Appearing as a guest on Tuesday's New Day on CNN to plug her book, The Sleep Revolution, Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post defended the Post's over-the-top coverage hitting GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Huffington recalled the editor's note that accompanies every article about Trump -- which calls him a "rampant xenophobe" and "racist" who "incites political violence" -- and also defended the publication's recent caricature of what a Trump "war room" might look like if he were elected President. She concluded that "What we are doing is responsible journalism, pointing out the dangers of a Trump presidency while there is still time to avert it," as she accused much of the media of "dereliction of duty."
CNN host Alisyn Camerota began by recalling to the liberal Huffington Post founder that her publication has been "overtly dismissive" of Trump and wondered if it is "time to start taking him seriously?"
Without clarifying that Trump's proposed Muslim ban is a temporary ban on non-citizen Muslims entering the U.S. as immigrants, Huffington recounted that she began taking Trump seriously after he made the proposal, as she recalled the editor's note that attacks the Republican presidential candidate in each article about him:
ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, THE HUFFINGTON POST: Well, we started taking him seriously when he proposed that we ban 1.6 billion Muslims from this country-
ALISYN CAMEROTA: That's when you moved him back to the news section?
HUFFINGTON: That's when we moved him to the news section but appended an editor's note under each of the Trump stories that reminds our readers of who he is, that he is a birther, that he incites violence, that he's a misogynist, a racist, a sexist, etc.
Camerota read the full editor's note, and then pushed back by asking why Huffington does not have any sort of disclaimer in stories about Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. Camerota:
We do have that, and I want to read it for everyone because at the end of every story about Trump, here's what you write: "Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist, and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S."
Now, why not remind your viewers of past things about, say, Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders?
Huffington explained:
There is absolutely nobody who is a birther, which is really like believing the earth is flat. There is absolutely nobody who has asked to ban an entire religion from the United States, and there is absolutely nobody who incites violence. These are the three things that make Donald Trump unqualified to be President.
She then declared she was "very proud of our coverage" as she added:
And we are very proud of our coverage because, as more and more people are really waking up to the danger of a Trump presidency, including within the Army, including within the CIA, This is what our story is this morning. We are really committed to continuing to educate our readers about who he is. It's their prerogative how they will vote, but it is our responsibility to keep the facts in front of them.
A bit later, Camerota brought up the latest front cover which parodies what a Trump war room might look like:
One more thing about that front cover that you have today, you have this picture of what you think a war room would look like. Let's pull that up for a second because what are we seeing here? You see Chris Christie, you see some people that are his allies. You see a young, blonde woman in a sort of camo outfit. What is this? What are you depicting here?
After Huffington joked that the blonde in the picture could be Camerota, the CNN host followed up: "I mean, the point is that your point is that you're doing advocacy, I guess, journalism. What would you call pointing things like this out and the tact that you are taking?"
Huffington then touted her attacks on Trump as "responsible journalism" as she responded:
Oh, I think that actually what many in the media are failing to do is dereliction of duty. What we are doing is responsible journalism, pointing out the dangers of a Trump presidency while there is still time to avert it. This is our responsibility. We are proudly going to continue on the same tact. Donald Trump is both a buffoon and dangerous, so we're going to cover him in both ways.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Tuesday, 26, New Day on CNN:
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Let's start with Trump. He is expected to win big today, and, look, your website has been overtly dismissive of Trump and not really wanting to take him seriously as a candidate. Is it time to start taking him seriously?
ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, THE HUFFINGTON POST: Well, we started taking him seriously when he proposed that we ban 1.6 billion Muslims from this country-
CAMEROTA: That's when you moved him back to the news section?
HUFFINGTON: That's when we moved him to the news section but appended an editor's note under each of the Trump stories that reminds our readers of who he is, that he is a birther, that he incites violence, that he's a misogynist, a racist, a sexist, etc.
CAMEROTA: We do have that, and I want to read it for everyone because at the end of every story about Trump, here's what you write: "Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist, and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S."
Now, why not remind your viewers of past things about, say, Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders?
HUFFINGTON: There is absolutely nobody who is a birther, which is really like believing the earth is flat. There is absolutely nobody who has asked to ban an entire religion from the United States, and there is absolutely nobody who incites violence. These are the three things that make Donald Trump unqualified to be President.
And we are very proud of our coverage because, as more and more people are really waking up to the danger of a Trump presidency, including within the Army, including within the CIA, This is what our story is this morning. We are really committed to continuing to educate our readers about who he is. It's their prerogative how they will vote, but it is our responsibility to keep the facts in front of them.CAMEROTA: But the voters like him, and he keeps winning. He-
HUFFINGTON: Some voters like him-
CAMEROTA: -wins, I mean, he has millions more than any of his rivals.
HUFFINGTON: He has the highest unfavorable of any candidate in the race, which is obviously, if you're a Republican, a big problem if you want to actually win the White House.
CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, he is on track to win the nomination. Would you change the tenor of your coverage?
HUFFINGTON: No, our tenor will remain the same.
CAMEROTA: What if he becomes President?
HUFFINGTON: We will face that if it happens.
CAMEROTA: I mean, you know, in terms of journalism, if he were to become President, would you still take the tact of sort of pointing out what you think is wrong with him?
HUFFINGTON: We always do that, whoever is the President. And also, he's very sleep-deprived if you want to segue to sleep. He brags about sleeping four or four and a half hours. And it shows, you know, his outbursts of anger, his irritability, his false memories, all symptoms of chronic sleep deprivation.
CAMEROTA: Before we get to the sleep book, and I do want to right now, one more thing about that front cover that you have today, you have this picture of what you think a war room would look like. Let's pull that up for a second because what are we seeing here? You see Chris Christie, you see some people that are his allies. You see a young, blonde woman in a sort of camo outfit. What is this? What are you depicting here?
HUFFINGTON: Well, it could be anybody in his entourage. There are a lot of beautiful blonde women. It could be you, Alisyn. I hope you're not going to be moving to a war room.
CAMEROTA: I do not have a camo belly shirt that I wear, but, I mean, the point is that your point is that you're doing advocacy, I guess, journalism. What would you call pointing things like this out and the tact that you are taking?
HUFFINGTON: Oh, I think that actually what many in the media are failing to do is dereliction of duty. What we are doing is responsible journalism, pointing out the dangers of a Trump presidency while there is still time to avert it. This is our responsibility. We are proudly going to continue on the same tact. Donald Trump is both a buffoon and dangerous, so we're going to cover him in both ways.
