, 8 tweets, 3 min read Read on Twitter
False premise. Trump does not loathe Maggie Haberman. Trump lashes out at Haberman (like everyone else) when she does things that displease him. Similarly, critique of methods of reporting is not a loathing of the person doing the reporting. nymag.com/intelligencer/…
The critiques of Haberman are rooted not in Haberman per se, but in practices of journalism (like the beat sweetener) that have continued unquestioned, even as Trump has proven himself an anomalous President that necessitates new approaches.
The Times by and large treats Trump as they would any other President, giving great deference to his status as President, particularly regarding his every utterance as "news." (See last week's story on his mean nicknames for everyone.)
Many of us believe that the Times has a responsibility recognize the anomaly that is Trump and not reflexively report on him in the old ways. Read scholars of authoritarianism like @sarahkendzior to see what role the Times is playing in the normalization of Trump.
Haberman's coverage, even when "tough" or "critical" serves as a normalizing influence when it comes to Trump. She is not truly holding his feat to the fire. That so many of us recognize this is not petty or unfair as Chait would have one believe. It's legit concern.
Chait's final paragraph is particularly dense. The call isn't for Haberman to drop objectivity for opinion it's to recognize that an "objective" view of Trump would not be so deferential to the office or - importantly - to his staff. Calling an anomaly an anomaly is objective.
The notion that Haberman's reporting reveals Trump's unfitness is absurd. Trump demonstrates his unfitness in broad public view every single day. The palace intrigue Haberman provides does far more to explain the unfitness than it does expose it. Chait has it backwards.
Pretty sure no one at the Times has had the "with great power comes great responsibility" talk with the staffers. They really are the thinnest skinned bunch imaginable. I'm sure it sucks to get that criticism, but they are on the biggest stage imaginable. It's part of the game.
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