President Joe Biden attacks the media far less than his predecessor does. A cautious proponent of the free press and its vital role in a healthy republic, Biden reiterated in a May statement that “journalism is not a crime—it is fundamental to a free society.” The President added “we must all continue to support a free press that is essential to our democracy.”
But that general respect doesn’t mean the Biden-Harris campaign won’t cry out “fake news!” at times, just like former President Donald Trump so often does. (Trump has accused the press of being an “enemy of the American people.”)
The recent narrative promulgated by the New York Times — a story distancing Trump from his critical role in the abortion fight — drew a “fake news” rebuke from the Biden-Harris team. The story, which in the Biden team’s view diverges starkly from reality, ascribes to Trump a level of abortion issue wiggle room that Biden-Harris says doesn’t exist.
Biden-Harris HQ, the campaign’s rapid response social media team, made a diptych of the Times article paired with video of Trump claiming credit for hobbling Americans’ reproductive rights.
At the same time the @nytimes is running a headline claiming Trump is being “vague” on abortion, Trump is running ads taking total credit for ending a woman’s right to choose pic.twitter.com/P3b0kp7K5Y
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) November 14, 2023
The Times — one of Trump’s many bêtes noir — proposes in its sub-headline that “Trump seems less vulnerable on abortion than other Republicans.” (The premise is that abortion bans — recent losers on multiple state level ballots — are also a losing pitch for GOP politicians who promote the bans.)
The Biden-Harris campaign points out that the Times, which says Trump’s “vague statements on [abortion] may give him some leeway with voters,” ignores the fact that Trump has been loudly claiming credit for the reduction of reproductive rights in America and for killing Roe v. Wade.
If Trump issues tactical ideas about GOP pols dying on the wrong hill with abortion as a key issue, Biden-Harris asserts, that is not a “vague statement” but merely a pragmatic one.
It doesn’t change the fact that Trump is bragging about being the chief catalyst in getting Roe overturned — or that the former President has been bragging about it since it happened, even running ads to claim credit for the SCOTUS decision in Dobbs.
