Mark Halperin:
This week, a few things happened that made me angry, annoyed, and frustrated. After 2016, when the press inadvertently helped Donald Trump win by covering him so unfairly, I urged people to think through the mistakes. The same happened in 2020, and again in 2024 when Trump won, ironically, aided by a liberal press determined to stop him.
Trump should be covered tough, aggressively—but fairly. Today, two prominent instances highlight the media’s clear anti-Trump, anti-MAGA bias. But what really prompted me was a conversation with someone outside the media—what journalists call a civilian. I was at a kid’s birthday party this weekend, talking with another dad who’s not involved in journalism or politics. He asked me what civilians often do: “Why is the media so biased? Do media people realize they’re biased?”
That’s hard to answer. When I talk to my colleagues, they make excuses, saying, “Well, we’re biased towards controversy,” and so forth. It’s true Trump sometimes isn’t scrutinized enough on certain issues. But if you don’t like Trump and think the press goes easy on him, you should want the dominant media’s credibility restored. That requires acknowledging past mistakes, thinking how to improve, and then actually changing. This week, I saw no soul-searching or acknowledgment.
A striking example happened over the weekend when Senator Cory Booker spoke to California Democrats. To acknowledge the crowd, Booker clutched his heart emotionally and then raised his right arm. Normally, I’d consider this gesture innocent enthusiasm. But last year, Elon Musk made exactly the same gesture—hand on heart, raised arm—and faced days of media outrage accusing him of a Nazi salute. Here’s the Vox headline at the time: “Elon Musk Doesn’t Deserve the Benefit of the Doubt—Nazi Trolling Exposes Collapse of America’s Guardrails.”
It was absurd then—ridiculous to suggest Musk sent secret Nazi signals—but because Musk supported Trump, he faced intense accusations. Yet this week, when Cory Booker did exactly the same thing, conservatives pointed out the hypocrisy on social media, but mainstream outlets ignored it completely.
Forbes asked Booker’s spokesperson why Booker’s identical gesture caused no controversy. She responded: “Booker was obviously just waving. Anyone comparing it to Musk is operating in bad faith. The differences are obvious to anyone without an agenda.”
That’s 17 Pinocchios. Watch the gestures side-by-side: Booker and Musk both clutch their hearts and raise their arms identically. Neither intended a Nazi salute. But one (Musk), associated with Trump, faced massive controversy; the other (Booker), a Democrat, nothing. It’s a perfect example of unfair media bias.
Another egregious media failure this week involves the man in Colorado accused of firebombing demonstrators rallying for the Israeli hostages in Gaza. Clearly, the anti-Semitic nature of the attack was heavily covered, as it should have been. But most media ignored a critical fact: the accused attacker was in the United States illegally.
You can debate whether Biden or Trump bears responsibility for his illegal status. Regardless, this is another case where media largely ignored the immigration angle. Listen to how it was covered:
News clips:
“Suspect faces attempted murder and hate crime charges for firebombing demonstrators.”
“Hate crime charges for using a makeshift flamethrower—an attack planned for over a year.”
“Our hearts go out to the victims of the targeted terror attack in Boulder. At least eight were injured.”
Mark Halperin:
All true—but nowhere highlighting that, for many Americans, the critical outrage is that the attacker was here illegally. Trump spotlighted crimes by illegal immigrants in 2015 and 2016, but the media ignored the victims’ families. They weren’t featured on “The View” or profiled sympathetically in the press. Yet, for tens of millions of Americans, crimes by illegal immigrants are the most devastating example of an open border.
Some claim illegal immigrants commit crimes at lower rates. Maybe, maybe not—but that’s irrelevant. Even one victim is too many. It’s not unfair or stigmatizing to highlight illegal status; what’s unfair is media coverage refusing to acknowledge this issue matters deeply to millions of Americans.
Yes, some coverage mentioned his illegal status, but not nearly enough. It should have been front and center alongside the anti-Semitic nature of the attack.
