MNSBC Town Hall Highlights Media's Softball Treatment of Trump

February 19, 2016

Writer

The media has all the ammo needed to take down Donald Trump. They're holding back for ratings.

The Context

MSNBC's lightweight treatment of Donald Trump at their town hall is just another in a long line of softball questions to the real estate mogul -- but don't think for a minute they don’t have all the ammo needed to derail his candidacy. In an election cycle that has seen a lot of "look at me" moments, the media is the one cashing in on ratings as they watch Trump rise to the top. But once he is the nominee, the ratings game changes to "watch him burn" mode.

The Build-Up

At first glance, it might appear the media actually likes Trump – and why not? His ideas do line up more with the liberal mindset than with conservatives. But make no mistake, they are biting their tongues just hoping he becomes the nominee that will go up against either Hillary or Bernie.

“And I want you to know -- here's why -- it works two ways for the mainstream media. First, they get their ratings. They get their ratings on the buildup, all the way to the summer,” Glenn explained on radio Friday. “Then when he gets to the election, it's that tension and that anticipation. And is he going to win? Is he not going to win? What's going to happen?”

The Take-Down

Just when the ratings hit a fever pitch and you think it can’t get any more crazy, that’s when the media will unleash all the info they have on the Donald to watch him burn to the ground.

“And then once that happens, then they get all of the ratings of the beatdown. And then the tension of, who is going to win? Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump? So they win twice on this story. That's what's happening. They're taking a win two times. The ratings up and then the ratings down,” Glenn said.

Trump might think he’s made out of Teflon, but he probably doesn’t even see what’s coming.

“The media beatdown that's coming is going to be of biblical proportions because he's going to escalate it,” Glenn said.

The Huffington Post Isn’t Playing Along

In an article posted on The Huffington Post written by Slate.com, what could have happened during the town hall forum was juxtaposed to what actually occurred.

Here is what was written:

Is Donald Trump in trouble? After facing hostile questions from Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Wednesday night—they comprehensively laid out his flip-flops, presented him with damning videotape, and asked him to explain the inconsistencies in detail—Trump was confronted by hostile audience members at MSNBC’s televised town-hall forum. When a Muslim questioner got up to ask why he had said such bigoted things about minorities, Trump seemed to struggle while Scarborough forced him to respond. The candidate looked uncomfortable, unhappy, and somewhat lost. It could be a turning point.

If only. Of course, none of this actually occurred Wednesday night, just like it hasn’t occurred once this entire campaign season. Instead, Scarborough and Brzezinski hosted what appeared to be a rehearsed and “safe” town hall, in which American voters asked the candidate such hard-hitting questions as “Why did you decide to run for president?” and “how will you set yourself apart” from other Republicans? It was completely worthless television, except in one sense: The program highlighted the many ways in which the media’s coverage of Trump has been soft, insufficient, and without substance.

Glenn explained why The Huffington Post is one of the only media outlets that have decided not to play along, because they know the truth about Trump.

“And it's only because Arianna Huffington has said, 'He's a fraud. He's a total and complete fraud. We're not playing this game.' Assuming -- just like we did -- that others on our own side would also say the same thing because they know,” Glenn said.

Common Sense Bottom Line

Donald Trump himself has said he can change to be whatever he needs to be, meaning he doesn’t have any deep-seated beliefs that can’t change to be what is best for Donald at the moment. So far The Huffington Post stands alone, but the media knows who Trump is and it’s only a matter of time before they go after him.

Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors:

GLENN: MSNBC town hall with Donald Trump. This is from The Huffington Post. It was disgraceful.

STU: Well, they think everything is disgraceful.

GLENN: No, well, they're the ones coming out against Donald Trump. They're the only media outlet on the left that's telling the truth.

STU: Yeah, I mean, one of them. They found a lot of the stuff, I will say, and they get beat up a lot for the list of -- the 47 things you should never say to your plumber. But Buzzfeed has done a lot of the work to find these clips --

PAT: Buzzfeed.

STU: They have.

PAT: 89 things Donald Trump has said to his interior decorator about gold lame.

STU: They deserve credit for it though. They're the ones going back and listening to these interviews. Of course, the mainstream media will do all this work. They probably have done it.

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

STU: But they're waiting to release it until afterwards.

GLENN: And I want you to know -- here's why -- it works two ways for the mainstream media. First, the -- they get their ratings. They get their ratings on the buildup, all the way to the summer. Then when he gets to the election, it's that tension and that anticipation. And is he going to win? Is he not going to win? What's going to happen? And then once that happens, then they get all of the ratings of the beatdown. And then the tension of, who is going to win? Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump? So they win twice on this story. That's what's happening. They're taking a win two times. The ratings up and then the ratings down.

STU: And you know who doesn't lose in the situation no matter what the outcome is, is Donald Trump. He's going to come out of this and say, "Oh, well, the media beat me up and I'm still worth billions and billions of dollars. And I have deals all over the world."

GLENN: I think the media beatdown that's coming towards him, I don't know if he does as well. He's no longer on TV. I really don't think so. The media beatdown that's coming is going to be of biblical proportions because he's going to escalate it.

STU: So odd. I mean, think about this. I was watching MSNBC. It was my day. I was assigned to watch it. And what is MSNBC doing? That was two days maybe. They're running a countdown clock to an interview with Donald Trump.

JEFFY: Oh, my gosh.

STU: Now, when is the last time they did something like that for a Republican candidate?

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: When is the last time MSNBC bent over backward to promote to their audience an interview with a Republican? The answer is, never a clock. It doesn't happen. They don't do it because they don't like Republicans. They like Donald Trump. And that should make you question that whole thing.

JEFFY: Which is why he got sucked into the Mika question on socialism. Right?

STU: Did you see this, Glenn?

GLENN: Yes.

STU: If you missed it, Mika went through a list of descriptive items of a particular candidate. Do you have it, Pat?

PAT: Yeah, I have it here somewhere.

MIKA: I wanted to describe a candidate to you: The candidate is considered a political outsider by all the pundits. He's tapping into the anger of the voters, delivers a populist message. He believes everyone in the country should have health care. He advocates for hedge fund managers to have higher taxes. He's drawing thousands of people at his rallies and bringing in a lot of new voters to the political process. And he's not beholden to any super PAC. Who am I describing?

DONALD: Or any special interest or any donors, you're describing Donald Trump.

MIKA: Actually I was describing Bernie Sanders.

DONALD: Well, that's good.

PAT: Oh, that's good.

STU: And, Glenn, why does he fall for that? Donald Trump, as much as he's not necessarily to me informed on a lot of these issues, he's not an idiot. He knows the media. He knows what they're trying to do to him.

If you asked him that question, the exact same way, there's no way he's falling for it. Because he's thinking you're coming at him skeptically. He's so sure that MSNBC is a friend of his, that he's going down this road and falls for that, which she didn't even really deliver it convincingly.

GLENN: Listen to this: Is Donald Trump in trouble? After facing hostile questions from Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Wednesday night, they comprehensively laid out his flip-flops, presented him with damning videotape, asked him to explain the inconsistencies in detail. Trump was confronted by a hostile audience of MSNBC's televised town hall forum. When a Muslim questioner got up and asked why he said such bigoted things about minorities, trump seemed to struggle while Scarborough forced him to respond. The candidate looked uncomfortable, unhappy, and somewhat lost. It could be a turning point.

Of course, none of this actually occurred Wednesday night. This is The Huffington Post. Of course, none of this occurred Wednesday night, just like it hasn't occurred once this entire campaign season.

JEFFY: Think about it.

GLENN: Instead Scarborough and Brzezinski hosted what appeared to be a rehearsed and safe town hall, in which American voters asked the candidate such hard-hitting questions as, why did you decide to run for president? And, how will you set yourself apart from other Republicans? It was completely worthless television, except in one sense: The program highlighted in many ways in which the media's coverage of Trump has been soft, insufficient, and without substance.

JEFFY: Wow.

GLENN: This is the left.

And it's only because Arianna Huffington has said, "He's a fraud. He's a total and complete fraud. We're not playing this game." Assuming, just like we did that others in our own -- on our own side would also say the same thing because they know.

PAT: Yes.

GLENN: We know -- Pat, any doubt in your mind that everybody on our side knows, I mean, --

PAT: No.

JEFFY: Oh, my gosh.

PAT: No.

GLENN: In positions that we are in, they all know.

PAT: They absolutely know.

GLENN: Stu.

JEFFY: Absolutely.

GLENN: They all know. Every one of them. They're not doing it. Why? I don't know why. I don't know why.

Arianna Huffington is the same way. She knows the media knows. She went out and said, "We're going to call this guy who he is. This is a joke. We're going to call who he is." So they've actually been doing reporting like this every time their side gives him a softball. They're like, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Scarborough began the evening by noting that he and his cohost were prepared to debrief Trump and ask him important questions. Instead, the questions were mild. Follow-ups, nonexistent.

It remained shocking that after months of bigoted comments and almost a pathological dishonesty, Trump still lands these types of interviews. Wednesday night, there was no mention of his racist comments towards Mexicans, his praise for Vladimir Putin, his stigmatization of Muslims. He wasn't pressed hard for any policy detail or challenged about his well-cataloged dislike of the truth.

Scarborough began asking what else but about the polls, before ostensibly turning to the Supreme Court. After asking one question about the Second Amendment, which Trump dodged, Scarborough moved on. Scarborough's constant grinning at Trump's laughable dishonesty was the only suggestion that the host recognized the nonsense Trump was spewing. He simply didn't care.

When Scarborough had a chance to follow up on Trump's nonsensical answers, guns, health care, et cetera, he usually changed the subject.

Featured Image: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to the media in the spin room after the Fox Business Network Republican presidential debate at the North Charleston Coliseum and Performing Arts Center on January 14, 2016 in North Charleston, South Carolina. The sixth Republican debate is held in two parts, one main debate for the top seven candidates, and another for three other candidates lower in the current polls. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The LIES Joe Biden, the White House, and the media made about Hunter's pardon will disgust you

Tom Williams / Contributor | Getty Images

President Joe Biden gave his son, Hunter, a sweeping presidential pardon that erased the past ten years of his criminal record.

Despite President Biden's repeated promise that he would not pardon his son, Glenn saw right through the charade. Glenn predicted Biden had always intended to pardon Hunter, waiting until after the election to avoid damaging Harris's presidential campaign despite White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and the entire corporate media establishment reiterating Biden's insistence that he would not pardon his son.

Here are three glaring examples of Biden and the media lying about the president's intentions to pardon Hunter:

President Biden claims he "ruled out" the possibility of pardoning Hunter.

@independent Joe Biden has issued a pardon for his son Hunter following his conviction on federal gun charges, despite previously claiming he would not do so. The president officially announced the decision on Sunday (1 December) saying that his son had been “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted” by the Justice Department. In a statement, he said he hoped the American people would understand his decision as a father. The sudden announcement was a full reversal of the stance he took six months ago when he announced publicly he would not pardon Hunter, should he be convicted. #hunter #biden ♬ original sound - Independent

This video shows several times in which Biden publically insisted that he would not pardon Hunter. This elite hypocrisy has become indicative of the Biden administration and the fuel behind Trump's overwhelming victory in November.

Biden owes KJP an apology.

Nobody has more egg on their face after this debacle than White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. As this video demonstrates, KJP repeated Biden's promise not to pardon his son. When Biden went back on his word, she had to scramble to provide some semblance of a defense for his decision.

The corporate media coverup.

The mainstream media belittled anyone who suggested that Biden would pardon Hunter. Now, these clips are a perfect example of the mainstream media's complicity of promoting whatever contradictory narrative emerges from the White House.

Who is Pam Bondi, Trump's new AG pick?

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

With Matt Gaetz out of the picture, President Trump has already named former Florida AG Pam Bondi as his latest pick as his US Attorney General.

As US Attorney General, Bondi will be placed at the head of the Department of Justice, the most crucial role in Trump's plans to root out the deep state. As Glenn discussed on his radio show, the Biden White House has weaponized the Department of Justice, against President Trump in an attempt to thwart his 2024 re-election. The Department of Justice is crooked to the core, and it will take a herculean effort to bring enduring reform to this pivotal government agency.

Does Pam Bondi have what it takes to lead the Department of Justice? What does her resume look like? Does she have any skeletons in the closet that the Democrats could use against her? Here's everything you need to know about Pam Bondi below:

Bondi's Resume

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Bondi started her career as a prosecutor working for the Hillsborough County Attorney's Office where she handled countless cases that ranged from domestic violence to murder. In 2010 Bondi made history by becoming Florida's first female attorney general. She spent her time in office fighting back against Florida's opioid crisis and openly challenged Obamacare.

Bondi worked with the first Trump administration, using her experience fighting the opioid crisis in Trump's Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission. After Trump was impeached for the first time, Bondi joined the team of defense lawyers fighting back against the prosecution's allegations.

Bondi has spent the last four years working for a Florida-based lobbying firm, but she still showed support for President Trump by making appearances alongside him during the New York City hush money trial.

Bondi's Dedication to fix the DoJ

Pool / Pool | Getty Images

Judging by her track record and the testimony of her colleagues, Bondi is more than capable of tackling the Department of Justice. Bondi has a record of following and enforcing the rule of law and has spent much of her career making communities safer. Bondi has firsthand experience with political elitists and corruption, having worked at nearly every level of the government from the bottom to the top.

Bondi stood by Trump as he faced impeachment and stayed by his side as he faced waves of lawfare after 2020. It's clear that Bondi has great respect for President Trump and is deeply familiar with the weaponization of the Department of Justice. It seems like she has what it takes to fix the system.

Bondi's Potential Controversies

Tom Williams / Contributor | Getty Images

The Mainstream Media wasted no time digging up dirt on Bondi, looking for anything that might stand between her and a Senate confirmation.

The biggest story circulating the media involves a 2013 case about "Trump University," a now-defunct company that offered courses in real estate, entrepreneurship, and other similar courses. In 2013, the New York Attorney General's office went after Trump University due to reports that the program was a "scam." Bondi began a similar investigation, which allegedly came to a halt after she received a $25,000 check from the Trump Foundation for her re-election campaign. Bondi has never been formally accused of illegal activity, but now that she is under the national spotlight, she could face serious scrutiny.

Bondi's tenure as a lobbyist has also been called into question. She was registered as a lobbyist for several foreign and corporate entities, which could be seen as a potential weakness or conflict of interest—or at the very least bring her dedication to fighting corruption into question.

AI Jesus and other INSANE new uses of Artificial Intelligence

Glenn has repeatedly warned about the dangers artificial intelligence poses to humanity. Yet, it seems like every week, some new AI project seems to inch us closer to that worst-case scenario.

It's not all bad. Even Glenn could resist the urge to buy an AI-powered, flamethrower-wielding, robotic dog to accompany him on his ranch. The future is here, and these are threeinsane new ways the power of AI is being harnessed — for better or worse.

AI Jesus

GraphicaArtis / Contributor | Getty Images

Many have wished to have a face-to-face conversation with Jesus, but this probably isn't what anyone had in mind. A church in Lucerne, Switzerland recently teamed up with scientists and computer experts from the nearby Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts to create a digital duplicate of Christ designed to listen to confessions and give scripture-supported advice to those who ask. The computer even creates a hologram image of Jesus that talks to people in real time. The AI was trained with the New Testament and "religious information found online," and is fluent in over 100 languages.

While some are impressed with his answers to moderately complex theological questions, many are skeptical, claiming that giving a machine the face and name of God is a form of idolatry. Others worry that it will turn Jesus into a "woke warrior."

AI Coca-Cola Ad

The holiday season is upon us, and Coca-Cola has released its newest Christmas ad campaign. These latest commercials feature shiny, Coca-Cola red semi-trucks driving through an idyllic winter wonderland on a mission to deliver soda to a festively decorated town — standard holiday ad fare. But this year, Coca-Cola decided to put a "futuristic spin" on their ad campaign — the commercials are all AI-generated. It doesn't take a detective to spot the tell-tale AI hallmarks, from truck wheels that don't spin as the truck is driving to the eerie expressions of the people in the ad that twist and contort in creepy ways. The holiday magic is lost.

AI Grandma

A British telecom company, Virgin Media O2, unveiled Daisy, an AI chatbot designed to scam the scammers. Daisy is designed to sound and talk like an elderly woman and is tasked to deliberately connect with telephone scammers (who typically target older people) and waste their time with heaps of meandering chatter so that scammers have less time to target real people. Daisy has already proved capable of fooling scammers into long phone conversations, which ultimately end up fruitless. Can you think of a better use of AI?

The THREE ways RFK Jr. will Make America Healthy Again

The Washington Post / Contributor | Getty Images

One of President Trump's most popular campaign promises was to "Make America Great Again," and he has employed the help of his former opponent, RFK Jr., to make that promise come true.

In an interview with NPR, RFK Jr. revealed the three directives Trump has tasked him as the new head of the Department of Health and Human Services. These directives aim to cut out the "cancer" that Glenn exposed in his latest TV special that has spread throughout theentire federal government.

Here are the three directives Trump gave RFK Jr.:

1. Rid health agencies of corruption and conflicts.

J. David Ake / Contributor | Getty Images

It is no secret that the departments that fall under the HHS, such as the FDA, NIH, and CDC, are rife with corruption. After the COVID lockdowns raised suspicion that these federal agencies did not have the American people's best interests at heart, Americans have been increasingly distrustful of these institutions. Glenn exposed several instances of corruption across the HHS, from Dr. Fauchi's Covid powertrip to the insidious relationship between private entities like Big Food, Big Pharma, and the federal agencies that regulate them.

RFK Jr. has been one of the most vocal critics of the corruption that has turned these federal agencies against the very people they were created to protect and is the best person to reform these institutions.

2. Return agencies to the gold standard of empirically based, evidence-based science and medicine.

Caroline Brehman / Contributor | Getty Images

Under Biden, the HHS has degraded even further than it had before. Scientific methodology and empirical data are no longer the backbones of these institutions. They have been replaced with DEI and other woke agendas. The Department of Health and Human Services is the second largest federal agency, only behind the Pentagon, with a budget of 1.7 trillion dollarsand over 83 thousand employees. The opportunity for waste and negligence is monumental.

Biden appointed former California Attorney General, Xavier Becerra, to the head of HHS, along with Rachel Levine, a transgender woman, as the Assistant Secretary for Health. Before long the second-largest federal agency started looking like a university DEI office, with hundreds of DEI hires adding to government bloat. Instead of battling the diseases and sicknesses that plague our country, the HHS spent the past four years going after pro-life investigators who were exposing how Planned Parenthood sells body parts of aborted babies, opposing the merger of religious-based hospitals to protect transgender and abortion "rights," and wrestling over Obama-era contraceptive mandates with a group of Catholic nuns. This is quackery and waste on an unprecedented scale.

RFK Jr. is tasked with rooting out the corruption that sprang forth with the Biden administration's DEI agenda and put science back in our health policy.

3. End the chronic disease epidemic with measurable impacts within two years.

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

Today, despite our modern technology, Americans are sicker than ever before. 129 million Americans have at least one chronic disease, 42 percent have two or more, and 12 percent have more than five. Life expectancy is at a twenty-year low despite the fact that we are spending more than ever on health care. Even our children are sick, with a staggering 40 percent of school-aged kids having at least one chronic disease. One in nine kids has ADHD, and one in 54 has autism, both representing a steep increase over past decades.

America is sick, and Big Pharma is just rolling in the profits. This is where RFK Jr. comes in. He aims to find the cures and preventions to these diseases and make Americans healthy instead of lifelong patients.

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