You know the play: when Democrats do something bad, the story is never what they did. Instead, the media frames the story as another example of nasty, scheming Republicans “pouncing” on their colleagues.
“Republicans pounce” is so ubiquitous in headlines it’s become a rallying cry against partisan journos, a meme even. But not so fast. Thankfully, Wikipedia is here to clear up this harmful trope.
“Republicans pounce” is a term that refers to merely “perceived” media bias, according to Wikipedia, long a biased source itself. It cites an analysis by The Washington Post that used limited pre-2020 data to claim that the trope of “pouncing” is really “pretty bipartisan.”
In light of this article, a reminder that “Republicans Pounce” is so ingrained and pervasive in the media that even the Wikipedia entry about it is heavily slanted – calling its legitimacy into question with a study with an extremely limited data range. https://t.co/vdz5HwIuce pic.twitter.com/ctlbSy0bDr
— G.G. Geist | The Potter’s Philosophy (@gg_geist) December 22, 2023
It’s laughable that Wikipedia would even try to pull this one off. Obviously, “Republicans pounce” is a framing template in liberal newsrooms across the country. For years, Republicans “pounced” on Joe Biden’s age. After the debate led to calls for him to step down, they started pouncing on Kamala Harris. They pounced on the “racial justice protests” of 2020 as they pounced on COVID. They always pounce on the culture war.
Now, in light of the failed assassination attempt against Donald Trump, we come up against the final boss. “MAGA responds with outrage,” reported Newsweek, before updating their headline. “Republicans place shooting in Trump’s narrative of persecution,” wrote The New York Times. “Republicans blame Joe Biden,” for Trump’s shooting, USA Today noted.
The gall of these people: Trump almost dies, and the story is that Republicans are mad about it. But let Wikipedia soothe your outrage; none of this happened.
Thankfully, the farce has reached critical mass. Savvy social media users have caught wind of Wikipedia entry, and it’s now under review for deletion.
