The Trump Tweets

A storm has swept through the media howling for Trump's head because he referred to Morning Joe's co-anchor, Mika, and her alleged chin lift.  His words were unkind.  They were down at Mika's level and the question arises as to whether Trump should have made the remarks.

First let me say that I was a Morning Joe fan for years.  That's changed.  Morning Joe, at one time, tried to give a balanced view of political events.  He did that by inviting guests from both sides of the political spectrum.  He may have given Democrats a bit more space, but you could, if you waited, hear words supporting the other side.  No more.  Morning Joe is now no more balanced than Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews and the rest of the MSNBC team.  They are relentless in their attacks on Trump.

The question, however, is whether Trump should have attacked Mika.  Isn't that "punching down'?  In politics, isn't that what you shouldn't do?  And, anyway, why is Trump bothering to attack a "talk show"?  Aren't they beneath news programs?

A couple of points:  The general public is finding it almost impossible to distinguish between a talk show and a news program.  This can be seen in print media where the NY Times, once considered a newspaper of record, has become largely a dispenser of editorial content.  Indeed, I find that the NY Times does not hesitate to use their page 1 for editorial purposes.  Is it surprising then that the general public often takes the opinions of this kind of media to be the same as real news?

You and I may not view comments made on these talk shows as news, but I would guess that large portions of the public do.  For this reason I do not find it unreasonable for Trump to attack purveyors of this kind of "news".

The media is constantly changing.  We probably first became aware of this with the advent of TV.  Today it's talk shows.  Maybe Trump is right to fight Morning Joe back, just as though it were a legitimate news program.