“When are the most extreme of media freaks not freaking out about Trump speaking truths that former presidents, whether they had a ‘D’ or an ‘R’ by their name, dared not to ever air in public?” said commentator Michelle Malkin, host of CRTV’s “Michelle Malkin Investigates,” on Thursday night on “The Ingraham Angle” on Fox News.
“Whether they were freaking out over the Iran deal or North Korea, it’s always apocalypse,” she also told host Laura Ingraham. “The record so far has been when he says the things the American people want him to say, he has gotten his way — which is our way.”
“Say something bad about the president, please, right now, because it’s really awkward on camera for me,” Ingraham teased.
She was referencing a tight spot CNN’s chief national correspondent Christiane Amanpour had created for herself when she failed to elicit a negative comment about President Donald Trump’s performance during an interview with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
On assessing the unity and success of the NATO summit, Stoltenberg had told Amanpour, “This has been a very good summit … There’s no problem to have different views.”
“They keep doing that — and we’re going to get [a] reelection of Donald Trump in 2020,” Malkin said, referring to Trump’s negative media coverage of big events that result in net positives for U.S. interests.
Here’s a breakdown of how things have gone in this regard.
Brussels. Trump’s appearance at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Brussels on Wednesday was preceded by — and followed by — a wide-ranging media apoplexy stemming from his “America first” stance.
The discussion focused on two issues. The first was the president’s insistence all NATO members pay more of their share of military spending. In the end, a decision was made to do precisely that. The second was his expression of concern about Germany’s reliance on Russia for energy and its efforts toward building a pipeline between the two countries.
Related: Trump Concludes NATO Summit Is Seeking ‘Fairness’ for U.S.
Before the summit, the sky-is-falling media pundits warned that Trump was going to pull out of NATO and lo, the beginning of the end of the word would ensue. When that didn’t happen — and Trump secured greater, more equitable spending on the part of our allies and obviously did not pull out of NATO — they were reduced to silly coverage of Trump’s successful showing at the summit, such as the below:
Trump arrived 30 minutes late to today’s NATO summit, missed his scheduled meetings with at least two world leaders, prompted the secretary general to call an emergency session, held an impromptu 35-minute news conference, and is now leaving for the airport go fly to London.
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) July 12, 2018
Equally as important as what these outlets chose to report on is what they strategically chose to ignore.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R.-Ga.), for example, pointed to a half-page ad in The New York Times placed by nine former British military officials. The sizable ad affirmed Trump’s position on NATO — yet it went virtually unreported.
9 former British military officials place half-page ad in @thetimes supporting @POTUS' position on #NATO, and the elite media completely ignores it. pic.twitter.com/i4AYE0JdkH
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) July 12, 2018
This mainstream media would be remiss, of course, if they neglected to capitalize on the truism that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” A CNBC reporter was one of many who posted the least flattering photo possible of the president of the United States at the NATO summit. In the “gotcha” visual, attending leaders had assembled on a wide stairway. The photographer captured a brief moment when Trump appeared to be grimacing (likely from the sunlight) — and was looking in the opposite direction as the others.
Photo of the day from NATO >>> pic.twitter.com/wpJjIIZisB
— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) July 11, 2018
London. The Sun’s exclusive coverage of Trump’s dressing down of British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit strategy broke Wednesday evening. The headline read: “TRUMP’S BREXIT BLAST—I told May how to do Brexit but she wrecked it—the US trade deal is off, says Donald Trump.”
Perhaps the most gasp-worthy bombshell in the piece, timed to coincide with the president’s visit to the U.K., was a warning to May that “any attempts to maintain close ties with the E.U. would make a lucrative U.S. trade deal very unlikely.” A close second was the president’s suggestion that the country’s former foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, could make a great prime minister.
Trump’s visit to the U.K. was hardly overflowing with a friendly welcome from its citizens, and naturally, the media were quick to trumpet the massive show of disrespect stateside.
Looks like the poor wittle snowflake #MAGA fans are a wee bit upset. https://t.co/WPTkFMxx5E
— Jon Cooper ? (@joncoopertweets) July 8, 2018
Moscow. On MSNBC’s “Hardball,” Chris Matthews compared Trump to an 8-year old. Guest Ben Rhodes, a former White House official, agreed that Trump “likes to be the center of attention.” Matthews expressed incredulity at the idea Trump would “jeopardize one of history’s great marriages, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for a one-off with a man who tried undermining our democracy.”
And once again, doomsday predictions from a large chunk of the press have flooded the airwaves before President Trump has even made a move.
Time and again, contrary to the media’s constant drumbeat of impending doom, the president comes home with a win for the country.
As we know, that didn’t work out well for media naysayers about the talks with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un — yet still they carry on, because, well, that’s what they do.
When will they give the office of the presidency — as well as the occupant of the White House — the decency and respect he deserves, whether they like or agree with him or not?
President Trump’s strategies, while new and different from those of his predecessors, are not something to fear. Time and again, contrary to the media’s constant drumbeat of impending doom, the president comes home with a win for the country. (And let’s all remember that if they ever tried some of this stuff with Barack Obama or Bill Clinton … well, they wouldn’t. They didn’t.)
Reagan: Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall.
Trump: Tear down NATO? and bow to Putin?!?
GOP leaders saying they revere Reagan while paying servile fealty to Trump is the definition of rank hypocrisy.— Dan Rather (@DanRather) July 11, 2018
While Republicans sleep: A rising tide of authoritarianism sweeps over capitals in Turkey and the Philippines, in Hungary and Poland, in far right parties in Germany, France and Austria. And President Trump cozies up to Putin and shuns our NATO allies. Wake up! Do your jobs.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) July 11, 2018
(photo credit, homepage and article: YouTube)
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