All in Media on Trump

Intel chiefs refute reports of pressure to intervene

Intel chiefs refute reports of pressure to intervene

Tatiana Prophet
Media on Trump, Unmask the Bias

Rogers and Coats state they were never pressured to act inappropriately, but most media focus on refusal to give details

MEDIA CRITIQUE
By Tatiana Prophet

The burden of proof in the current climate of Washington, D.C., appears to be on those accused by anonymous sources.

"Coats and Rogers refuse to say if Trump asked them to sway Russia probe," wrote Politico.

"Coats, Rogers Refuse to Discuss Trump Requests on Comey, Russia," wrote U.S. News.

"Intelligence Officials Sidestep Senate Questions on Trump and Russia," wrote The New York Times.

Witness the headlines after Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Admiral Mike Rogers answered questions regarding an anonymously sourced Washington Post article stating that President Donald Trump had contacted them to minimize or lay off the investigation into collusion between his presidential campaign and the Russian government with respect to the 2016 election.

The bias is unmistakable here. Remember on May 3, when James Comey testified before the same body? He refused to answer literally dozens of questions about investigations into Senator Clinton as well as the Russia investigation. Was that the substantive takeaway from the event? No, it was that Comey had felt "mildly nauseous" that he may have affected the Presidential election. And that was after saying he would make his revelation about the Anthony Weiner laptop, and not about any investigation into Russian interference in the election, all over again.

Trump in Europe: ‘The shove heard round the world’

Trump in Europe: ‘The shove heard round the world’

Tatiana Prophet
Media on Trump

Viral 'shove' was not at photo op at all

Media Critique
By TATIANA PROPHET

The major media’s biggest takeaway from the European leg of President Donald Trump’s first foreign trip was that he shoved the prime minister of Montenegro to get to the front of the group photo.

Except the only thing is, it wasn't anywhere near a photo op when he shoved, or pushed aside, the prime minister of Montenegro. A review of the raw video reveals that the “shove” took place during an informal tour of the building, well after the group photo. The fact that they are standing next to a background of distinctive steel beams and windows backs this up. At this point, Trump pushed past Dusko Markovic to get closer to Jens Stoltenberg, general secretary of NATO, who was speaking and pointing to the architecture of the new building.

Crowdgate II: Alternative facts from The New York Times

Crowdgate II: Alternative facts from The New York Times

Tatiana Prophet
Media on Trump

By TATIANA PROPHET

All the news that's fit to print. And some school yard taunts, as well.

On Wednesday, the Times Sports Twitter account tweeted a photo comparison of the crowd size for the New England Patriots' visit to the Trump White House versus the 2015 visit to the Obama White House. While both photos were taken on the steps overlooking the South Lawn, the comparison was wrong; there were 40 support staff members on the steps in 2015, and only players and management in 2017. The tweet was retweeted more than 51,000 times, and remains up. But it's now clear that the Times jumped the gun in its eagerness to perhaps duplicate that magical image from the inauguration that garnered so much derision for the new president.

Trump's angry weekend: CNN? Or People magazine?

Trump's angry weekend: CNN? Or People magazine?

Tatiana Prophet
Media on Trump

The headlines were all over the web on Sunday: Trump explodes in anger at his staff, “sources” said, over Jeff Sessions' recusal from the Russia investigation as well as a number of other frustrating issues.

The story, which metastasized to every major outlet here and across the pond, appears to have originated on Saturday with this CNN report, "Trump angry and frustrated at staff over Sessions fallout."

"Nobody has seen him that upset," CNN quotes an anonymous source as saying. Trump himself is even "quoted" in the story, as relayed to CNN by "another source,” according to whom the president said: “The staff fumbled.”

Did John McCain say Trump was dictator-like?

Did John McCain say Trump was dictator-like?

Tatiana Prophet
Media on Trump

John McCain has been getting a lot of attention lately as a senior voice of sensible opposition within President Trump's own party.

He spoke on Friday at the Munich Security Conference, where he said the founders of the conference "would be alarmed by an increasing turn away from universal values and toward old ties of blood and race and sectarianism.” In an analysis, Aaron Blake of The Washington Post was certain that this and other concerns were all directed at Trump, even though McCain never named him. When I watched it, I concluded he was speaking not only of Trump, but also of Vladimir Putin and his attempt to undermine the hegemony of the west.

Media: Trump cites (fake) attack in Sweden

Media: Trump cites (fake) attack in Sweden

Tatiana Prophet
Media on Trump

It was a perfect "gotcha" moment. A mere two weeks after Trump senior adviser Kelly Anne Conway cited a false terrorist attack in Bowling Green, Ky., and White House spokesman Sean Spicer erroneously slipped Atlanta into a list of places that had experienced a terror attack from foreign-born perpetrators, Donald Trump appeared to be going for a hat trick.