Dan Gainor: Questions for Trump, Biden from the press are like MLB fastballs vs. extra-easy softballs
press conferences with presidential candidates have turned into a predictable mix of hardball and wiffle ball
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Politics is a lot like baseball. But thanks to the news media, press conferences with presidential candidates have turned into a predictable mix of hardball and wiffle ball.
It all depends on which candidate the “journalists” support.
Compare two recent press conferences. Both President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden were gearing up for their trips to riot-torn Kenosha, Wisconsin. Only Trump was the target of fastball after fastball. Every journalist pitch was designed to make him strike out — or to flat out bean him.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Reporters raised questions about whether Trump’s arrival “could exacerbate tensions and increase violence.” Then they pressed him to see why he wouldn’t meet with “the family of Jacob Blake,” the man shot following a fight with police.
It only got worse from there. The press did just that, press Trump all over the field. The six minutes of questions were reminiscent of baseball’s beanball wars. Several reporters aimed their pitches right (er, left) at the president.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In short, another typical day at the ballpark. The news media teamed up against Trump and he smacked what they threw at him like a political Babe Ruth.
CNN was the worst, naturally. Their White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins threw hers straight out of left field. She was trying to tie Trump to the violence of Portland, where leftists have rioted for nearly 100 days.
She asked, or argued, “But I notice you did not mention that your supporters were also in Portland this weekend, firing paintball guns at people, some form of pepper spray. So do you want to also take this chance to condemn what your supporters did in Portland?”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trump hit that pitch out of the park. He noted, “paint is a defensive mechanism; paint is not bullets.” Then he went for the grand slam, connecting the rioters to the press. “Your supporters — your supporters — and they are your supporters, indeed — shot a young gentleman who — and killed him — not with paint, but with a bullet. And I think it’s disgraceful.”
In all, Collins tried to link Trump’s “supporter” or “supporters” to violence seven separate times. She also tried to shout over Trump, but her mask muffled the sound and Trump easily dodged the beanballs.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In short, another typical day at the ballpark. The news media teamed up against Trump and he smacked what they threw at him like a political Babe Ruth.
Now compare that to the Biden presser held just two days later. There were no brushback pitches, no beanballs. And nothing that a 77-year-old man couldn’t easily handle.
Everything was about decorum. None of the reporters talked over Biden. In fact, they said “thank you” to him five separate times. That’s a word none of them uttered during the Trump presser. The questions began with deference, unlike with how they addressed Trump. “Vice President, two quick questions for you if I may,” started off the presser.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Then, just as the reporters had done for Trump, they threw the pitches in from left field. The press was always trying to drive the narrative to benefit liberal politics.
Even though a reporter admitted that locals didn’t want Biden in Kenosha, the way he was asked about it was almost gentle. “Why is now the right time for you to go to Kenosha And what do you hope to accomplish tomorrow?”
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}That easy pitch was followed by one even easier, but still pushing the liberal ideal, hoping Biden might take an intentional walk from the debates. “Is there anything, you've said you'll participate, is there anything that could dissuade you from participating and how have you began to prepare?”
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The questions tried to help Biden frame his responses. When asked about violence in Kenosha, he was reminded of the Democrat talking point, “obviously you are not president now and Donald Trump is.” Not that the rioters who burned down much of the city were Biden’s “supporters,” to use the CNN word. They didn’t ask that.
The game ended with a reporter giving Biden a chance to tout his fund-raising success. “You raised $364.5 million, your campaign and the DNC last month, record for a monthly haul, apparently. How are you going to spend it?” To which Biden jokingly asked the reporter to dinner.
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This wasn’t ever competitive. It was an exhibition among people who are all on the same team.
Biden should be used to it. These are the same pitches the press threw to his old boss President Barack Obama for eight years. Journalists are already proving that’s the kind of bush league play we can expect if Biden wins.
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