As the Biden administration replaced the Trump administration, many members of the legacy media promised that their treatment of the president would not change, and that they would report on President Biden with the same objective scrutiny that they applied to President Trump.
As many of us assumed, this turned out to be complete nonsense. Both in print and screen media, the field of journalism has taken their collective weight away from the gas pedal, looking to coast on fluff pieces and adoring editorials, similar to the environment Obama enjoyed for eight years. When a Republican returns to the White House, they will awake from their slumber and rediscover the importance of accurate reporting and “tough questions.”
One month into the Biden administration, here is a breakdown of some of the “challenging” and “investigative” journalism being provided by our legacy media. While reading, ask yourself whether they are treating Biden “like Trump,” or whether they are actually treating Biden “like Obama.”
CNN — ‘Inside the new President’s routine: Oval Office fires and early bedtimes’
On February 16, CNN’s Kevin Liptak wrote a piece which explored Biden’s daily routine. Such gems of insight included news of Biden’s “coffee in the mornings with the first lady,” while making routine digs at Trump and loving nods to Obama.
“Unlike his most recent predecessors — night owls who spent the dark hours reading briefing materials (President Barack Obama) or watching television (President Donald Trump) — Biden is more of an early-to-bed type,” wrote Liptak.
Important news of temperature control and dog updates were included, writing “He has expressed a preference for a fire built in the Oval Office fireplace, and sometimes adds a log himself to keep it going. His dogs, two German Shepherds called Major and Champ, sometimes join him.”
Then, of course, there is the return to the hyper-focus on the pure, romantic relationships of Democrats.
“More so than any recent first couple, Joe and Jill Biden have demonstrated a publicly affectionate relationship, one that extends to private moments spent together in the White House residence. For the first time in decades, there are no children residing in the building, leaving the 55,000 square-foot mansion to the two of them. Jill Biden recently saw the President off with a kiss before his first flight aboard Marine One.”
Newsweek — ‘Joe Biden, Playing as Luigi, Wins in Mario Kart Race Against Granddaughter at Camp David’
Writing for Newsweek, Marina Watts penned this deep journalistic investigation of Biden’s weekend activities.
“How did Joe Biden relax during his first Presidents Day weekend as president? By playing MarioKart with his family,” the piece began.
“Biden sat on the right as Luigi, and Naomi is Princess Peach on the left, GameRant noted. Despite not being at the same gaming level as his granddaughter, the commander-in-chief came out victorious.”
It wasn’t mentioned that the Mario Kart GP DX Arcade machines being used by the president and his 27-year-old niece cost over $10,000 each.
“This isn’t the first time Biden has entered the gaming world,” the piece continued. “During the 2020 presidential election, Biden had an ‘Animal Crossing: New Horizon’ island set up, engaging with Biden-Harris supporters from all over the country and encouraging gamers to vote. On the island, there were flowers arranged in the shape of the American flag, along with ice cream carts.”
The Economist — ‘“Genocide” is the wrong word for the horrors of Xinjiang’
Moving on from fire places and video games, The Economist preferred to defend Biden by diluting the Nazi-esque mass persecution of religious minorities under China’s Communist regime.
The piece ends with the following paragraph.
“Mr Biden is right to decry China’s abuses, but he should do so truthfully. The country is committing crimes against humanity. By accusing it of genocide instead, in the absence of mass murder, America is diminishing the unique stigma of the term. Genocide should put a government beyond the pale; yet American officials will keep doing business with the regime they have branded genocidal. Future genocidaires will take comfort.”
The Hill — ‘Kamala Harris jogs stairs at Lincoln Memorial in viral clip’
This adoring piece focuses on Vice President Kamala Harris, whose rise from media villain to media hero aligned perfectly with her selection as Biden’s running mate.
“Vice President Kamala Harris is the star of a viral video after being spotted jogging the stairs at the Lincoln Memorial as a Secret Service agent was seen trying to catch up with her,” the piece began.
“In the short clip, Harris jogs down and then up the steps at the national memorial. And during her jog, a man in a suit identified by local media as a Secret Service agent could be seen apparently trying to keep up with the vice president, who was noticeably moving faster than him.”
In the video, Kamala Harris is jogging, and the man is walking. The difference in speed between “jogging” and “running” was deemed as a worthwhile subject of praise.
Kamala Harris later posed for a photo with the couple who filmed the “event.”
“‘She was kind enough to oblige,” [one of the photographers] told Insider. ‘It was pretty cool. … It’s still something I can’t really believe happened, seeing her doing the same thing we do.’”
Kamala Harris jogs? Spontaneously, in public? She’s just like us!
NBC News — ‘Biden’s Justice Department to ask nearly all Trump-era U.S. attorneys to resign’
This piece began with, “The Biden administration will begin removing all Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys appointed during the Trump administration, with two exceptions, a senior Justice Department official said.”
“The process, which is not uncommon, could start as early as Tuesday. They will be asked to resign,” the piece continued.
However, it seems that the piece was updated. As Lyndsey Fifield pointed out on Twitter, the original paragraph read “The Biden administration will begin the common practice of removing all Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys appointed during the Trump administration.”
Can outlets just *Google how they covered the exact same thing from the Trump years* before publishing to see how biased they are or…? pic.twitter.com/4P5jxcE5qV
— Lyndsey Fifield (@lyndseyfifield) February 9, 2021
Looking back, NBC News reported on Trump’s similar action in 2017, writing “The Trump administration acted abruptly Friday to force out the remaining U.S. attorneys who had not already stepped down.”
It seems that the definition of “common practice” relies entirely on whether the president is a Democrat or a Republican.
Vanity Fair — ‘Joe Biden Normalled Particularly Hard This Weekend’
This piece continues the coordinated media narrative that Biden is “good” because he is “normal,” with normal vaguely defined as needed to further Leftist goals.
“Here are a few more entries into president normie canon: First, Joe Biden walking to the Oval Office in a leather jacket. It was taken over the weekend as light snow enveloped D.C,” it said.
“‘Grateful for the short commute on days like these,’ he said, posting on Twitter. Another photo from the wires shows him kissing his wife on the White House lawn, on the way to Walter Reed Hospital, like he’s a soldier off to war. And a final photo, shared by a grandchild on Twitter, is of the dogs playing in snow also on the lawn. They are pretty standard, run-of-the-mill, basic political photos, meant to be as palatable as possible and communicate stability amid a continued lack of it. It’s the kind of anodyne stuff one has grown used to living in a system of constant campaigning, yet it all looks so…different after just four years.”
“Now we are presented with a set of normal photos staged by a normal guy. Now, the president is doing West Wing, but for Twitter,” Kenzie Bryant writes later.
Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.