If it ever feels like television’s anti-Trump talking heads are reading from the same talking points, it turns out they are.
A lengthy, report published Tuesday by the Inside-the-Beltway Bible Politico revealed that some of the best-known opponents of former President Donald Trump have been conducting weekly conference calls to compare notes on Trump’s ongoing legal battles.
But, the report insisted, there’s no conspiracy here at all.
Clocking in at 2,700 carefully chosen words, the report by Politico senior writer and former federal prosecutor Ankush Khardori went into considerable detail about how often the meetings take place and who attends.
They’re weekly, and attendees include such viciously anti-Trump figures as George Conway, the partisan fool of a former husband to erstwhile Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway; NeverTrump “conservative” William Kristol; and the usual rogues gallery of leftist network commentators like Harvard law professor emeritus Laurence Tribe and CNN’s self-gratifying Jeffrey Toobin.
But he also went to extraordinary lengths to imply there’s absolutely nothing unusual about it — and launch preemptive strikes against conservatives who might think that maybe, just maybe the report proves there really is a united, coordinated media effort to make sure President Joe Biden wins re-election in November.
“As I was reporting this story, I learned that some members of the group were understandably anxious about its publication,” Khardori wrote. “Trump has claimed that there is a legal conspiracy against him, and there is a risk that news of a group such as this could give Trump and his allies an attractive target.”
Really? News that some of the most influential faces on network television are getting together regularly to discuss how to spin the news might make an “attractive target” for Americans who are convinced mainstream media figures are working together to coordinate how to spin the news?
As one unnamed commentator (who is not part of the group) told Khardori: “It runs the risk of creating the impression that there is an agreement or cooperation or conspiracy across mainstream media entities … And that could feed into some false and damaging perceptions, particularly on the right.”
Do you trust the mainstream media even a little bit?
Yep, it runs that risk all right. And Capt. Renault was shocked there was gambling at Rick’s.
The article even brought up the group’s potential similarity to JournoList, an electronic forum that brought together alleged journalists to coordinate efforts to support Barack Obama’s run for the presidency.
But even that reference is just to reassure readers, once again, that there’s nothing at all untoward about this weekly leftist colloquium.
“But a group of legal analysts and political commentators who are largely up front about their anti-Trump leanings sharing opinions and theories off the record isn’t the same as a bunch of journalists who profess to be non-partisan,” Khardori wrote.
Maybe, but even the lede paragraph to Khardori’s piece gives a different impression entirely:
“As the Jan. 6 committee was working on its bombshell investigation into the Capitol riot and President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the last election, committee staffers took some time out of their seemingly 24-hour jobs one day in 2022 to brief a group of lawyers and legal pundits on a Zoom call,” Khardori wrote.
“The people on the call weren’t affiliated with the investigation or the government. But they would have been familiar to anyone who watches cable news. They were some of the country’s most well-known legal and political commentators, and they were there to get insights into the committee’s work and learn about what to look for at the hearings.”
In other words, a kangaroo court, the personal weapon of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was feeding propaganda directly to influential media figures who would then spread it into the political discourse like a case of clap at a Burning Man festival.
But again, there’s nothing to see here.
Many conservatives and social media users weren’t buying that.
Anyone surprised that there is a group like this? ‘As I was reporting this story, I learned that some members of the group were understandably anxious about its publication. Trump has claimed that there is a legal conspiracy against him…’ https://t.co/ZhFYPQOhD9
— Byron York (@ByronYork) April 23, 2024
Of course there is a legal conspiracy against him. It’s called Lawfare and it’s been going on since the moment he came down the escalator.
— TheAuMan (@TheAuMan1) April 23, 2024
The article says Trump and his allies like to say he’s a victim of lawfare but the author assures us that that’s nonsense. They always have to take an absurd shot at Trump even when the story obviously uncovers incredible anti-Trump bias.
— Pancake Batter (@cmsdfwnbjv) April 23, 2024
“There is a risk, for instance, that the calls could breed groupthink or perhaps help dubious information spread, where it might then reach people watching the news.” Ya think!?
— PAO (@pao91855) April 23, 2024
No one who follows the establishment media regularly — especially the leftist network versions — will be shocked by the news Politico reported. But it is noteworthy to have it documented by such a customarily biased outlet.
Even more noteworthy, though, are the absurd lengths the article goes to pretend there’s absolutely nothing sinister about the blatant media manipulation the group represents.
Khardori even noted that of those involved who would speak to him, none would speak on the record. Is that the behavior of men and women who have nothing to hide? Who are doing something honest and above board?
The question answers itself.
Khardori called the group “the perfect emblem of today’s Trump-media-legal-industrial complex.” He may have said more than he intended.
It’s these people, or people very much like them, who brought us Bill Clinton and defended his disgraceful behavior in office. They brought us Barack Obama. And did their damnedest to bring us Hillary Clinton.
And now they’ve brought us Joe Biden and evidently want to keep him in the White House for the next four years.
Nope. There’s no conspiracy here. After all, the country has Politico’s word for it.
