If this were a typical presidential campaign, Donald Trump’s campaign J.D. Vance selection as his running mate on the Republican ticket would likely have dominated media discussions for a week or two.
This is not a typical presidential campaign.
On Monday, that choice was just part of the mix. On the opening day of the Republican convention, two days after a assassination attempt Regarding Trump, news organizations grappled with several major stories and grappled with the uncertainty of whether political violence would change the tone of their coverage.
Will a volume reduction about the political combat that some, including President Joe Biden, called for after Saturday’s shooting was evident in media outlets that many say are alive for the fight?
Coming from a man known for his understanding of political theater, Trump’s launch of Vance’s selection on Monday afternoon was low-key. First, news organizations were informed that two men thought to be on their short list – Florida Senator Marco Rubio and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum – were told they had not been chosen.
Shortly afterward, Trump announced the Ohio senator’s selection in a post on his Truth Social channel. Vance was later seen on the floor of the Republican Party convention in Milwaukee, accepting congratulatory handshakes and hugs.
When speaking to politicians at the convention, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posed the question to some interviewees: How would the assassination attempt change the tone of the Republican meeting?
There was an obvious sadness, responded U.S. Senator Katie Britt. But the conversation then turned to an accusation against the media.
“I really wish the media would do a better job of covering this when we work together,” Britt said.
There was a bitter exchange earlier between the former president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and MSNBC reporter Jacob Soboroff on the convention floor when the reporter asked for details about what Trump’s father would do on the issue of immigration.
“I expect nothing less from you clowns today,” Trump said. “Even 48 hours later, you couldn’t wait. You couldn’t wait with your lies and your nonsense. So get out of here.
It was a busy and strange day for MSNBC. The network pre-empted its opinion programming on Sunday for a simulcast of NBC News Now’s straight news coverage of the assassination attempt.
But it was noticed on Monday when MSNBC did not air its show “Morning Joe,” which is often filled with anti-Trump comments from the husband-and-wife team of Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, and their colleagues. The net denied a CNN report that executives were concerned that someone on the show would make an inappropriate comment and said “Morning Joe” would be back on Tuesday.
It didn’t take long for MSNBC’s opinionated programming to return on Monday.
The network opened coverage of the convention with Rachel Maddow reciting a long list of unflattering things Vance said about Trump during the former president’s early years in politics. The network’s anchor team of five women — Maddow, Joy Reid, Jen Psaki, Nicolle Wallace and Alex Wagner — attacked Vance’s views on abortion.
“JD Vance’s pick is telling women, go to hell,” Reid said.
On Fox News Channel, Brit Hume predicted that Vance would “take on” Vice President Kamala Harris in a debate. Jessica Tarlov and Greg Gutfeld argued over which party was more guilty of inflammatory rhetoric.
Both NBC and MSNBC set aside 20 minutes of programming at 9 p.m. ET to air an interview Lester Holt conducted with President Biden earlier in the day — one where the anchor was forced to rework his list of questions since was scheduled last week.
Holt asked Biden about his phone call with Trump after the shooting and confronted the president about whether a statement he made last week was too provocative. Biden told donors that after the presidential debate, “it’s time to put Trump on target” and said Monday that was a mistake. Holt asked about Vance’s selection and a judge’s decision Monday to dismiss a case against Trump for obtaining confidential documents.
Questions about whether or not Biden would stay in the race after a poor debate performance against Trump — which completely dominated last week’s news cycle — only emerged more than halfway through the interview.
Even so, the president expressed annoyance, suggesting that the spotlight should be on Trump for things the Republican said in the debate that were false. He disputed Holt’s statement that Trump had been criticized for false comments.
“One day, come talk to me about what we should be talking about — the issues,” Biden told Holt.
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David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him on http://twitter.com/dbauder.
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