clip Rachel Maddow]: There's a reason we and other news organizations have generally stopped giving an unfiltered live platform to remarks by President Trump. There is a cost to us as a news organization of knowingly broadcasting untrue things.
Trace: They specialize in broadcasting untrue things Stephanie. I've gone over this before again and again. but your talk.
Stephanie: Well, their credibility is already wounded with the Russian collusion hoax and the Hunter Biden laptop story among so many other things that we don't have time to list on this show. So you think that they would sit down and think, you know, many we should try to work harder to gain credibility, so we can get people to start watching us again and taking us serious. Instead they're tripling down, not just doubling down they're tripling down by completely censoring a presidential candidate, that obviously people like. Let people listen to the candidates and let them decide. The American people aren't stupid. If the rhetoric is so bad, let them hear it for themselves.
Trace: Yeah, it's a live speech from the former president of the United States and they're censoring it and Jamie Dimon, Kevin Corke played a little bit of this, JPMorgan diamond said this is a dangerous path to go down.
[Video Clip Jamie Dimon]: I wish Democrats would think a little more carefully when they talk about Maga. Listen he was kind of right about NATO, kind of right about immigration, he grew the economy quite well, he was right about China. This negative talk about Maga will hurt Biden's election campaign.
Trace: He's right, it's going to hurt, you have to run on your record at some point in time otherwise you're just beating up the other guy.
Beverly: It's not even that he's beating up Trump. He's beating up the people who are voting for him. It Reminds me of the Hillary Clinton 'basket of deplorables' moment which was devastating for her. This is what the Biden administration wants to do, not just run against Trump but run against half of the American people. I think it's a losing strategy. You don't knock the voters yet that's what they seem to think is their winning messages because as you said focusing on his record isn't going to work too well for Biden since not many people like the job he is doing.
