Howard Kurtz Knocks Press for Slamming Trump During Bush Tributes

December 4th, 2018 7:35 PM

Ever since President George H. W. Bush passed away on Friday, the leftist stalwarts in the liberal media have used that news as a springboard for yet another round of attacks against current GOP President Donald Trump.

That tactic didn’t go unnoticed by FNC's MediaBuzz host Howard Kurtz, who on stated on Tuesday's America's Newsroom that the past few days provided “a nice pause in the partisan wars” with one important piece of criticism for the press: “Everything doesn’t have to be about Trump.”

 

 

Kurtz also stated:

I have to say that some of the pundits who were praising George H. W. Bush can’t resist the opportunity to turn it into Trump bashing. I just think this should be about Bush, the man, his legacy, his presidency, his vice presidency.

Also during his chat with America’s Newsroom co-host Bill Hemmer and Sandra Smith, the FNC analyst then referred to what he called “that infamous Newsweek cover” on October 19, 1987, which claimed Bush was fighting the “Wimp Factor” even though he “was a World War II hero” who assembled a coalition of nations to end Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s occupation of Kuwait.

But on Tuesday, Kurtz also pointed to “criticism of the Willie Horton ad in the ‘88 campaign” and when Bush broke his “Read my lips: no new taxes” pledge.

“Instead of saying: ‘Well, he did what he thought was right for the country in a time of rising deficits,’” the FNC anchor stated that the media response “was like ‘he lied’ and ‘he hurt himself’ and all of that.”

Co-host Bill Hemmer then asked: “How is it that a decent man so widely celebrated in the wake of his death was often depicted as a weak and passive president?”

“I think some of that,” the media analyst replied, “is the passage of time and the healing of wounds, and of course, you know, people tend to say nice things about folks who have moved on.”

Smith also noted that despite the reaction to Bush’s death, “next week begins a new week....and how all this will come to an end. It's been nice for a few days." Kurtz agreed:

Yeah, it's been a nice pause in the partisan wars. … I have to say that some of the pundits who were praising George H. W. Bush can’t resist the opportunity to turn it into Trump bashing. And I just think this should be about Bush, the man, his legacy, his presidency, his vice presidency; everything doesn’t have to be about Trump.

In an interesting development also on Tuesday, an article on the Newsweek website notes that Evan Thomas, the magazine editor behind the "infamous" 1987 cover, now expresses regret for using the word "wimp” while reporting on George H. W. Bush. Unfortunately for the 41st president, that change of heart comes more than 30 years too late.

(h/t: Grabien)