If you’re wondering why your TV’s been screaming Trump’s name for the past six weeks, look no further than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of the former President. But it’s not the trial we should be watching, it’s the media circus surrounding it, catering mostly and disproportionately to anti-Trump sentiments – and guess who’s not happy about it? This guy, and likely many others like me. Trump or no Trump, the blatant weapons grade media bias on display here is a troubling affront to not just impartial reporting, but basic decency.
ABC, CBS, and NBC’s news shows have turned this trial into a prime-time spectacle. Ten hours of coverage have been devoted to picking apart Trump’s alleged missteps, and gleefully pushing the narrative that paints him as guilty before a verdict is even in sight. Meanwhile, they barely gave a nod to the corruption scandal involving Democratic Senator Robert Menendez. Does anyone smell an agenda here?
And while these networks cater to the anti-Trump mob, the citizens who have only had the chance to see the case through they eyes of the liberal media are left in the dark. They’ve been force-fed the belief that this is all standard procedure. But when did it become standard procedure to ignore a prosecutor’s political affiliations in a politically charged case? D.A. Alvin Bragg has been barely acknowledged as a Democrat in the media coverage, while lead prosecutor Matthew Colangelo’s connections to Joe Biden’s Justice Department have been ignored.
Let’s not even get started on how charged terms like “criminal” and “felony” have been thrown around generously, adding undeserved weight to the charges against Trump. And can we talk about how the chief accuser’s previous conviction for perjury has been conveniently brushed aside? A key weakness in the prosecution’s case has been all but erased.
Judge Juan Merchan, who presides over the case, despite donations to Biden and the “Stop Republicans” group has been presented as an unbiased authority. His connections to politics overlooked in the coverage, conveniently disguising his bias.
Then there’s the sensationalism. The details of Trump’s extramarital affairs, which have almost nothing to do with the actual charges, yet these spicy tidbits have been served up again and again. As if equating Trump’s personal scandals to actual illegal activities designed to damn his character.
I’m not saying that Trump is innocent – the jury is still out on that. What I am saying is that, in order to keep the democratic process clean and fair, we need to be diligent about exposing and rejecting media bias. We need to question why major networks are trying to influence public opinion by detailing more about Trump’s private life than discussing the real matters at hand.
Imagine if the media’s role was really about presenting the facts, instead of shaping public opinion. Maybe then, we’d have all had a much better understanding of what this trial was about. Instead of a excessively publicized prosecution, we got six weeks of unabashed Trump bashing. Much as it was an election-year goodie bag for the Democrats, it was also a clear demonstration of the extent of network bias that still exists.
Next time, I’ll take the facts, hold the bias please – and I’ll decide for myself who’s really on trial here.
