You'll be shocked to learn that this is not an honest paraphrase of the exchange.
It's really not that hard to report honestly and let viewers judge for themselves, but the media just refuses to do it.
It's really not that hard to report honestly and let viewers judge for themselves, but the media just refuses to do it.
Here is the actual transcript. You will notice that:
1) The quote CBS cites was in response to Stahl trying to fram it as Trump accusing Ford of lying.
2) On his actual treatment of Ford, Trump claims he treated her with respect.
1) The quote CBS cites was in response to Stahl trying to fram it as Trump accusing Ford of lying.
2) On his actual treatment of Ford, Trump claims he treated her with respect.
You can disagree with 2 (I think his speech was disrespectful), but he was not dismissive of how Ford was treated as the quote suggests. He was dismissive of Stahl's framing, which I also find objectionable bc it's meant to portray believing Kavanaugh as wrong.
And I've pointed out hwo dishonest this approach is repeatedly. No one goes up to Dems who said they believed Ford and framed it as "so you think Kavanaugh is lying and a sexual assaulter?"
This framing makes it seem like the only acceptable position was to believe Ford.
This framing makes it seem like the only acceptable position was to believe Ford.
As for treatment of Ford, Trump's speech went to far and made it too political. The Republicans on the committee treated her with enormous respect, which was a huge contrast to how Democrats treated Kavanaugh.
And this is exactly why CBS does this: Now a bunch of outlets will claim that Trump suggested it didn't matter if Ford was telling the truth, which is clearly not what he said. It was evident that he was saying he wouldn't reargue the case w Stahl.
Problem with this is that CBS & these other outlets aren't supposed to be playing for one team. If they want to admit they are on a team (as they keep acting), then it's a different conversation and people on the right can approach their reporting as such:
P.s. if people still have a problem with what Trump said based on the transcript, I have no issue with that. All the media needs to do is report it accurately instead of putting their own spin on it. Let people decide for themselves, but they refuse to do it.
