the left-wing media gets it wrong again

[hatsoff]

Today we saw a bunch of articles, for instance on Vox and CNBC, and even arguably the New York Times, where the President was criticized for calling choke-holds "innocent" and "perfect" in a FoxNews interview with Harris Faulkner.  There's only one problem  He didn't!  Rather, he was trying to make the point that the concept of banning choke-holds sounds innocent and perfect at first blush, but upon closer inspection (according to him) it turns out to be not so cut-and-dry.

This is just another example of why I can't stand the news anymore.  It's not just that the media is biased.  I could handle that, I think.  It's that the media is flat-out wrong.  Not only did they completely misinterpret the President, they even got the transcript wrong.  These journalists are spreading misinformation, and they don't seem to care.

The irony here is that the FoxNews interview is indeed newsworthy, and damaging to President Trump, for an entirely different reason:  It showcases his utter inarticulateness and inability to follow a coherent line of thought.  Consider the following excerpt from the interview, which I carefully transcribed myself.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  So the choke-hold thing is good because, to talk about, because off the cuff it would sound like, absolutely, but if you're thinking about it, then you realize maybe there is a bad fight, and the officer gets somebody in a position that's a very tough position.

FAULKNER (INTERRUPTING):  So you say it's a sliding scale depending on what the circumstances are.

PRESIDENT TRUMP (INTERRUPTING):  I think you have to probably [inaudible].

FAULKNER:  Do you want to be in that conversation?  Are you in that conversation?

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I really am, and I think the concept of choke-hold sounds so innocent, so perfect, and then you realize, if it's a one-on-one, now if it’s two-on-one, that's a little bit of a different story, depending, depending on the toughness and strength, you know we're talking about toughness and strength.  We are talking.  There's a physical thing here also.

Forget about the content of what he's saying, and just look at the way he says it.  That is surely newsworthy indeed.

[lapwing]

What seems newsworthy is that Trump here is shown to be unintelligible. It's not exactly Abraham Lincoln is it!

Also it can be in a political leader's interests to undermine the integrity of the press.

[bskeptic]

Luckily, Trump is competing against Biden. So it's probably OK to have some moments where he isn't especially eloquent.

[Mammal]

One of his latest tweets:
"Mail-In Voting, unless changed by the courts, will lead to the most CORRUPT ELECTION in our Nation's History! #RIGGEDELECTION".

Translated it means the Russians can't electronically hack and manipulate the outcome like the previous one, or like Brexit. #justsaying. LOL.

Biden will have a black female VP running mate due to take over as POTUS. #blm.

[Paterfamilia]

What seems newsworthy is that Trump here is shown to be unintelligible. It's not exactly Abraham Lincoln is it!

Also it can be in a political leader's interests to undermine the integrity of the press.

Undermine the integrity of the press?  You’ve got to be joking.

This press has zero integrity, with a few exceptions.  You can’t “undermine” zero.  Nobody believes them, however much they delight in the lies being told.

[lapwing]

Seems to be working!

[kurros]

...The irony here is that the FoxNews interview is indeed newsworthy, and damaging to President Trump, for an entirely different reason:  It showcases his utter inarticulateness and inability to follow a coherent line of thought...

In fairness this does make it rather difficult for the media to understand what he is saying and get the story right . So maybe indeed it works out well for him to be completely incoherent, when he is in the business of trying to undermine the media. No matter what he says he can say they are lying, because no one ever knows what he really meant.