After former President Donald Trump literally became a victim, corporate media still endeavored to flip the script as one talking head scolded the assassination attempt-survivor over the “temperature.”
Partisan biases that permeate the media landscape made a prominent appearance Saturday in the wake of the tragedy in Butler, Pennsylvania that left at least one rally-goer dead and two others injured along with the GOP leader. While President Joe Biden refused to say “assassination attempt” and outlets claimed Trump had fallen or was whisked away after “loud noises,” CBS News’ Margaret Brennan found her narrative anchor in demonizing the presumptive Republican nominee.
Throughout hours of coverage on the network, Brennan appeared to run defense on leftist rhetoric and vitriol against the right that included Biden reportedly saying, “it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye,” and instead chided the GOP leader for his raised fist declaration to “Fight!”
“He is recovering from these injuries now. This was a traumatic event no doubt for him,” she began after campaign correspondent Robert Costa read part of Trump’s statement, “but I did notice there was no call for lowering the temperature, condemning all political violence, and really trying to signal to his supporters as well not to retaliate or to have any kind of escalation here.”
The moment was highlighted by the Media Research Center’s NewsBusters, as was Brennan’s followup later during coverage.
Trump’s just been shot, and CBS anchor Margaret Brennan disparages him for not telling his followers to lower the temperature. Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/97R2FG97gG
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) July 14, 2024
Returning to her remarks earlier that had included her stating, “The language across this campaign has been about ‘us versus the system;’ ‘me versus them;’ that all the legal cases against Donald Trump, he claims, are politically motivated to prevent him from re-election. By alleging there is a connection to this attempt on his life, it would escalate that,” the “Face the Nation” anchor claimed to be endeavoring to take responsibility “for protecting our democracy.”
She asserted, “the reason I made that comment — it’s not that it’s without empathy or concern — I think we all have great concern about our candidates, their health, their safety — but it is to say the concern about the heightened threat level, the fact that Americans are on edge, exactly what congressman Kelly was saying…he said everyone take a breath, and that we have to be responsible for protecting our democracy and that the words we use, the rhetoric we use is part of that.”
Newsbuster managing editor Curtis Houck shared Brennan’s followup later and indicated she, “defends her comments lecturing Trump and his supporters as the ones responsible for changing the ‘rhetoric’ in our body politic, claiming it’s incumbent on them to protect our fragile democracy.”
CBS’s Margaret Brennan defends her comments lecturing Trump and his supporters as the ones responsible for changing the “rhetoric” in our body politic, claiming it’s incumbent on them to protect our fragile democracy pic.twitter.com/ka1iR8khZx
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 14, 2024
Of course, that wasn’t all she had to say as she also took heat for an exchange with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a victim of a politically motivated attack in 2017 where he had been shot as he and fellow Republicans practiced for the annual Congressional Baseball Game.
Brennan had posited, “Have you specifically instructed members in the coming hours to rein in some of the rhetoric…some are using online that is somewhat incendiary in terms of really blaming this, somehow, on the administration? Have you asked them to refrain from that?”
While Scalise indicated he’d been “vocal…that political violence is not something anybody should tolerate,” commentator Mary Katherine Ham was left incredulous over the CBS News anchor’s takeaways and stated, “This is…bonkers. A mental illness. Only one side’s rhetoric ever matters to these people, and what really matters most is the rhetoric of people who have LITERALLY BEEN SHOT. ‘Now that you’ve been shot sir, don’t you think it’s a bit uncivil to be bleeding everywhere?'”
This is a bonkers. A mental illness. Only one side’s rhetoric ever matters to these people, and what really matters most is the rhetoric of people who have LITERALLY BEEN SHOT. “Now that you’ve been shot, sir, don’t you think it’s a bit uncivil to be bleeding everywhere?” https://t.co/OZZGu7V7GU
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) July 14, 2024
As it happened, Brennan wasn’t alone in coverage reminiscent of downplaying Trump’s call for Jan. 6 protesters to disperse, and podcast host Megyn Kelly found herself ripping into CNN correspondent Jamie Gangel.
“The man was bleeding from a bullet wound to his head. Wtf is wrong with you @jamiegangel? In any event it was the most inspirational ‘FIGHT’ many [people] have ever seen or heard. The fact that you heard it as you did shows how badly you’ve lost the thread,” she posted in reaction to the correspondent.
Gangel had said, “I do want to say there was one thing that when I watched the tape, I found odd because of all of the heated rhetoric, and that is after he was hit, former President Trump got up and said, ‘Fight. Fight. Fight.'”
“I think what we’re hearing from people is that’s not the message that we want to be sending right now. We want to tamp it down,” she’d added.
The man was bleeding from a bullet wound to his head. Wtf is wrong with you @jamiegangel?
In any event it was the most inspirational “FIGHT” many ppl have ever seen or heard. The fact that you heard it as you did shows how badly you’ve lost the thread. https://t.co/GCgiIjOk8G— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) July 14, 2024
Reinforcing that this behavior was not new, Ham had reminded, “They did this to Mo Brooks in 2017, asking him moments after someone had attempted to MURDER HIM if maybe he should reconsider gun control. Paraphrasing Brooks: ‘Funnily enough, no, my attempted murder does not make me anxious to be always vulnerable and unarmed, ya sicko.'”
They did this to Mo Brooks in 2017, asking him moments after someone had attempted to MURDER HIM if maybe he should reconsider gun control.
Paraphrasing Brooks: “Funnily enough, no, my attempted murder does not make me anxious to be always vulnerable and unarmed, ya sicko”
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) July 14, 2024
Likewise, Breitbart’s John Nolte summed up, “@CBSNews said the biggest threat right now is ‘retaliatory violence.’ You cannot hate these people enough. You can only try.”
.@CBSNews said the biggest threat right now is ‘retaliatory violence.’
You cannot hate these people enough. You can only try.
— John Ocasio-Rodham Nolte (@NolteNC) July 14, 2024
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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