Constitutional Law, Media, Politics

MSNBC Cuts Off Presidential Press Conference Because “The President Isn’t Telling The Truth”

Yesterday, there was an extraordinary — and defining — moment on MSNBC when host Nicole Wallace cut off coverage of President Trump’s press conference on the basis that the network did not agree with what he was saying about Joe Biden and his son’s controversial windfall contract with a Ukrainian energy company during the Obama Administration. Wallace simply declared Biden was cleared and that Trump was lying so there was no need for viewers to listen. It ignored any semblance of covering the news and MSNBC appears perfectly okay with a host regulating what viewers believe based on her view of what is true.

Wallace said that the President was just trying to deflect blame to Biden and that “We hate to do this really but the president isn’t telling the truth.”  She added “These allegations against Joe Biden and Hunter Biden he’s repeating had been investigated by the Ukrainians…the Wall Street Journal included in their report on Friday that the Ukrainians view this issue as having been investigated and adjudicated.” However, that is not accurate.

In the transcript, the President of Ukraine says that they are taking a new look at prior investigation. More importantly, there are two concerns with Hunter Biden. One is the concern of whether Joe Biden knew that his actions may benefit his son. I am willing to believe that Biden was not aware of the potential investigation of his son’s company in the Ukraine. Yet, there is the other question of whether the Biden family cashed in on Biden’s positions in these convenient and ample contracts. Children and spouses of politicians are often given positions and contracts to influence them. These payments are more difficult to track and to address under anti-corruption laws. Now, there is the incredible suggestion that Hunter Biden has never (even to this day) discussed his business dealings with his father. Never. Hunter Biden has said that that is not true.

What has long been difficult for many of us to square is how China and the Ukraine searched the world over for the best possible person to handle almost $2 billion and they just happened to come up with the son of the Vice President of the United States, a world leader who happened to be coming to their countries with massive trade and aid plans. Hunter Biden was that much of an intellectual and finance genius from Asia to Europe and beyond?

Yet none of this matters. The question is the role of the media. If Wallace does not believe Trump, that is fine. However, the press conference was news as a president gave his side of a developing impeachment controversy. Some agree with his view of Biden and the controversy. MSNBC is saying that it will not prevent viewers to see statements are its views as untrue about Biden or Trump. That is highly disturbing for those of us who have written about the loss of objectivity in media coverage and legal analysis.

324 thoughts on “MSNBC Cuts Off Presidential Press Conference Because “The President Isn’t Telling The Truth””

  1. Nicole Wallace has lost her dam mind. She’s gone off the deep end. Clearly. She actually asked James Comey in her interview with him at the 92Y in NYC if “he was going to run for office” ~!!!!!! Say whaaat???? Is she stupid???? Apparently she is. Also, MSNBC is NOT a news organization. It is a propaganda outfit.

    1. Remember when MSNBC had Al Sharpton on weekdays from 6 to 7pm during its key after work drive time news hour? The man can hardly speak English let alone read a teleprompter written for him and yet MSNBC gave him a prime slot for “news” …. gots to make you wonder what the hell is going on at MSNBC, right? Of course it does.

    1. Yes, let’s rely on the findings of the Washingotn Post Fact Checker. Is that a joke??

  6. Why should all networks give unlimited coverage to Trump’s endless blather and self-promotion? His incessant lying is well documented. If he wants to pay for advertising himself, then that’s what he should do.

    1. Mustn’t scrutinize, mustn’t question.

      If there is nothing there, then we will have draw back the curtain on an empty room. So what? It has happened before in investigations; what’s the harm in investigating this time?

  7. Went to a dinner party a couple of nights ago. There were three women there, all in their 50’s, divorced, and with kids. They were lamenting the lack of good men. Their criteria for a good man was tall, no more than 55, good looking, employed/wealthy, considerate, and a Democrat.

    Anybody who had voted for Trump was automatically disqualified (one of three qualification questions).

    Now these are women of a certain age (certainly close to menopause), with children and looks/physiques appropriate to 50+ year old women not deprived of many meals. Their ideal candidates would not be initially attracted to women like them; these men (as described) are in the top 10% of available men, and these women (certainly in the bottom half of the dating pool) were arbitrarily eliminating at least half of that desirable talent pool.

    Obviously their choice, but it exemplifies the stupidity and delusion of the NeverTrumpers. These people are beyond all logic in their hatred and it sours all aspects of their lives.

    They also never consider the backlash; normal people look at them in amazement and disgust – more, we write them off.

  8. I was watching and Trump was going on and on like he does at his rallies. Yes, he often lied but that was no different than any other Trump speech/statement/conversation. Trump benefitted in 2016 from constant news coverage of every appearance because he got ratings. Fox News often doesn’t carry events like Congressional hearings that aren’t going to give Trump favorable coverage as is their right although what’s different now is that they are covering them because Impeachment is on the table.

    1. Who cares about Fox. You guys think we’re all sitting around watching Hannity. Your friends say it here all the time. That’s a fantasy. I listen to NPR every day on the radio at a ratio of 4:1 for every minute I listen to fox radio. I know a lot of people from both parties and almost nobody is sitting around watching tv.

      If I get one hour to watch tv a week it’s straight to zombies and fast forward on the commercials. If I get a second hour I watch financial info on bloomberg. If I watch sports its MMA or boxing on PPV or espn. If it’s anything else I go in person.

      I get the WSJ paper and the local rag. I catch the wapo and nyt here from peter, and use the internet to self educate on relevant topics of interest., and I read books. Mostly I am a normal guy except i put more time into directed study on social topics. But nobody watches tv much anymore.

      1. “Who cares about Fox?” Trump for one and he’s quite disappointed in them lately. This may be news to you but there are people on the right (yes on the left too) who get all their news from a bubble. They have been fed a diet of proppaganda without exception which helps explain the loyalty of his base no matter the “commonly known” information available. It matters that Fox is starting to expose its viewers to information they weren’t getting before.

  9. I am surprised that Turley is surprised He clearly has been unaware of the malfeasance by MSNBC and almost all of the media for years

  10. Just because there is freedom of speech doesn’t mean that any news organization is obligated to cover or broadcast what ever you want to say, even if you are the President of the United States. She would have been better off if she would have just cut away without giving any excuse at all, just deeming that was not important enough to cover and that viewers that wanted to continue viewing the coverage were welcome to tune in on another network.

    The problem we have today with journalisms is that we feel like we need to give equal time and try to be fair and balanced covering all points of view. Wrong, we should just cover stories, and not give air to those that are trying to manipulate the news cycle to their own advantage. If you want to make a speech then you can pay for your speech to be covered, we don’t owe you air time, or consideration for your opinions!

  12. A Correction: In the second to last sentence Jonathon Turley writes: “MSNBC is saying that it will not prevent viewers to see statements are its views as untrue about Biden or Trump.” I believe this is a typo. I believe what he meant to write was, MSNBC is saying that it will not [allow] viewers to see statements [it] views as untrue about Biden or Trump. Or, the goal of MSNBC should be that they won’t prevent viewers from seeing statements it views as untrue about Biden or Trump. Either way, I think the otherwise typo free Jonathon Turley just typed one.

    2. “,,, the otherwise typo free [sic] Jonathon Turley just typed one.”

      lol Turley has long needed the help of a proof reader and sometimes an editor.

  13. How is this different than what always happens when hosts decide what information they will provide viewers, something that occurs constantly 24 hours a day on all networks?

  14. I work in HR and I am also seeing this in the workplace. Democrats dont care about Americans. They have divided us

    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-the-impeachment-inquiry-into-president-trump-and-a-brutal-2020-election-could-cost-american-companies-billions-2019-09-26

    Trump impeachment inquiry and brutal 2020 election will further stoke ‘toxic’ workplaces, HR experts warn

    Worker turnover because of “toxic” office cultures has already cost companies $223 billion in the past five years, up 24% from 2008 to 2012, according to findings released Wednesday from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

    Those turnover costs could climb higher in today’s politically charged environment, the research adds. Toxic work culture flourishes when companies don’t address worker disagreements, SHRM says. And politics can surely spawn disagreement.

    ‘The division we already have in the workplace now has been multiplied.’
    —Society for Human Resource Management President and CEO Johnny Taylor Jr.

  15. i never watch tv much at all but here’s a reason to boycott msnbc advertisers– counted back in 2018

    Smile Direct Club $640K
    Jeep $540K
    Proactiv $379K
    Otezla $318K
    Office Depot $288K
    Cadillac $287K
    Trivago $269K
    Sleep Number $263K
    Humira $261K
    Omaha Steaks $244K

  16. So what. MSNBC is and long has been a partisan news source. They market to partisan Democrats who want emotional validation. Since that’s a deeply stupid subculture, this is what you get.

    What’s amusing is that they employ Nicolle Wallace, a grifter who persuaded John McCain to employ her as his press secretary. If you want a lesson in why the Republican Party has such problems effectively formulating policy, implementing policy, and mobilizing constituency, just remember that at the apex and center you’ve had people very inadequate to the task.

  17. But we knew this; MSNBC just gave further proof of the fundamental dishonesty of much of the media.

    Their choice; their price to pay.

    Remember many years ago when a Perot crowd attacked a CBS van out of anger over the coverage their candidate was getting?

    We are not far from similar occurrences.

  18. Censoring The President of The United States.
    What a perfect example of the left’s hatred for The Constitution and a perfect demonstration of their clear intent to strip Citizens of their Constitutional Rights.

    1. How is deciding not to cover every word out of someone’s mouth, or even out Right censoring them, some how Unconstitutional, just because the buffoon making the comments is the President. You can’t find Constitutional support or justification for forcing a news outlet to cover every word of a President just because they are President.

      By the Way, the President isn’t the President of the United States, he is the President of the Parties, you actually have to be chosen by the States to be the President of the United States, and today all the candidates are chosen by the Parties, and they serve the interest and constituents of the Parties, not the People in their Collective Capacity, or the States that the people inhabit!

      1. Why would I need Constitutional support or justification?
        Haven’t you heard?
        The Constitution is dead.
        Details at 11 on MSNBC

  19. Apparently, the author of this nonsense thinks it is perfectly acceptable for an elected official to lie repeatedly and have a news outlet give air time to it.

    1. State the lie and your proof it is a lie.
      Wait. Never mind.
      Yo Turley! Cut Milord off and remove all posts.
      He’s lying.

      1. MSNBC has dismal ratings and they did this maneuver to play to their Trump hating audience to stem the hemorrhage…

    1. Except counselor, only one is cutting off free speech while the other is engaging in it. Just a trifle I know, but worth mentioning in legal circles.

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