A panel on “Morning Joe” on Wednesday criticized the media for giving an unfair advantage to Republican nominee Donald Trump in their coverage in an effort to appear impartial toward Democrats.
The panel argued that the media has not adequately held Trump accountable for his allegedly dangerous rhetoric, instead striving for an appearance of neutrality between both presidential nominees ahead of the 2024 election.
Co-host Mike Barnicle claimed that the media tends to overlook Trump’s rhetoric and frequently adds criticism of Vice President Kamala Harris whenever negative coverage of Trump occurs.
Co-host Joe Scarborough argued that the media is practicing “moral relativism” by supposedly neglecting its responsibility to thoroughly cover Trump, all in an effort to maintain an appearance of impartiality.
“For some reason, the mainstream media, nine years into Donald Trump’s era in American politics, still doesn’t know how to cover Donald Trump,” Scarborough said. “They still are engaging even at this late hour in moral relativism and saying, ‘Yeah, but, yeah, but.’ And, again, they just don’t know how to put it in proper perspective because, as I said yesterday, they are so concerned about being objective that they’re treating this race like it was 1996 … Their ‘objective’, and I put that word in quotes, their ‘objectivity’ actually is not objectivity at all. It ends up playing to Donald Trump’s advantage every day because they are so numbed by the hate, the hate speech, that has spewed out of his mouth for the past nine years.”
Scarborough claimed that the media placed more emphasis on Vice President Kamala Harris not holding a public event for the thirteen service members killed during the flawed Afghanistan withdrawal while covering Trump’s arrival at Arlington National Cemetery to honor them.
Co-host Jonathan Lemire concurred with his colleagues but noted that the media has “improved” in its coverage of Trump during both his presidency and post-presidency.
“But you’re right, in an effort to appear balanced, to appear objective, mistakes are absolutely being made and standards are absolutely being applied to both candidates here when Donald Trump is a different animal,” Lemire said. “He is an insurrectionist candidate, we should never lose sight of that. He lies more than any other major political figure we’ve ever had, not even close. He is someone who flouts every rule and norm, he is someone who has been convicted of a crime. And all of that needs to be said and said.”
Scarborough further criticized CNBC host Joe Kernen for focusing on Harris’ tax policy during an interview with former Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, following Toomey’s statement that he would not vote for Trump due to Trump’s alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
