It was ironic on Tuesday that the network that continues to employ proven liar Brian Williams accused the Trump White House of having a “credibility problem.” During a Today show interview with United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, co-host Savannah Guthrie demanded: “...there’s a new poll out just last night and it shows that the vast majority of Americans do not trust the information they’re getting out of the White House....Does the White House have a credibility problem? Does that concern you?”
Guthrie cited one finding from the CNN survey: “It says six in ten don’t consider the President himself honest and trustworthy and only 24% of Americans said they trust all or most of what they hear from the White House.” After Haley responded by arguing that “the only way you get the trust is not by what you say, it’s by what you do,” Guthrie shot back: “When you say that, though, ‘look at the actions,’ it kind of acknowledges – it seems a tacit acknowledgment because you can’t trust the words.”
Beyond the glaring hypocrisy of NBC’s own disgraced ex-anchorman Williams still having a job at MSNBC, the media overall have suffered a complete collapse in credibility – something Guthrie failed to mention. Here are just a few recent findings documenting the massive “credibility problem” for the liberal media:
- In September of 2016, a Gallup poll found “Americans’ trust and confidence in the mass media ‘to report the news fully, accurately and fairly’ has dropped to its lowest level in Gallup polling history, with 32% saying they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media.”
- A Media Research Center/YouGov poll conducted shortly after the presidential election in November found that 69% of voters did not believe that media were honest and truthful, with 59% saying that campaign news coverage was tilted in favor of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
- A Harvard study conducted in May of this year found that 65% of Americans thought media coverage was filled with “fake news.
- A PBS poll at the beginning July actually found that more people trusted the Trump administration than the news media.
Perhaps the liberal press, and NBC News in particular, should address its own credibility crisis before selectively citing poll numbers to attack Republicans.
The biased interview was brough to viewers by Aleve, Panera Bread, and Trivago.
Here is a transcript of Guthrie’s August 8 exchange with Haley:
7:09 AM ET
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SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Separate but related issue, there’s a new poll out just last night and it shows that the vast majority of Americans do not trust the information they’re getting out of the White House. It says six in ten don’t consider the President himself honest and trustworthy and only 24% of Americans said they trust all or most of what they hear from the White House. You know, it’s one thing if you’re talking about crowd sizes at the inauguration, in your line of work, this is very serious. Does the White House have a credibility problem? Does that concern you?
NIKKI HALEY: You know, as a governor, I know the one thing you do is everyday you try and get the trust of your people. That’s part of your job. And the only way you get the trust is not by what you say, it’s by what you do. And I think this president, if you look at the actions, whether it’s in the Security Council, whether it’s with unemployment, whether it’s with all the new investment that’s happening, look at the actions. I mean, a lot of people are gonna say, “Well, I don’t believe this or that,” but to me, the actions are what matter.
GUTHRIE: When you say that, though, “look at the actions,” it kind of acknowledges – it seems a tacit acknowledgment because you can’t trust the words.
HALEY: You know, I don’t see it that way. I think what I look at is the results. And I know there’s a lot of back and forth and I know there’s sometimes unnecessary chatter that goes back and forth with that, but you have to look at the results. This is a time where we have to look at the American people and say, are they better today than they were yesterday? And I think they are.
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