FROM WASHINGTON EXAMINER: There was a running joke after President Donald Trump appeared in public after internet ghouls buzzed about his supposed untimely demise. The Associated Press sent out an X post with video proof of life accompanied by the text, “Trump says social media conspiracies about his death were wrong.” Various online wags, in homage to how the president is often covered by the legacy media, quipped, “Trump claims without evidence.”
But there was a subtle difference in the way much of the media covered the Trump rumors and similar stories that spread on social media about former President Joe Biden. An initial New York Times headline about the Trump nonsense was, “President Trump is alive. The internet was convinced otherwise.” Contrast this with “The far right spreads baseless claims about Biden’s whereabouts” during one of the former president’s bouts with COVID-19.
Neither headline is inaccurate or irresponsible. But speculation about Trump’s health is framed as some innocent internet tomfoolery, whereas Biden’s honor needs to be defended from malicious conservative — far right, even — political actors.
The media outlet consistently handles news stories in a similarly biased way, painting democrats in a positive light and Republicans in a native light.
In another example from the New York Times, an article explained why people thought the president had died.
“President Trump had nothing on his public schedule for three days last week,” the Times said. “He is often sporting a large, purple bruise on his right hand, which he often slathers with makeup. His ankles are swollen. He is the oldest person to be elected president.”
But the Times handled a comparable Biden story differently.
“Many conspiracy theorists and far-right commentators are spreading doubts that President Biden is alive after he posted a letter on Sunday resigning from his presidential campaign,” the story said.
It’s important to note that Trump had recently given a lengthy interview and even hosted a three-hour plus Cabinet meeting that was open to the press. Even after all of the access, something Biden did not do, the brief break in his famously busy schedule led to crazy conspiracy theories. On the other hand, the Biden rumors happened after a drastically disastrous debate performance and after he dropped out of the presidential race — despite emphatically insisting he never would. It all happened remotely — no public speech, no appearance.
While neither report contained false information, the rumors behind them turned out to be false. But the tone of the Trump coverage was different. Moreover, those who fussed over Biden were called “conspiracy theorists and far-right commentators.” People spreading grave rumors about Trump were called “influencers with legions of followers” and “anonymous critics.” Both groups were similar in influence, but they were described quite differently.
The Examiner further pointed to former White House press secretary Jen Psaki. The current MSNBC commentator was ravenous about the Trump death story.
“We went from Trump saying he hadn’t heard about the rumors of his death to Trump saying he did hear about them from reports,” she said. “You can’t make this stuff up sometimes. And look, we may never know why Donald Trump suddenly spent a week hiding entirely from the American public.”
This, after her time covering for the notoriously absent Biden, was an especially ridiculously biased assessment.
The information listed is from WashingtonExaminer.
