Drew Holden compares the media's coverage of social distancing at the RNC vs. the March on Washington

As Twitchy reported, the mainstream media were beside themselves on the final night of the Republican National Convention after seeing the layout of chairs on the White House lawn for President Trump’s acceptance speech. They weren’t socially distancing, and maybe half were wearing masks. Also not socially distancing were the protesters who surrounded and harassed people like Sen. Rand Paul as they left the event. If we remember correctly, Trump even suggested calling the speech a protest, since the coronavirus apparently can’t spread at a protest, because the virus knows that systemic racism is a greater public health issue than COVID-19.

Here’s Drew Holden with another great thread on the media’s coverage of the RNC and Friday’s March on Washington, which had exponentially more people crammed together on the National Mall. Oh, but it was outdoors, so it was safe. But then again, Trump’s speech was outdoors. Oh well.

?THREAD?

The level of concern the media had for social distancing during the RNC at the White House vs. this weekend’s protests is…something.@politico found the RNC seating problematic enough to cover, but crickets about 50k people gathering in the midst of a pandemic. pic.twitter.com/q3Q954YCng

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

They weren’t alone, of course. @CBSNews and @weijia did the same thing. They mustered a lot of outrage about Trump’s lack of social distancing, but had no such concerns with the protest simultaneously taking place across the street or the march this weekend. pic.twitter.com/IqN0w9R6GS

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

You’ll be shocked to see @Maddow employ the same double standard. pic.twitter.com/dnngF5glpM

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

@BuzzFeedNews put on a relatively impressive showing.

No mention in the 50,000 person gathering of the fact that “DC rules prohibit the gathering of more than 50 people.”

Wonder why? pic.twitter.com/JmcL3oClQ1

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

But the real MVP here was @CNN.

They sent in their chief medical correspondent, @drsanjaygupta, to talk about the evils of the RNC’s “lack of social distancing.”

But this weekend’s match? Somehow it isn’t a problem, again, with 25x+ the number of attendees. pic.twitter.com/GfhQPeGMdZ

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

And it wasn’t just Dr. Gupta. The whole @CNN crew got involved.

Surely you’re familiar with @brianstelter? Very concerned about the RNC, but nothing on the protests (although he did find the time to take a jab at @TuckerCarlson). pic.twitter.com/FYGHBVwNTB

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

@Acosta was also very concerned about social distancing at the RNC.

But when it came to the March on Washington, Acosta’s only concern was why Trump wouldn’t answer his question. pic.twitter.com/uWMUsDWHan

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

I’ll stop here to note that it wasn’t just the March on Washington. There are protests – in DC and across the country – that ignore the guidelines we’re all supposed to live by all the time.

Not a peep from the concerned folks on the left and in the media about it. pic.twitter.com/RiPNMCO54m

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

Great reporting, NPR: “Amid Peaceful Protest, Crowd Surrounds Rand Paul After Trump Speech.” So those were mostly peaceful protesters who “surrounded” Paul and his wife.

Okay, back to @CNN. They put on a clinic.

Commentator @keithboykin was deeply troubled about the RNC. He didn’t find any time to express concern about the march. But he did have this vile comment about the First Lady. pic.twitter.com/vosb7dq1s3

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

I mean @CNN was laser focused about distancing. They had numerous experts on about the RNC, and didn’t even pretend to care as much about the march. pic.twitter.com/egypm6gkfn

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

Some of you may say that @jaketapper should be on this list, but he asked the question many others haven’t been willing to over the weekend on his program – reference to it below.

This thread is all about consistency: Tapper shows it. pic.twitter.com/XOAUNw7qbu

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

It wasn’t even just this weekend’s protests. @MSNBC summoned outrage over the RNC while feting activists in New York.

And for the BUT THE MASKS! crowd (more on them later), you’ll notice all of theirs are absent or around their chins. pic.twitter.com/nry9508QCY

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

You didn’t think that there would be a thread that didn’t feature @nytimes, did you? pic.twitter.com/DSVoqa85bX

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

And we had Democrats who were very interested in exactly one episode of potential social distancing.

Here’s @AndrewYang and @ChrisMurphyCT.

Nothing from either about the march or other protests. pic.twitter.com/8D2zDKyTvM

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

Here’s @Deb4CongressNM, who only seems interested in the fact that “we’re in the middle of a deadly pandemic” when it can score cheap political points. pic.twitter.com/1GieAPbXXu

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

There were the usual suspects of galaxy brain blue checks who feigned outrage for one and ignored the other.

I’m coming to rely on @Amy_Siskind for a spot on these threads, here encouraging more protesting across the country amid a global pandemic. pic.twitter.com/VgPyLpJWXT

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

It wouldn’t be a list if @JRubinBlogger wasn’t on it. Hers might be my favorite. pic.twitter.com/toWcYY0X6Q

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

Time and patience are running thin, so we’re doubling up. Here you’ve got @HRC and @Morning_Joe (who even had Al Sharpton on the program!) pic.twitter.com/v8S47qjW5c

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

And there were plenty of folks who were only interested in the RNC and were entirely silent about the march and other weekend protests.

Here we have:@atrupar @WajahatAli @JuddLegum pic.twitter.com/WNiosMq7oj

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

Look, this isn’t hard. We should have one set of rules: does social distancing matter or does it not?

If it matters, it matters for everyone – whether it’s a political cause you agree with or not.

If you apply another standard, you’re just full of shit. End of story.

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

And as I said over the weekend, the BUT THE MASKS! crowd are missing the point.

Distancing is still required. For everyone. In public and in private. For small businesses facing closure. For religious services. Funerals. Everyone.

Except protestors.

And that’s bullshit. https://t.co/t9FESMmYzX

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

And this keeps happening! I talked to @ddiamond at @Politico about this phenomenon **in June** and we’re still seeing the same double standards applied. https://t.co/SlRZfOepzb

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 31, 2020

@CNN takes the cake, though. They managed to contradict themselves on-air at the same time.
Note the closed caption, too…? pic.twitter.com/bJEFMyzIms

— Scott (@scottyd121) August 31, 2020

Folks are tired of the BS. And will vote accordingly.

— deb4liberty (@deb4liberty) August 31, 2020

Related:

Journos BUSTED not wearing masks or following social distancing guidelines at the White House https://t.co/Fgp2sMTnYG

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) August 28, 2020