Media, Politics

“Turning the Tables”: Many Appear to Follow the McCaskill Rule on the President’s Use of False Story

We recently discussed the call by MSNBC contributor and former Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill for the media to stop fact checking Joe Biden before the election. Some in the media appear to have gotten the McCaskill memo in running the false story repeated by Biden in his interview this week on NBC.  What is particularly striking is that the President is again being accused of spreading disinformation, the very basis used by his Administration to censor critics and groups. His Administration even pushed LinkedIn to bar those who have spread disinformation.

President Joe Biden’s interview on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” has produced the usual diametrically opposite reviews. On the left, he was witty, spontaneous, and fun. On the right, he was wooden, scripted, and feeble.

However, there is a new controversy over the President repeating a debunked claim that his leading opponent, Donald Trump, cannot remember the name of his wife. He was not alone. The usual media outlets repeated the false claim and then refused to correct their false stories.  It follows a familiar pattern of media adopting the most absurd interpretation of remarks while ignoring the obvious meaning.

President Biden has long been challenged over false statements that range from accusing mounted border agents of whipping migrants to claiming that his son died in Iraq to embellishing his own history.  He was recently called out for falsely accusing Special Counsel Robert Hur for raising his son’s death. It was the President who raised the death.

What is striking about this incidence is that the falsity of this story was immediately called out and some in the media had the integrity to identify it as disinformation. Yet, it did not matter to Biden or his staff. The interview seemed highly scripted and it appeared that the questions were given to Biden in advance by NBC (as demonstrated by Biden holding his aviator glasses in anticipation of a line from Meyers as a prop). If so, it appears that his staff also did not care that the story was untrue.

Biden is trying to control the damage after a special counsel cited his diminished faculties as a reason for not indicting him. On the show, this issue of the President’s age was gently raised and Biden responded: “Well, a couple things. Number one, you got to take a look at the other guy. He’s about as old as I am, but he can’t remember his wife’s name!”

It was a reference to the claim that  Trump called his wife Melania “Mercedes” during the keynote speech at a recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) event. However, many pointed out that he was addressing Mercedes Schlapp, the wife of CPAC founder Matt Schlapp.

The usual suspects spread the false claim such as Independent, Metro, and other sites as well as many on social media. Some liberal sites joyfully reported the false statement, opining “calling your wife by another woman’s name in bed or anywhere else is near most always a death sentence. Trump called his wife, on stage and in front of a room full of people, Mercedes. Maybe he just confused to two because they’re both expensive to keep up when they get older.”

Even for some of the outlets, the fact that it was untrue was only mentioned in passing while seemingly praising Biden for going on the attack on Trump. Salon ran an article entitled “He can’t remember his wife’s name!”: Biden turns the tables on Trump over age attacks, it then buried the fact that he was referring to Schlapp deep in the column. “Turning the tables” was using something that his own administration would consider malicious disinformation.

Forbes said the President “flipped the script” on Trump with the attack.

The usual experts came forward to issue medical judgments. Dr. John Gartner, a psychologist and former professor at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, “suggested that it’s actually Trump, not President Biden, who seems to be showing signs of mental decline.”

What is most worrisome about this news cycle is that it is reminiscent of some of the most outrageous false claims spread in the media. In the migrant whipping story, there was a video proving that the claim was untrue. However, Biden and the media continued to spread the false story. The President even promised to punish the agents who had not even been given the benefit of an investigation.

This controversy comes on the heels of an interview from another New York Times editor acknowledging that the newspaper buried stories like the Hunter Biden laptop out of concern that it might undermine Joe Biden’s election.

Using this debunked claim in a personal attack by the President clearly thrilled his followers. However, it should worry all of us. There are legitimate questions about the age of both candidates. Moreover, many of us have called out former President Trump for personal attacks. The same vigilance should apply to President Biden.

103 thoughts on ““Turning the Tables”: Many Appear to Follow the McCaskill Rule on the President’s Use of False Story”

  1. With 96% of the votes counted in Michigan, Trump is up over Haley by over 41 percentage points (68.1% to 26.5%). At this point is there really any doubt that Haley has no realistic path to securing the GOP nomination? Yet, she’ll be bankrolled by Dems and warmmongering neocons whose supporters in the military-industrial complex get wealthy off more and more arms deals – as uber-warmongerer Victoria Nuland admitted was the motivation. Incidentally, they get rich by stealing from our grandchildren. Despicable people.

    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-primary-elections/michigan-president-results

    2. OldMandFromKS,
      What was more interesting to me, is anti-Biden Arabs “uncommitted” movement in MI, wanted 10,000 “uncommitted” votes.
      They got 100,000.
      That, along with the number of Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and even some Jews leaving, opting out of upcoming election and even some considering voting for Trump, does not spell well for Biden at all.

      1. Upstate – Cool, I didn’t know that – the first part. I have heard about minorities being disillusioned with Biden and moving to the Trump camp. That’s a good sign that the MSM spin can only go so far.

        1. OldManFromKS,
          The Free Press has a number of articles on the topic of minorities disillusioned with the Democrat party.
          Asians have ditched the Democrat party as the party is punishing Asians for being successful. The Free Press has an article about how they are taking the MAGA agenda to the next level. MAGA really resonates with them.
          Hispanics are ditching the Democrat party as most Hispanics are religious, and a lot of the wokeism is an affront to their beliefs. Those who came to this country, worked hard, obeyed our laws, seeing all these illegals getting better treated than they are has many of them mad.
          An article that takes place in Chicago of Blacks who are angry all those illegals are getting better treatment, services, and money the Black community has been asking for, for years if not decades. Many of them are opting out of voting this year, and some are considering voting for Trump.
          There have been some Democrat operatives who have been trying to sound the alarm, but MSM ignores them.

          1. Upstate – usually when politicians see the public’s mood and priorities shifting, they respond accordingly in an effort to get elected. That is . . . unless they know they will win regardless due to a rigging of the election.

  3. I’ll have to give Donny a pass on this “Mercedes” debacle.
    Sometime after my 90th Birthday I began to call my wife of 60 years, Trixie.
    Trixie was our Bichon Frisé for a long time and my favorite. She liked to be close with me all the time and was great.
    As my memory fades, I some how have forgotten what my wife’s name is, and although my kids and others constantly remind me, it just doesn’t come back to mind.
    So I call her Trixie because that’s all I have to remember.
    It’s the thought that counts in the end.
    And it’s still a lot better than calling her Hillary the other B*tch I can remember!

    “Turning the Tables” https://www.akc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Bichon-Frise-On-White-03.jpg
    Or this
    https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/mpx/2704722219/2021_12/1639142803398_tdy_news_8a_andrea_hillary_clinton_211210_1920x1080-kwkmtu.jpg

  4. let me know when a Democrat politician or their criminal families or Democrat criminal Mandarins across government start going to jail.
    There should be 1000’s of them in JAIL….Letitia James, Judge Arthur Engoron, Fanni Willis, etc

    JAIL THEM by the thousands. Republican have to STOP BEING NICE and SAVE America!

  5. @Floyd: Re: “I love that”….The themes of Gilbert and Sullivan’s work were directed at lampooning their society and culture. However, the most recent performance of ‘The Mikado I’ve seen, last winter, has been ‘sanitized’ both in book and staging to devoid it of any seemingly deprecatory references to the Japan of the 19th Century. A nod to the ‘sensibilities’ of OUR times. This was a production of the famed NYC company, but Harvard has had a crack at it too, it seems. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/10/31/students-protest-mikado-opening-night/

    2. Is there anything safe from the Culture Nazis???I have to believe that a lot of this is just for attention. “Oh look! I know how to get somebody to notice me!”

  6. While msm fabricates an incident that didn’t occur, Italian TV ‘Fratelli di Crozza’ zeros in on how the rest of the world views the president. Sometimes it’s your friends who have to wake you up to the truth.

  7. Is Turley criticizing Biden for saying something not accurate about Trump? Lol. Trump is the biggest liar this side of Pinocchio and Turley does say boo about it. I wonder how much crazy MAGA Turley can go?

  8. Seems to me that if you wanted ‘The People’ to cede their individual rights to ‘the Blob,’ that you’d maybe want to frame the Blob as benevolent and trustworthy. That’s just me. OTOH, it seems to be effective on people with a penchant for death, disfigurement, and crab mentality. Perhaps the Blob believes it is easier to make people feel despair and hopeless than the opposite?

  9. Its bad enough when the media does it.

    But what are to do when Prosecutors and Judges do it?

    Bragg, Merchan, James, Engoron, Willis, McAffee and of course Smith , Chutkan, Cannon

  10. Readers,

    You tell me what Trump meant…

    Turley fails to include the actual Trump quote:

    “My wife, our great First Lady—people love her,” Trump said while introducing his wife to the cheering crowd at CPAC. He continued seconds later as the crowd cheered: “people love her, oh look at that, wow! Mercedes, that’s pretty good!”

    If this wasn’t a gaffe, then it certainly demonstrates quite the non sequitur.

    1. Additionally. Turley fails to acknowledge that at this same event, Trump actually endorses Biden by agreeing with Putin:

      TRUMP: “he did announce the other day that he’d much rather see Biden as President. And I agree with him.”

      Does that strike you as someone with a sound mind?

      1. Yes it does. Biden is objectively better then Trump and I am glad that Trump acknowledges it. It is probably the most truthful thing Trump has ever said.

      2. Any child could tell you that he means he agrees with Putin that Putin would rather have Joe Biden to negotiate with than Donald Trump. That’s what Putin said and that is what Trump agreed with.

        1. Apparently this child does not have a well-developed knowledge of the English language, then. Objectively, the meaning of this statement is: “And I also agree with him [regarding the desire to see Biden as President].”

        1. Edwardmahl,
          Of course Putin would rather see Biden as president.
          It benefits him the most!
          That is why Putin endorsed Biden. You dont stop your enemy from making mistakes.

      5. If you had any degree of critical thinking skills, you would know what Trump was saying it benefits Putin, China, Iran, Hamas, the drug cartels on our unsecure Southern border to have another 4 years of a weak Biden admin for them to continue to take advantage of.

        1. Do you have any quote from the words actually spoken immediately before or after that line at the CPAC event to come to that conclusion, or are you making this up?

      6. Dear Mr/Mz Confirmation bias: I saw the video clip, where Trump appears to interrupt his speech with something he saw, hence, “oh look at that, wow! Mercedes, that’s pretty good!,” as he hand-gestured toward the backside of the room. The comment seems to reflect something that Mercedes did, not his wife.

    2. You’re absolutely right. Appearing before a screaming crowd of thousands, something prompted Trump to suddenly mention the name of a woman associated with the event he was attending just moments after he had been talking about his wife. Complete non sequitur. I can’t imagine any other public speaker in history ever responding to something happening in a raucous crowd that elicited a spontaneous remark that diverted from the original train of thought. Simply outrageous. Call the police.

    3. What was he looking at? Without that context, it is impossible to know whom he was referring to.

      1. Edward,
        I took the time to scroll through a bunch of video. youtube had a video of about 48 minutes, other sources has Trumps speech at about 1hr 30min. I finally found the spot, but cant get a good time stamp on it.
        The context is Trump is speaking about his first lady. Complimentary, and says the people love her. When Trump say the people love her, he gets an unexpected cheer from the crowd and people standing up and applauding. That little pause has Trump looking into the crowd and says, paraphrasing. ‘Mercedes look at that. . . the people . . .
        So Trump was showing Mercedes that the people really respond to his First Lady.

        The video is clear. Not any ambiguity. Like everything the media pushes, it is NARRATIVE. Not truth

    4. Trump said while introducing his wife to the cheering crowd at CPAC

      He was not introducing his wife. She was not there to be introduced

      You get caught lying Again.

  11. A desperate man can be dangerous. There is much going on in biden’s life to make him desperate.

  13. There is an article published last week by Sharyl Atkinson detailing the media lies about Trump from 2016 to now. It is shocking and disgusting. (The article may be at Real Clear Politics.)

  14. Let me play “shill” here for a minute!
    ———–
    But Republicans say false stuff too! Republicans forget stuff too! Look, here is Mitch McConnell, back in 1987, talking about Voter Fraud!, Then, when Trump says the election has been stolen, he acts like Trump is some kind of nut!

    https://twitter.com/i/status/1762546789910036922
    ———–
    Following that comment, I suspect that Shill Floyd will get an emergency text, from the DNC Troll Farm HQ! something like:

    “You effing IDIOT! What did we teach you in Troll 101? Stay away from anything mentioning the reality of voter fraud!!! We are docking 1/2 your pay this week. Get back over there and crap on that thread to where they pull the comment! Or you’re FIRED!!!”

  15. Professor Turley,

    The Salon article you linked to mentions Mercedes Schlapp in the sixth sentence of the article. You falsely accuse it of burying it “deep in the column.”

    Who, exactly, is spreading false information, here?

    This is a great reminder that readers of this site MUST remember to fact check Professor Turley’s claims.

    1. For non-thinking leftists, the sixth sentence of the article is deep in the column.
      They never read past the title.

      1. What does that even mean?

        In no way can “deep in the column” mean anything other than towards the end of the article. That fact does not change depending on the political persuasion of the reader.

        That is pure drivel.

      2. It’s true that most of us remember the headline of a story more than the contents of the story.

        1. That’s irrelevant. Turley didn’t say that Salon’s headline was misleading.

          He said that the mention of Mercedes Schlapp was “deep in the article.”

          Those are not the same things.

  16. Here is a simple and effective way to settle the “argument” about who has lost his cognitive abilities more Trump or Biden, let’s just see the two of them debate. If one of them (guess which one) won’t debate it will settle the issue once and for all.

    BTW, the lying media can keep saying that Trump is old and losing it too, but, like with prices, Afghanistan, the border and crime, people know what they are seeing and with Joe Biden they see a man losing it daily.

    1. HullBobby,
      I am waiting to see what excuse they come up with to avoid debating.
      Or, what conditions will they demand for the debate. They will likely be totally absurd, beyond common sense or logic, and MSM and our TDS leftist friends will eat it all up.

      1. Upstate, Biden’s team will DEMAND that the debate be hosted by MSNBC and moderated by Joy Reid, Rachel Madcow and Joe Scarborough. Oh, and it will only last for 20 minutes.

        1. HullBobby,
          And all the questions, all two of them, will be pre-vetted and Biden’s responses will come from reading off a telepromter amounting to 5 minutes of “debate.”
          At the conclusion, Biden reads the teleprompt direction of “leave stage to YOUR RIGHT!” Then walks off to the left.
          The other 15 minutes will be devoted to Joy Reid, Rachel Madcow and Joe Scarborough attacking Trump with his mic turned off.

    2. “Generally, if one side is begging for a debate while the other side avoids it at all costs and even tries to censor opposing views, that should tell you a lot about which side is likely closer to the truth.” —Scott Morefield

  17. At this point Biden is nothing more than a stooge hoping that his handlers will let him survive long enough to pardon Hunter. He’ll do what he’s told, and say what they tell him to say. Lying has never been a problem for him.

  19. I do believe we have fallen into the fairy tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes”.

  20. Ko-Ko. Why should I kill you when making an affidavit that you’ve been executed will do just as well? Here are plenty of witnesses — the Lord Chief Justice, Lord High Admiral, Commander-in-Chief, Secretary of State for the Home Department, First Lord of the Treasury, and Chief Commissioner of Police.

    Nanki-Poo. But where are they?

    Ko-Ko. There they are. They’ll all swear to it — won’t you? (to Pooh-Bah)

    Pooh-Bah. Am I to understand that all of us high Officers of State are required to perjure ourselves to ensure your safety?

    Ko-Ko. Why not! You’ll be grossly insulted, as usual.

    Pooh-Bah. Will the insult be cash down, or at a date?

    Ko-Ko. It will be a ready-money transaction.

    Pooh-Bah. (aside) Well, it will be a useful discipline. (aloud) Very good. Choose your fiction, and I’ll endorse it! (aside) Ha! ha! Family Pride, how do you like that, my buck?

    …………………….W.S.Gilbert, ‘The Mikado’

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