Why Won't Media Demand Trump's Resignation?

https://crooksandliars.com/2020/05/theres-west-wing-nervous-breakdown-media


5/16/20 6:30am
Why Won't Media Demand Trump's Resignation?
The White House isn't the only institution guilty of failing to lead during our current pandemic. So are major news outlets that refuse to use their voice to demand change in the face of historic, deadly failure.
By Eric Boehlert
12 hours ago by Karoli Kuns
Published with permission of PRESS RUN, Eric Boehlert’s new must-read media newsletter. Subscribe here.



Unfurling a West Wing nervous breakdown, Trump spent Mother's Day tweeting like a true mad man, posting and re-posting more than 120 missives. The rants ricocheted from alleged crimes by Democrats, to an array of perceived enemies swirling around his head, including a cable TV host, FBI officials, and the entire state of California.

The President of the United States collapsed into another of his bewildering and manic bouts of anger, while a public health crisis crippled the U.S. economy, and it was met with mostly shoulder shrugs from the Beltway media, which refuses to demand that the mad man resign for the good of the country.

The White House isn't the only institution guilty of failing to lead during our current pandemic. So are major news outlets that refuse to use their voice to demand change in the face of historic, deadly failure, as Trump refused to protect America from the virus invasion. The media failure is especially galling since more than 100 newspapers in the 1990s loudly demanded a Democratic president step down for the good of the country. That president's sin? He lied about an extramarital affair he was having.

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So why the deafening silence regarding Trump today? Isn't it time for newspapers to use their public platforms to call for Trump to resign and to make the case for a return to the rule of law in the executive branch? That loud condescending voice of moral indignation that rained down on Clinton has been replaced by embarrassing timidity for Trump.

The sad truth is, the Beltway press remains afraid of Trump — they're bullied and battered. And that's changed how they deal with the White House. Specifically, they refuse to fight back. Recently, Trump unfurled nasty public insults directed at ABC News' Jonathan Karl. When asked about the ugly attack, Karl insisted Trump "insults don't matter," which obviously gives Trump a green light to keep attacking reporters and denigrate newsgathering.

This week, CBS News' Weijia Jiang was on the receiving end of Trump taunts at a Rose Garden press conference. The next day, the Washington Post reported that Trump's outburst had shocked the press corps. Noticeably absent from the article was any public condemnation from CBS News regarding Trump's wildly inappropriate attack. Maybe like Karl, CBS News doesn't think Trump insults "matter"?

If news outlets won't get serious about Trump slandering their own employees, they're never going to get serious about demanding the mad man resign.