Howard Kurtz: Trump fires back at Biden, Beto as he visits El Paso, Dayton
'MediaBuzz' host Howard Kurtz weighs in on the mainstream media and Democratic presidential candidates criticizing President Trump's visits to Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas.
The anti-Trump media went off the deep end this past week, concocting horror stories about the president they love to hate.
I’m not talking Trump Derangement Syndrome. That’s so 2016. I’m talking about peddling absolutely crazy stories. These include claims that President Trump wants to exterminate Latinos and is honoring Hitler’s birthday.
And on top of this, many in the media attacked anyone who dared express support for the Second Amendment of the Constitution, which states: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
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MSNBC led the way, with its on-air personalities saying things that would get normal humans fired from jobs, de-platformed online and disowned by their families.
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One MSNBC guest slammed a wealthy Trump supporter. He said he wanted “pitchforks and torches outside this man's house in the Hamptons.” At MSNBC, that’s just another day at the office.
Even one of the pros from MSNBC’s sister network joined in with the lunacy. NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel appeared on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” and agreed with his host that a recession would be worth it to get rid of Trump.
“Short-term pain might be better than long-term destruction of the Constitution,” Engel told viewers.
Remember, Engel is an actual reporter. But sadly, calling for a recession was Amateur Hour compared to the rest of this week.
Here are four of the worst examples of the media’s mass hysteria.
MSNBC’s version of a Republican
Spouting crazy lies on a major cable channel is never having to say you’re sorry. But you can tweet it.
“Deadline: White House” host Nicolle Wallace and attorney Raul Reyes teamed up to make up claims about the president. Reyes blasted Trump for using “words like infestation.” He followed that with an incredible statement: “With an infestation, the natural conclusion is attempt an extermination.”
But rather than rein in Reyes and get him to back off the bizarre claim, Wallace leaned in. “You now have a president, as you said, talking about exterminating Latinos,” she responded. Wallace, a former Republican, was promptly skewered for her comments by conservative outlets.
That led to a lame “apology” where she said, in part: “I misspoke about Trump calling for an extermination of Latinos. My mistake was unintentional and I’m sorry.” You could almost see a network executive standing behind her, twisting her arm to write it.
Her non-existent sincerity was ripped apart. One America News Network host Liz Wheeler responded, “Funny, I never ‘unintentionally’ accuse an innocent person of advocating mass genocide.”
Wallace had to know the network wouldn’t care. Remember, MSNBC is the purgatory where executives exiled liar Brian Williams. So she fits in nicely.
The heck with Godwin’s Law
The far-left never met a Nazi comparison it wasn’t willing to try on Trump. But MSNBC contributor Frank Figliuzzi came up with one so bizarre that even liberals seemed to shy away from it.
He was on the “11th Hour with Brian Williams,” and I guess that inspired him to make up stuff. Figliuzzi, who, God help us, is a former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence, now traffics in far-out conspiracy theories. And this one is a doozy.
According to Figliuzzi, lowering the flags to half-staff because of the shooting, culminated in a possible tribute to Adolf Hitler. “The president said that we will fly our flags at half-mast until August 8th. That's 8/8.”
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Here’s the amazing part. Figliuzzi said he wasn’t sure Trump “did this deliberately” but then he launched into how “The numbers ‘88’” “stand for ‘Heil Hitler,’” because the letter H is the eighth letter in the alphabet.
No good deed…
There’s nothing like embarrassing a news outlet – especially one that has already fallen far from its former glory. Such is the case with the once important Baltimore Sun. The liberal paper has fought back against Trump over his criticism of Baltimore liberal Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings.
So when a pro-Trump do-gooder came to the less charming parts of Charm City, the paper’s editorial board popped a gasket. The paper published an editorial criticizing Trump supporter Scott Pressler, headlined: “We assume it was pure motives that led a Trump supporter to launch a cleanup in Cummings’ district, right?”
The editorial was filled with criticism and back-handed compliments because Pressler and his 170 helpers did something unforgivable. They made the city look bad by removing 12 tons of trash.
“Mr. Pressler’s presence in Baltimore reinforces the tired image of our failing urban cores. That the poor people in this dilapidated city can’t take care of their own neighborhoods and all the public officials around them have failed as well,” the editorial said.
Yep. That’s exactly what it does. Further, it shows that the local newspaper didn’t take care of the poor of Baltimore, either. I’m a Baltimore native. I know.
Sadly, the Sun wasn’t ready to set on Pressler without one more big, liberal dig. He plans to come back again in September for another clean-up. The paper turned it into a left-wing fantasy: “Maybe it could even lead him and his followers to advocate for federal housing, health care, transportation, education, criminal justice, civil rights and anti-poverty policies aimed at urban communities.”
Thankfully, a Big Government solution isn’t Pressler’s game. He showed ordinary Americans can help one another and don’t need the government or another liberal news outlet to help.
Misfiring on Guns
After last year’s Jake Tapper-led gun townhall, no one should trust CNN on guns for a millennium or two. But that didn’t stop anti-gun cable network from taking aim at the Second Amendment one more time.
Only this time, CNN put anchor Chris Cuomo in charge. And he didn’t even pretend neutrality. He whined that the NRA wouldn’t come on his phony program and get beaten up. “They sent a totally disingenuous statement that they’re open to honest discussion, but not this spectacle,” he complained.
Cuomo ended with a declaration for gun control. “For one, we can't continue to be this stupid. It just defies common sense. We have a clear consensus among Americans of wanting better and more protection,” he said.
What we have is a clear consensus that CNN doesn’t want to cover the issue of guns fairly, rationally or even accurately.
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Free Beacon Firearms Policy Reporter Stephen Gutowski took Cuomo to task on Twitter. Gutowski pointed out flaws in the show and asked: “What is the point of being a journalist if you have zero desire to learn about the subject you're reporting on?”
Truer words...