CNN anchor Brian Stelter claimed Sunday that President Donald Trump focuses on fighting against the media because he’s “losing against the virus.”
During a segment of his Sunday morning show “Reliable Sources,” Stelter argued that Trump’s failure to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic had forced him to instead fight the media outlets that were pointing out those failures. (RELATED: ‘Don’t You Dare!’: A Self-Righteous Stelter Upbraided By 30-Year News Veteran In Testy Exchange Over Hunter Biden Emails)
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“Clearly, he doesn’t want the top story to be about sick and dying Americans struggling with a virus out of control in part due to his government’s failures,” Stelter began, saying that Trump stirred up stories about Hunter Biden and criticized “60 Minutes” host Leslie Stahl in an effort to distract people from the continued impact of coronavirus.
Stelter went on to say that 78% of Americans were still worried about getting infected with COVID-19, and 60% disapproved of the way Trump had handled the pandemic.
“He wants this to seem like a fight about the media. Maybe he thinks that’s a fight he can win, right? He has been doing that for years and years,” Stelter continued. “Maybe he thinks he can win against the media since he is losing against the virus. But he’s not really fighting the media on this one. He is resisting reality. He is trying to make up his own reality, which is really the central story of the Trump years ever since Inauguration Day. Another day, another distraction. You know, Trump’s lies are so pervasive that The Washington Post says he is on track to exceed 25,000 false or misleading claims by Election Day. CNN’s Daniel Dale is almost running out of adjectives to describe all the lies.”
“I think most news outlets are actually gaining trust by covering this pandemic seriously. But to borrow a phrase from Trump, there are some dumb you-know-whats in the media industry, but they are the ones who have downplayed this disease, who deny the danger to this day,” Stelter went on. “Sadly, they are mostly right-wing pro-Trump websites, TV shows, other megaphones. And these outlets are not just missing the biggest story of the year. They are making it bigger by making the crisis worse.”
Stelter claimed that anchors and interviewers who did not press White House officials about the recent outbreaks within the administration were committing malpractice.
“The virus doesn’t disappear just because you pretend it’s not there. It doesn’t disappear because you don’t ask about it or talk about it or hold the administration accountable,” Stelter concluded. “Most Americans get what’s going on. Reality is winning.”