When it comes to politics, the press – or, as it has come to be known in the information age, the media – has perhaps never been entirely objective. With the advent of social media, the skewed perspectives of journalists and editorial teams have become more widely recognized – and more universally despised. Once former President Donald Trump appeared on the political scene, however, bias in left-leaning media kicked into overdrive. Indeed, several journalists and TV news personalities have gone so far as to suggest that Trump is such an unpalatable individual that they have a duty not to portray him or his policies objectively. Still, the upcoming presidential election appears to have driven the anti-Trump media to an even greater level of journalistic malpractice, as evidenced by several recent shameful examples.
For many past presidential candidates, a disastrous interview with the acclaimed CBS News show 60 Minutes might have been a campaign-killer. Not so for Kamala Harris, though, whose painfully embarrassing appearance on the show was whitewashed by the broadcast network.
Media Bias Turns Duplicitous
When host Bill Whitaker queried her about the Biden administration’s stance on the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Harris responded, “The work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region.” This rambling non-answer went viral after another CBS show, Face the Nation, posted it on X as part of a promo.
When the Harris 60 Minutes interview aired, however, the VP's trademark word salad had been replaced by her answer to one of Whitaker's follow-up questions. CBS defended this obviously deceptive piece of editing with a statement that read in part, “Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response.”
A “different portion” of the response? Tell the world you edited Kamala to make her look better without telling the world you edited Kamala to make her look better. Unfortunately for CBS, this has become a major media bias scandal, with the Trump campaign and congressional GOPers demanding the network release the full transcript of the Harris interview.
The Fake News Bears
In terms of media bias and the sometimes desperate attempts by left-leaning outlets to stave off Harris' potential electoral hammering, The Atlantic went even further than CBS. The publication ran a story about then-President Trump angrily refusing to pay for the funeral of a fallen soldier, having previously offered to cover the cost. According to Jeffrey Goldberg, writing for The Atlantic, Trump lost his cool during a December 2020 Oval Office meeting after he was informed that the funeral in question cost $60,000. “It doesn’t cost 60,000 bucks to bury a f--king Mexican,” the Atlantic writer alleged Trump yelled – citing anonymous sources, of course. The 45th president then turned to his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and ordered him not to pay for the funeral. In response to the report, Meadows posted on X:
“I was in the discussions featured in the Atlantic’s latest hit piece against President Trump. Let me say this.
“Any suggestion that President Trump disparaged Ms. Guillen or refused to pay for her funeral expenses is absolutely false.
“He was nothing but kind, gracious, and wanted to make sure that the military and the U.S. government did right by Vanessa Guillen and her family.”
Mayra Guillen, the sister of fallen soldier Vanessa Guillen, also was incensed by the Trump hit piece. “Wow,” she wrote on X, “I don't appreciate how you are exploiting my sister's death for politics – hurtful and disrespectful to the important changes she made for service members. President Donald Trump did nothing but show respect to my family and Vanessa. In fact, I voted for President Trump today.”
Also present at the White House meeting were Meadows’ spokesman, Ben Williamson, Acting Secretary of Defense, Christopher Miller, and Miller's chief of staff, Kash Patel. Williamson and Patel also issued statements denying that Trump said the things The Atlantic reported.
If this report was a fabrication – and The Atlantic has provided nothing to corroborate the story – it goes way beyond simple media bias. It would be an outright deception or, as so many people on the left are now fond of saying, "disinformation."
Mere days after Trump did a stint slinging burgers and fries at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania, the CDC reported that there had been an outbreak of E. coli, which could be traced back to the fast-food chain. Coincidence? Perhaps, but what are the chances? Newsweek then reported on the CDC revelation, and for the story’s feature image, guess who was pictured at the McDonald's drive-through window? It certainly seemed like a cheap attempt to tie Trump directly to the E. coli outbreak. Then again, that is pure speculation.
Elements of the left-wing media have taken it upon themselves to remind us that Trump did not actually “work” at McDonald's and that his appearance was merely a campaign photo op. Shocking news indeed. After all, no other presidential candidate has ever staged an event as a campaign stunt. Certainly, Harris has never, ever stopped to buy Doritos – twice – with media cameras in tow.
Everyone who follows American politics, at any level, is aware of the phrase “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” It was once a joke, but now it could very well be a real personality disorder. It is certainly amusing to mock left-wing media bias and ridicule journalists for their irrational aversion to The Donald. It is no laughing matter, though, when news outlets knowingly deceive the voting public to achieve a desired outcome in a presidential election.
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