Insult tirade proves media’s liberal bias
Red-faced White House press corps members have been scrambling to do damage control since stand-up shocker Michelle Wolf’s curse-filled Saturday night tirade against President Trump, his family and staff confirmed many critics’ suspicions of the media’s liberal bias.
“It’s obviously a bunch of reporters acting as Democrat surrogates at this dinner — which kind of lends credence to the suspicion that that’s how they act every day,” said Glenn Reynolds, a University of Tennessee law professor who blogs at Instapundit.com.
Wolf trashed Trump’s daughter Ivanka as “about as helpful to women as an empty box of tampons,” cast communications director Sarah Huckabee Sanders as a traitor to women, and dismissed Vice President Mike Pence as “a weirdo” at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
The glitzy affair, chummily dubbed the “Nerd Prom,” has become a well-attended insider event for D.C. journalists, pols and Hollywood celebs. But some say it showcased liberal media bias long before Wolf ’s blistering speech.
“Under the Obama administration, they used the dinner as an opportunity to make fun of his opponents. Now during Trump’s administration it’s an opportunity to make fun of Trump,” said Reynolds. “It just confirms all the reasons why people distrust the media.”
Wolf’s defenders are blaming Trump for creating a toxic environment that prompted the comedian’s vulgar remarks, but several journos condemned her biting take-down, which featured only one joke about Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential bid.
“If the #WHCD dinner did anything tonight, it made the chasm between journalists and those who don’t trust us, even wider. And those of us based in the red states who work hard every day to prove our objectivity will have to deal with it.” tweeted AP reporter Meg Kinnard.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think we advanced the cause of journalism tonight,” tweeted Peter Baker, New York Times chief White House correspondent. Organizers had sought to rebrand the gathering as a celebration of the free press, but Politico’s Kyle Cheney tweeted that Wolf’s “one-sided” speech “undermined an otherwise meaningful night.”
But media critics say Wolf just crassly highlighted the underlying bias already inherent in media coverage. Axios editor Mike Allen said the awkward dinner showed the press corps’ bias before Wolf even opened her mouth.
“If the dinner can only attract liberal presidents and liberal comedians, the conclusion is inevitable,” Allen wrote.
Reynolds said, “It’s a little late to clutch your pearls and say ‘Oh, dear! People think we’re being political toadies,’ when basically you’ve been political toadies.”
‘If the #WHCD dinner did anything tonight, it made the chasm between journalists and those who don’t trust us, even wider.’ — AP REPORTER MEG KINNARD