I’m not thrilled about Donald Trump’s renewed attack on the “corrupt media.”
Trump, fresh off a $15 million victory over ABC and George Stephanopoulos, sued the Des Moines Register and leading pollster Ann Selzer yesterday over improper polling. She predicted he would lose by four points, but he won state by 13 points. He called it “brazen election interference.”
President Trump is also seeking legal action against CBS over the “60 Minutes” gaffe in which Kamala Harris replaced a crisp response to a different question. But the network could argue that this was a regular television edit.
Trump is unlikely to win these lawsuits, but he doesn’t care. Testing those they consider to be their adversaries and incurring great costs to protect them is reward enough.
A kinder, gentler Trump? The next president will take a more moderate position
Most legal experts believe that Stephanopoulos’ repeated assertions in the E. Jean Carroll lawsuit that Trump was responsible for “rape,” not “sexual abuse,” would meet the standard of malice as a public figure. It is argued that ABC may have been able to win the lawsuit because of this. . President Trump will have to prove that the network intentionally and recklessly ignored the truth. But ABC would have endured the embarrassment of handing over email, text message and cell phone records.
But what surprised me was that just days after saying he had “tamed” the press and said the coverage was getting better, the president-elect went into attack mode. So much for the ceasefire.
But some of President Trump’s more positive sides were on display during his hour-long press conference, and his apparent seriousness struck me in an interview in New York two weeks before the election.
Following his $16 million legal victory against ABC, President-elect Trump appears to be targeting the so-called “corrupt media” once again. (Getty Images)
I’ve known Donald Trump for more than 30 years and interviewed him twice this year, but now that he’s been through some inflammatory rhetoric on the campaign trail, he seems different. It sounds like.
At 78 years old and with clearly boundless energy, he deliberately speaks a little slower and softer, moderating his positions on many divisive issues. He knows how to dodge questions he shouldn’t answer, such as “Will he retaliate against Iran?” He canceled out his superhuman image by saying things like, “Maybe it’s my fault.” He recently acknowledged that lowering food prices is difficult.
The president-elect was asked whether he should elect Republican senators who oppose his nominee to the primary. His response was carefully constructed.
President Trump threatens to file further lawsuits against media outlets to force ABC to pay $15 million to settle lawsuit
“If they’re unreasonable, I’ll give you a different answer. You’ll be shocked to hear. If they’re unreasonable, I’ll give you a different answer. If they’re unreasonable, I’ll give you a different answer. If they’re reasonable and fair, I’d say it’s nothing to do with me, but I think they probably take precedence over something or someone. If you really don’t agree with that, I can see it happening. ”
Of course, it is up to President Trump to decide what is reasonable and fair.
Asked about the parade of Silicon Valley executives who have come or are planning to come to Mar-a-Lago, including leaders from Meta, Amazon, Google, and Apple, Trump said he believes they are He said that in his first term, he was “very hostile” (“and maybe)” it was my fault, but I don’t really think so. It doesn’t hurt that Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos are spending $1 million on his inauguration.
“One of the big differences” is that in the first season, “everyone was fighting against me.” Now it’s like, “Everyone wants to be my friend. I don’t know, my personality has changed or something.” It was a joke.
What was striking about the press conference was how much news Mr. Trump delivered on a wide range of topics, some of which he barely mentioned.
He opined about the fake Duke rape accuser, eventually admitting in 2006 that she was lying, and saying life will never be the same for the lacrosse player who did nothing wrong. Ta. He talked about how the Biden team is out of sync with the public on drones. He described a “sickness” in people viewing the United Healthcare CEO’s alleged killer in a positive light. He supported the polio vaccine. He defended Pete Hegseth. He talked about Venezuela, Syria, Türkiye, North Korea, and Bibi. He pondered TikTok.
Round-the-clock Trump coverage appears to be making a comeback, but it’s a month early. (Oleg Nikin/Getty Images)
There’s a sense of déjà vu, and President Trump, in his first term, provided a 24-hour news source, even when talking to reporters he didn’t like, sometimes vilifying them or counterpunch their reporting. It reminded me clearly of what I was doing. The contrast couldn’t be greater with the soon-to-be former man, who didn’t make any news on weekends usually spent in Delaware or Camp David.
So beyond his all-out attacks on the media, the newcomer who has long been his favorite foil actually showed restraint and nuance, and was clearly having fun.
Perhaps President Trump has just been in a bad mood for the past few days. After Judge Juan Melchán refused to throw out the hush money conviction on the grounds that private conduct was not covered by the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on official conduct, the president-elect said yesterday: Posted.
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“Machan is far worse and more corrupt than he is. [Jack] Smith is fighting for my desperate political enemy, but I can’t let this show go. Is it because of conflicts or relationships that he keeps breaking the law? This has to stop! …
“In a completely illegal and psychotic order, the deeply inconsistent, corrupt, biased, and incompetent acting judge Juan Melchán showed complete disregard for the United States Supreme Court and its historic decisions on immunity. But even without immunity, this illegal incident is nothing more than a fabricated hoax.”
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Now, there’s the Donald we all learned about during the trial.
Howard Kurtz is the host of FOX News Channel’s MediaBuzz (Sundays 11am-12pm ET). Based in Washington, D.C., he joined the network in July 2013 and appears regularly on Special Report with Bret Baier and other shows.
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