USRESIST NEWS Media Blog Post
The USRESIST NEWS Media Blog reports on how media channels from the right and left are covering today’s news.
Post # 5 Major Cable News’ Post Election Coverage
By John McCabe
November 13, 2020
Since election night, the major cable news networks have been relentless in their coverage. With former Vice President Joe Biden securing the presidency, major networks are talking about the significance of a Biden victory, as well as President Donald Trump’s continuing accusations of voter fraud and his refusal to concede a Biden victory.
On November 7th, upon Biden being declared the 46th President of the United States, CNN anchor, Van Jones, broke down in passionate tears.
“Well, it’s easier to be a parent this morning,” said Jones. “It’s easier to be a dad…it’s easier to tell your kids character matters…Telling the truth matters. Being a good person matters…”
Jones went on to discuss how a Biden victory is a vindication for a lot of people who feel as if they have suffered under Trump’s presidency, attributing the late George Floyd’s last words of, “I can’t breathe”, to a larger message.
“That wasn’t just George Floyd,” said Jones. “That was a lot of people who felt they couldn’t breathe…this is a big deal for us just to be able to get some peace and have a chance for a reset, and the character of the country matters…”
Jones sentiment on character resonated with co-panelist, Gloria Borger, who added that the COVID-19 epidemic became a large part of the character issue in the 2020 Presidential election, specifically, how a leader would use the quality of character to empathetically handle a virus that has killed more than two-hundred thousand people.
Political Consultant David Axelrod also agreed with Jones, adding that Biden has qualities like character, decency, empathy, in abundance.
Two days later, over on Fox News, Steve Hilton of The Next Revolution hosted Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL), radio personality Tammy Bruce, reporter Sara Carter, and former Congressman Jason Chaffetz of Utah.
Instead of analyzing the significance of a Biden victory, most of the guests were of the same school of thought that the election is still not over, seemingly holding onto the possibility of a Trump victory, as well as showing their support for Trump to do everything in his power to establish evidence of voter fraud.
“This isn’t a battle just against Trump,” said Carter, “…this is a battle against the American people that voted for Trump, against the establishment. The establishment is what wants to stop this…and unfortunately, the establishment has a mainstream media on their side that is working in conjunction with them. It’s up to us as Americans to stand up…to stand up to that in such a way, peacefully…and defend our constitution…if we allow the Democrats to trample that constitution and rip it apart, we have nothing left…”
Predictably, a lot of Fox News pundits have been writing off Biden’s victory and defending Trump. Despite this, Trump is angry with Fox News for even conceding a Biden victory.
In his article for Columbia Journalism Review, aptly titled “Surprise! Election night was a confusing mess”, Jon Allsop discusses how Trump was reportedly furious about Fox News calling Arizona for Biden. And if election night was a confusing mess, the days that followed a Biden victory have provided their own sense of disarray and uncertainty.
Recently, major networks are reporting on Secretary of State Pompeo’s comments regarding the election. When asked if the state department was preparing to engage with the Biden transition team, Pompeo stated that, “there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.”
Brianna Keilar of CNN brought on Kylie Atwood, a national security correspondent who works at the state department, to discuss Pompeo’s comments.
“It is truly extortionary,” said Atwood, “…it’s important to note that the secretary was asked about the credibility of America continuing to call for free and fair elections internationally, and to call for people to step down and accept the realities of votes in other countries, and he was asked if those efforts are undermined by what President Trump is doing here; contesting these election results based on no evidence…”
On November 10th, on Fox News, Pompeo was asked by Baier if he was being serious regarding his comments to a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.
Rather than addressing his specific comments, Pompeo said, “We’ll have a smooth transition and we’ll see what people ultimately decide when all the votes have been cast…I am very confident that we will have a good transition. That we will make sure that whoever is in office on noon on January 20th has all the tools readily available so that we don’t skip a beat with the capacity to keep Americans safe…”
Amid cable news post-election coverage, President Trump continues to churn out tweets that warrant a disputed flag from Twitter, like an accusation that his poll watchers were not allowed to watch or observe in Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Over at Fox News, the political strategy seems to involve trying to paint a picture that the Democratic party is hostilely divided between centrists and progressives in the hopes that it will increase the Republican party’s chances at securing the Senate for the Georgia runoff election. In his recent coverage, Sean Hannity asked, “How fast would he [Biden] surrender to the far-left agenda? It’s frightening…god forbid they ever get this power.”
Meanwhile, Biden’s strategy seems to laugh off both Trump’s comments on not conceding the election, as well as his surrogates. While delivering remarks on the Supreme Court’s recent hearing on the Affordable Care Act, Biden referred to Trump’s behavior as “an embarrassment” and alleged that much of the leaders in the Republican party that are beholden to Trump are “mildly intimidated by the sitting President.”
At any rate, Trump seems dead set on resisting a Biden victory, filing suit in multiple states, and going on Twitter tirades about voter fraud. All the while, the United States awaits Georgia hand counting its votes, as well as a runoff election that will decide the fate of the Senate come January 2021.