For years, I was in denial that there was bias in the news media. Sure, some outlets lean left and some lean right and if you are an astute consumer, you learn which outlets cater to your political preference. I’ve been saying on my podcast for quite some time that a lot of what is perceived to be media bias, just simply comes down to lazy reporting. Reporters not having the time, resources, or just the critical thinking skills to question the various press releases that come across their desk every day. But three occurrences in the weeks leading up to the US election in November of 2020 really opened my eyes to how one-sided some media outlets can be.
First, you had the Hunter Biden laptop story. Hunter Biden, son of presidential candidate Joe Biden, dropped off his laptop at a computer repair shop and never bothered to pick it up. E-mails found on this laptop seemed to suggest that when Joe was Vice President, his son Hunter was selling access to his father to foreign countries so they could discuss their political agendas with the VP. Most media outlets refused to even report on this story claiming that they don’t report on materials that are hacked or obtained illegally. But wait, that didn’t stop them a few weeks earlier from publishing some of Donald Trump’s tax returns. And by that metric, one of the biggest stories in American history, the publishing of the Pentagon papers, should never have seen the light of day.
The second occurred the very next day during the Trump/Biden dueling town halls. Trump on NBC was of course asked all the tough questions while Joe Biden on ABC was thrown softballs. And as you guessed, was not asked about the Hunter Biden laptop story that had just broken 24 hours prior. In addition to the softball questions being lobbed in by moderator George Stephanopoulos, the ‘Town Hall’ portion was equally as ridiculous. We now know that at least three people who were picked to ask questions had direct connections to Joe Biden. First, there was Nathan Osburn, turns out he was a former Obama-Biden speech writer. Then you have Mieke Haeck, she is married to a prominent Pennsylvania Democratic fundraiser, Ezra Nanes, who ran against the State Senate Majority leader in 2018. And what about the guy who seemed to know Biden personally because his father worked for the Regan administration 40 years ago? And it’s not a coincidence that Joe Biden just ‘happened’ to have an index card breaking down the tax rates when someone asked a tax question? This was anything but a “town hall”.
Finally, we have election night itself. I’ll get right to the point; both Donald Trump and Joe Biden essentially declared victory on election night. During his late-night speech, Trump said “as far as I’m concerned… we’ve already won“. Biden, on the other hand, said “we are on track to win this election“. The reactions by the commentators on CNN could not have been more opposite. Trump was being “undemocratic” by “falsely and prematurely declaring victory” and how he has not won, “they are still counting votes” said one CNN commentator. Compare that to Joe Biden’s speech. Everything Biden said was “absolutely true” said another CNN commentator.
The icing on the cake was the juxtaposition to which Biden’s announcement came. In the days leading up to the election, word had it that Donald Trump was planning on declaring victory early on election night if the votes were looking in his favour, and how ‘premature’ and ‘undemocratic’ this would be. During Biden’s announcement, a counter can be seen in the corner of the screen counting down to the next polls closing (I’m assuming this would have been Alaska and Hawaii). Joe Biden LITERALLY declared victory before the polls were even closed! Any word on that from the CNN anchors? Of course not.
I really want to believe the media is not this sinister, that they have some sort of consistent journalistic practices they are applying equally to everyone. Sure, I could have handpicked examples of bias from FOX News and other examples from MSNBC and talked about bias. But the fact that the SAME network, on the SAME night, with the SAME three commentators, had polarly opposite reactions to the exact same statement from these two politicians… I can’t do it anymore. I can’t deny it anymore, I’ve taken the media Red Pill.