As a Mississippi reporter where many pols never take questions, I loathe when they avoid the press. Biden taking few questions sucks.
But the national press must also be responsible.
Today's an odd day for an 1,100-word story on Biden's chronic lateness. 1/
When the AP bullet points Trump giving himself an A as the 200,000th American is confirmed dead of #COVID19 by Biden only answering 3 questions, that's irresponsible.
Especially since Trump is also saying he needs a SCOTUS justice who will decide the election in his favor. 2/
Today, Trump refused to agree to a "peaceful transfer of power" if he loses—raising the possibility of a violent conflict so he can hold onto power even if Joe Biden is the clear winner.
"Get rid of the ballots...There won't be a transfer."
3/ nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1…
So on one hand
•200,000 Americans dead
•Trump refuses to agree to a peaceful transfer of power, suggests throwing out ballots to steal election
•says he needs new Supreme Court justice to decide election in his favor
On other:
•Biden has lateness problem
🤷🏻♂️ 4/
This is the sort of irresponsible attempt at "objective" "both sides" coverage that hyped an email story for two years (that most journalists knew was bunk) and to help Moscow & Wikileaks spread stolen emails for them (contextlessly) while ignoring Russian interference. 4/
Should Joe Biden be more open to the press? Yes.
But reporters who insist on irresponsible "both sides" coverage & putting threats of autocracy and literally ending American democracy on the same list as chronic lateness makes it easier for him to justify avoiding them. 5/x
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.