When President Biden dismissed an inflation question from Fox’s Peter Doocy by calling him a “stupid son of a bitch,” network reporters suggested the poor president was “frustrated” and “it’s not easy being president.” It was granted a few seconds of notice, and not greeted as a grotesque violation of decency…like a congressman yelling “you lie” at President Obama, which drew great fury.
It was not a major story, but it was a moment for media critics. When President Trump called Todd a “sleeping son of a bitch” at a rally in March 2018, there was outrage and the suggestion that Trump’s needling of the press would result in physical harm to journalists. This time around, Chuck Todd and Jim Acosta said nothing on the “news” programs they were hosting.
Back in 2018, Todd implausibly claimed he didn’t let his children say anything negative about a president, ever — as if the adults in the house live up to that. Back then, Jim Acosta routinely suggested that Trump’s criticisms of the press would lead to violence against the press. But not now…
We also discuss Acosta’s bizarre assertion that Virginia under new Gov. Glenn Youngkin was devolving into “a Soviet-style police state across the Potomac from Washington.” Enjoy the podcast below, or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.
