NewsBusters Podcast: Gay Capitol Porn, Trans Panic, and Trump Exhaustion

December 18th, 2023 10:52 PM

Bias by omission is often the media tactic to protect Democrats. The networks and major papers avoided all talk of a Democrat Senate aide getting fired over making a gay porn video in a Senate hearing room. It wasn't mentioned on any of the Sunday morning interview shows, including CNN's State of the Union. A search of NPR.org found nothing.

FoxNews.com reported "Capitol Hill rocked," but the story drew light mentions on air. The Washington Post, the paper with the "Democracy Dies in Darkness" motto, couldn't apparently shed any light on this, despite Senator Cardin being from Maryland, in their newspaper's back yard. 

I heard some outrageous moments on the Sunday shows. NBC's Meet the Press included a "trans woman" in a focus group of Democrat women in Michigan. "Ashley" said "I'm not going to vote for a Republican. I'm trans. I feel like that's almost, like -- it's almost like a death sentence." NBC's Kristen Welker just went along, with the mmm-hmm after the crazy execution talk. Welker did press the guy into saying he'd vote for Biden, "very reluctantly."

On ABC's This Week, host Jonathan Karl relentlessly pressured Nikki Haley to be more negative about Donald Trump, to denounce his talk of revenge if he wins again. "He's running on retribution," said Karl. "He wants to go out, and he talks about annihilating his enemies and using the criminal justice system to do so. What do you think of that?"

Haley responded "You guys are exhausting. You're exhausting in your obsession with him. The thing is, the normal people aren't obsessed with Trump like you guys are." These guys obviously thrive on Trump like it’s their oxygen, or their opiate? Karl’s written three anti-Trump books now, so Haley knew what to expect, and she counter-pounced. 

Trump's weekend speeches, praising dictators and suggesting waves of illegal immigrants were "poisoning the blood" of America, seemed designed to stoke media outrage. On ABC’s Good Morning America, congressional correspondent Rachel Scott accused Trump of “ramping up his attacks on immigrants, using phrases that have clear ties to white supremacy and Hitler.”

Enjoy the podcast below, or wherever you listen to podcasts.