CNN's Jeffrey Toobin does penance, regrets the role he played in covering the campaign

Hillary superfan Peter Daou has been the loudest of voices complaining of misogyny running rampant among the mainstream media during the 2016 election. He never tires of telling how Hillary Clinton was abused by the press, who essentially handed the election to Donald Trump.

Of course, the press were also the ones continually telling the public that Clinton’s chances of winning hovered somewhere north of 90 percent, so if it was the media’s goal to buoy Trump with their reporting, they were doing a horrible job.

Nevertheless, CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin recently appeared on comedian Larry Wilmore’s “Black on the Air” podcast and said he regrets his performance during the 2016 campaign. (You might remember Wilmore as the former Comedy Central host who performed at Barack Obama’s final White House Correspondents Dinner appearance.)

Wow. Jeffrey Toobin says, ‘I regret my role’ in false equivalence coverage of HRC during the 2016 campaign. https://t.co/mRJOkzzlGL Doesn't happen often.

— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) January 29, 2018

“So long as President Trump continues disgracing the Oval Office,” writes The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple, “thoughtful people will probe their own role in helping him get there,” and Toobin is apparently one of those thoughtful people who now regrets hindering Clinton’s chances:

“And I hold myself somewhat responsible for that,” continued Toobin, a steady presence on CNN since 2002. “I think there was a lot of false equivalence in the 2016 campaign. That every time we said something, pointed out something about Donald Trump — whether it was his business interests, or grab ’em by the p–––y, we felt like, ‘Oh, we gotta, like, talk about — we gotta say something bad about Hillary.’ And I think it led to a sense of false equivalence that was misleading, and I regret my role in doing that.”

…

Wilmore told Toobin, “Well, America says, ‘Apology accepted.’”

On one hand, I suppose it's progress that a reporter is admitting this and self-reflecting. On the other, many people were yelling about this in real time. It was so obvious and an inexcusable failure of one of the most basic journalistic duties. No apology can make up for it. https://t.co/8Mea4asTik

— Heather Lynn Weaver (@HeatherWeaverDC) January 29, 2018

This American doesn't say "apology accepted." Plenty of people were pointing out the problem at the time and it was completely ignored. https://t.co/HiTNfu3oah

— gary strauss (@_dziga_) January 29, 2018

Too f**kin late bruh. All of you bruhs- too f**in late. https://t.co/rWbMhNtAGX

— @JulieZebrak (@JulieZebrak) January 29, 2018

When someone makes an apology for a misdeed that matters to you, and your reply is "too late!" what you’re saying is: history has concluded. https://t.co/HMNRq9eO7R

— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) January 29, 2018

Here’s a shocking thought: not everyone believes there was a “false equivalence” between Trump’s vulgar comments to Billy Bush in 2005 and Clinton’s ongoing FBI investigation.

Hell, a lot of us still have questions about Benghazi that the press won’t touch with a 10-foot pole now that they don’t have to. And doesn’t any reporter feel compelled to check in on Bryan “Plead the Fifth” Pagliano, Hillary’s IT guy who ended up blowing off congressional subpoenas to appear before the House Oversight Committee?

Sorry … we forgot — the election’s over and it’s time for silent reflection and regret.