Media top headlines July 12
The New York Times getting ripped for equating 'freedom' to an 'anti-government slogan,' Gov. Kristi Noem saying it was 'tough' being attacked by conservative media over trans-athlete bill, and MSNBC giving Michael Avenatti's prison sentence less than 2 minutes of coverage round out today's top media headlines
The Associated Press gushed over President Biden’s habit of whispering answers to reporters with a feature story declaring it "an intimate form of communication."
Biden’s whispering has caused the hashtag "Creepy Joe" to trend on Twitter, with some politicians like Republican Reps. Andy Biggs, Ariz., and Claudia Tenney, N.Y., to comment on how "creepy" the president’s muttering has become.
BIDEN'S BIZARRE BEHAVIOR AT PRESS CONFERENCE CAUSES 'CREEPY JOE' TO TREND ON TWITTER
Yet the Associated Press rushed to Biden’s defense on Monday with a piece headlined, "Listen up: Biden speaks volumes in a whisper to make a point," that fawns over the bizarre habit.
"The White House and communications experts say Biden’s whispering is just this veteran politician’s old-school way of trying to make a connection while emphasizing a point," AP White House reporter Darlene Superville wrote.
Superville enlisted Vanderbilt University associate professor of communication studies Vanessa Beasley to defend Biden’s whispering.
BIDEN REPEATEDLY WHISPERS DURING PRESS CONFERENCE
"It’s an intimate form of communication," Beasley told the AP. "I think it’s a symbolic gesture to a kind of intimacy and familiarity."
The AP reporter then noted the contrast between Biden and former President Donald Trump, whom she wrote "often spoke loudly and angrily" before finding another professor to weigh in.
"One of the things that Trump never did was whisper," University of California, Berkeley professor emerita of linguistics Robin Lakoff said.
The glowing feature declared Biden is actually doing a "stage whisper" as opposed to a "true whisper."
"The White House defended Biden, saying conservatives who criticize the way he speaks, including his stuttering, do so because they don’t have a better agenda to offer voters," the AP reporter wrote.
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The AP’s story, written by a White House reporter, was not listed as an opinion piece despite the editorialized headline.
Fox News’ Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.