Pundits Wail Over Trump’s ‘Venomous’ Tone

Denied an opportunity to lecture President Donald Trump on the sanctity of the national media Saturday, several pundits instead sought to lecture the president Sunday, characterizing his speech at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania as “venomous,” even “poisonous.”

“Trump’s speech last night … is the most venomous speech by an American president that I have heard in more than 50 years of reporting,” said famed Watergate reporter and Hillary Clinton biographer Carl Bernstein during an appearance on CNN’s “Reliable Sources.”

“Journalists refuse to understand Trump or his supporters because they are diametrically opposed to conservative beliefs.”

The speech was “venomous towards the press, venomous towards legitimate political opponents, and it was a road map of a venomous state of mind that ought to concern all Americans of goodwill, particularly Republicans,” Bernstein continued.

Trump opted to hold the rally in Pennsylvania opposite the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. The last president to snub the elite gathering was Jimmy Carter. Trump used much of his speech to detail what he termed unfair treatment from a hostile press and slammed the media for pursuing a political agenda out of touch with the American people.

“Those boos [of the crowd at Trump’s rally] are meaningful because,” observed Stelter, referring to the reaction elicited by Trump’s attacks on mainstream media bias, “the boos mean Trump’s venomous talk is really resonating with his fans.”

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During CNN coverage following the speech itself on Saturday, Stelter said “it is insidious, it is poisonous, and I think for the journalists in this room — just trying to do their best work — it is disappointing to continue to hear the president taking this tone.”

Also following the speech on Saturday, former Clinton advisor Paul Begala called Trump a “moral midget,” while David Gergen, former advisor to presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton, called it “deeply disturbing,” all on CNN.

“To bring your campaign speech into the presidency is something presidents rarely do. This was — this was the most divisive speech I’ve ever heard from a sitting American president,” Gergen claimed — evidently forgetting much of the recent Obama presidency.

President Barack Obama achieved a well-earned reputation as the “campaigner-in-chief.” Not only did the former president regularly take partisan rhetoric out to rallies far from Washington, but Obama also regularly mocked Republicans and conservatives. “I won. You lost. Deal with it,” Obama famously said to GOP lawmakers in the fall of 2013.

Trump’s “venomous” rhetoric mostly consisted of dismissing the credibility of openly hostile media outlets, such as CNN, and suggesting the WHCA dinner would be “boring” without him.

“As you may know there is another big gathering taking place tonight in Washington D.C. — did you hear about it?” President Trump asked the crowd, who booed enthusiastically in response.

“A large group of Hollywood actors and Washington media are consoling each other in a hotel ballroom in her nation’s capital right now,” he continued. “They are gathered together for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner without the president.”

“And I could not possibly be more thrilled than to be more than 100 miles away from Washington swamp, spending my evening with all of you and with a much, much larger crowd and much better people, right? Right,” Trump said.

“Media outlets like CNN and MSNBC are fake news. Fake news. And they are sitting, and they are wishing in Washington. They are watching right now, they are watching, and they would love to be with us right here tonight. But they are trapped at the dinner, which will be very, very boring,” said Trump.

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One conservative watchdog says the media’s fury over Trump’s temperament is ironic given the press have engaged in a collective freak-out over his election.

“Trump is correct: The media are a problem,” said Dan Gainor, Vice President of Business and Culture at the Media Research Center (MRC). “That’s why they bandy about words like ‘venomous’ like it’s no big deal. They complain about Trump’s temperament when the very news media covering him have been having a national tantrum since 2016,” Gainor explained.

“Journalists refuse to understand Trump or his supporters because they are diametrically opposed to conservative beliefs,” said Gainor. “Trump’s election has outed traditional journalism as the left-wing operation conservatives have always said it was.”