RCP’s Bevan SLAMS Media ‘Glaring’ Double Standard on Durham

Appearing on FNC’s Bret Baier Special Report Tuesday evening, Real Clear Politics President Tom Bevan slammed the leftist media for an “absolutely glaring” double standard when it came to the stunning non-coverage of the Durham investigation findings versus how the same press spent years “running with far less” when it came to the phony Russian collusion narrative against Trump.

“Well, it depends on what you were looking at or what you were reading, how to interpret the results of the latest finding by John Durham in the investigation into the Trump Russia probe,”Anchor Bret Baier pointed out as he presented a panel discussion segment at the end. He added, “A montage liberal media figures trying desperately to discredit the story.” “However, the revelations did not sit well with some in the mainstream media. Some downplayed them, others just ignored them.”

 

 

These soundbites were:

KATELYN POLANTZ [CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER, NEW DAY]: This new wrinkle, it really is just a wrinkle, and it’s very vague. We’re still trying to get a sense of what the facts are here.

EVAN PEREZ [CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT, INSIDE POLITICS]It shows the spying Trump and others claim it to be.

TOM WINTER [MSNBC MORNING JOE]: If you’re gonna call it Watergate, it’s that the security guard at the Watergate, while being paid to do security to see just who was coming in. It doesn’t mean they were going through their briefcases, it doesn’t mean it was going through the files that they were bringing in.

JOE SCARBOROUGH [MSNBC MORNING JOE]We would have been charged if they had done something illegal.         

Minutes later, Bevan hammered journalists from liberal outlets: “The media double standard here is absolutely glaring. As you mentioned, Bret, no time spent on any of the networks.” He called out how “The New York Times, The Washington Post didn’t even cover it until today, when they each spent about 1,500 words defending it, downplaying it, explaining why it wasn’t a big deal.”

The stark contrast between the breathless reporting of Trump’s supposed Russian collusion and the fact that it was a fraud is what he pointed out.

We have spent years running the media with much less than we need. This would mean that if there was any kind of Donald Trump file, this is what we would hear from the media day in, day out. This is what I find troubling. Once again, media have shown themselves to be a partisan mass of one or the other.

In response, Baier observed: “You know, it’s interesting to hear Democrats say…people care about more important things. But rewind the tape, you know, a few years to the early part of the Trump presidency, and it was all about the Russia investigation.”

Below is the transcript from the February 15, 2008 exchange

6.52 pm ET

(…)

BRET BAIER: It all depends on the information you saw or read. How you interpret John Durham’s latest findings in his investigation into Trump Russia. We are learning new details every day. The revelations were however not well received by mainstream media. Others dismissed them while some ignored them.

KATELYN POLANTZ [CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER, NEW DAY]: This new wrinkle, it really is just a wrinkle, and it’s very vague. We’re still trying to get a sense of what the facts are here.

EVAN PEREZ [CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT, INSIDE POLITICS]It shows the spying Trump and other people claim it to be.

TOM WINTER [MSNBC MORNING JOE]: If you’re gonna call it Watergate, it’s that the security guard at the Watergate, while being paid to do security to see just who was coming in. It doesn’t mean they were going through their briefcases, it doesn’t mean it was going through the files that they were bringing in.

JOE SCARBOROUGH [MSNBC MORNING JOE]We would have been charged if they had done something illegal.

(…)

TOM BEVAN [REAL CLEAR POLITICS]It is quite a scandalous double standard in media. Bret mentioned that you didn’t spend any time on the networks. The New York Times, The Washington Post didn’t even cover it until today, when they each spent about 1,500 words defending it, downplaying it, explaining why it wasn’t a big deal. We have spent so many years running the media with much less than we did. This would mean that if there was any kind of Donald Trump file, this is what we would hear from the media day in, day out. This is what I find troubling. Once again, media have shown themselves to be a partisan mass of one or the other.

BAIER, Tom. What’s the result of this poll? You know, it’s interesting to hear Democrats say – and we had Congressman [Adam] Smith [D-WA]Last night, he said, “People care more about important things.” Rewind the tape and you’ll see that it was about Russia.

(…)

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