RUSH:
Now, back to this Trump press conference, if you didn't see it, if you
didn't hear it, we're working on audio sound bites now. We're an editor
short today so we'll get them up as quickly as we can. We only
got one
guy editing. When we have two guys editing it would only take
half the
time it's gonna take now.
But
the New York Times headline: "Television
Networks Struggle to Provide Equal Airtime in the Era of Trump."
Oh, yes. Five pages this baby prints out. And the New York Times has
another story: "Hillary Clinton
Struggles to Find Footing in Unusual Race." This is also
related.
They've got two stories here on how the
Times is actually apologizing to its readers for being unable to
balance coverage in favor of Hillary.
But, anyway, the piece de resistance -- you thought I lost my place,
but I didn't, because I never do. Near the end of it a frustrated
journalist (paraphrasing), "Mr. Trump, Mr. Trump, Mr. Trump, is it
gonna be this way, are you gonna be attacking us after you become
president?"
"Yes,
it is. Because you are the most dishonest people, political press
the
most dishonest people I know. You know it and I know it. The
press is
dishonest, but the political press is especially dishonest."
And then Jim Acosta, I think it was, CNN (paraphrasing), "Mr. Trump,
Mr. Trump, do you object to scrutiny? You seem like you didn't
even
like scrutiny, but you're seeking the office of president of the United
States, how do you think --"
"I
don't mind scrutiny. What I don't like is lies. You can
scrutinize me
all day long but you set up false premises. You state things about me
that are not true. Then you run stories on that. That's why I'm out
here trying to correct the record ... By the way, I've seen you,
you're among the worst. You're at ABC, right? You're the worst.
You're
a sleaze."
And I'm thinking the people at home watching this -- (laughing) 'cause,
folks, in the age of internet trolling, manners are out the
window.
It's a waste of time asking for manners here. Because, remember,
in a
war the aggressor sets the rules and I'm guaranteeing you that Trump
thinks the media are the aggressors here.
Apparently, virtually everybody in the cable news universe that cable
news networks go to for analysts and analysis and so forth, thought
that Trump stepped in it big time yesterday. [...]
Okay. Let's start with Fox News this morning on the program
they call
America's Newsroom. Martha MacCallum was speaking with Karl
Rove.
Now, keep in mind that Rove and the Bush White House never responded to
the Democrats when political allegations or slime or defamation
occurred -- and it was constant. The Democrats -- amplified by
the
media -- destroyed the George W. Bush second term. People were
frustrated throughout that the Bush administration never responded.
I
asked the president about it numerous times. He said, "I'm not
gonna
sully this office. I'm not gonna take this office down to the
gutter
where those people are. I have too much respect for it, too much
reverence for it. So they can go all political on me; I'm not
responding to it. I'm not gonna get down in the gutter."
And that's why he didn't do it. Karl Rove later admitted that
that
might have been a mistake to have this blanket no-response
policy. But
that just is a setup, because Rove is asked to respond to this as one
of many who did.
