Veteran political analyst Mark Halperin criticized major media outlets on Friday, accusing them of “ridiculously slanted” coverage of former President Donald Trump’s recent remarks about Liz Cheney.
During an appearance on Newsmax, Halperin said Trump’s remarks were taken wildly out of context to stoke outrage rather than to inform the public of the former president’s actual stance. Trump sparked a media uproar after suggesting that Cheney never experienced the realities of combat herself.
Outlets like CNN, The Washington Post (WaPo), and The New York Times criticized Trump’s comments with CNN saying Trump said “war hawk” Cheney should be “fired upon,” escalating his violent rhetoric against opponents, while WaPo reported that he suggested guns should be “trained on her face,” noting his frequent use of graphic depictions of violence. Halperin clarified that Trump’s remarks were intended to highlight a larger point about military intervention.
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“The coverage is so ridiculously slanted. We’re seeing it today with the coverage of what Donald Trump said about Liz Cheney, just completely being taken out of context, completely distorted,” Halperin explained. “You can criticize Donald Trump for things he said about Liz Cheney, but to accuse him of what he’s being accused of when he was making the point that if Liz Cheney had to go to war herself, he doesn’t think she would be as enthusiastic about sending American forces abroad.”
Halperin also suggested that cable opinion shows sometimes get away with sensationalism, but newspapers like The Washington Post and The New York Times have a “journalistic responsibility” to strive for accuracy and fairness.
“And look, there are some things on cable that are like opinion shows. I’m not saying they get a pass for distorting the truth, but it’s a little bit different. Look at the coverage in the Washington Post, the New York Times who purport to be objective. And I mean, it’s just it’s just unfortunate,” Halperin added.
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At a Thursday event in Arizona with Tucker Carlson, Trump responded to questions about Cheney’s ongoing opposition to him, especially her recent campaign stops alongside Vice President Kamala Harris to sway moderate Republicans, according to The Associated Press (AP). Calling Cheney “a deranged person,” Trump claimed if given her way, she “would have us in 50 different countries.”
“She’s a radical war hawk. Let’s put her with the rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. OK, let’s see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face,” Trump said, AP reported.
Cheney also responded to Trump’s remarks on X, warning that dictators threaten free nations by targeting opponents and cautioning against trusting America’s freedoms to someone she called petty, vindictive, cruel, and unstable.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.