Media

NYT’s Maggie Haberman Admits Media Gives ‘Instant Credibility’ To Anti-Trump Voices

Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman warned Friday that there was a tendency in media to give “instant credibility” to anyone who came out as anti-Trump.

Haberman appeared on CNN’s “New Day” to discuss the ongoing impeachment of President Donald Trump and the recent interview with indicted Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, and she noted the importance of evaluating the facts independent of those voices. (RELATED: Maggie Haberman, Ana Navarro And Shaun King Among A Massive List Of Activist Journalists Named On Covington’s Lawsuit)

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Host John Berman brought up the fact that Parnas, who recently gave a lengthy interview to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, has argued that he would be a great witness for Senate Republicans because he could tell them what former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter had done wrong with regard to Ukraine.

“It was really interesting because what Parnas was saying, he was actually saying he should be a Republican witness. ‘Republicans should want to talk to me,'” Berman said.

“They do but not for the reasons he thinks,” Haberman replied. “There are some Republicans talking privately about the idea that maybe he wouldn’t be the worst witness for us to call because we could try to hit into his credibility and again for the reasons we just said, there are concerns that he would not be able to hold up.”

Echoing the concerns of CNN anchor Jake Tapper, who warned Thursday that Parnas had a “serious credibility problem,” Haberman continued.

“One of the hallmarks of the Trump era is anybody who is oppositional to Trump gets instant credibility,” she said. “We’ve seen it over and over again. Michael Avenatti, Cohen even at points, even when he was admitting he was lying to Congress at some point after he pleaded guilty to other charges. It’s important to just assess these facts on their own.”

Haberman also warned, as even White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway suggested, that Parnas was simply putting himself out there as a potential witness in the hopes that it might help with his own legal troubles. “Parnas knows what he’s doing. He knows it’s compelling to go on TV saying, ‘I’m here, come take me,'” Haberman explained. “He’s clearly hoping that’s going to help him in his criminal case. I don’t know that it will. If he got called as a witness, it might not go the way he’s describing it. That’s all.”