During the 2012 presidential campaign, then-President Barack Obama made these infamous comments about a previous claim from Mitt Romney:
The Democrats, along with the media, took it from there and mocked Romney’s comments mercilessly. As Drew Holden exposed in another great thread, that mockery has aged poorly:
🧵THREAD🧵
You may remember that President Obama ridiculed Mitt Romney for suggesting Russia was the US’s top geopolitical foe in 2012.
But you may’ve forgotten how the media ran with Obama’s zinger as if they were his comms team.
It feels like a good day to revisit.⤵️
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
Not that the MSM is capable of being shamed, but the level of hackery they achieved in order to carry Obama/Biden & the Dems’ water to help mock Romney was an absolute clown parade of journalistic malpractice:
The original comment dates back to a @CNN interview where @wolfblitzer was incredulous that Romney would think Russia was our greatest geopolitical foe.
CNN would even fact-check this claim after President Obama’s debate zinger. pic.twitter.com/y6Uuj9BRKe
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
And of course the rest of the media went into full “SQUEE!” mode to cheer Obama’s supposed zinger on Romney:
Obama’s comment really set off a tidal wave of misplaced media mockery.
The idea that Obama’s attack was a “mic drop” or “the best line of the 3 debates” hasn’t aged well, methinks.
But journalists don’t root for a side, right, @ChrisCillizza? pic.twitter.com/JiLd8Y3Osl
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
But CNN was just the tip of the iceberg.@nytimes said that Romney’s “adversarial view” has stirred debate and drawn “raised eyebrows” from across the political spectrum from many who “suggested that Mr. Romney was misguidedly stuck in a Cold War mind-set.” pic.twitter.com/yt7OXeHkbV
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
@nytimes’s editorial page published a piece that argued that Romney’s “comments display either a shocking lack of knowledge about international affairs or just craven politics. Either way, they are reckless and unworthy of a major presidential contender.”
Ooof. pic.twitter.com/o0JkMHgUaa
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
The “pundits” also beclowned themselves:
Speaking of the Times, I wish I were making this up, but in response to Romney’s tough talk on Russia, @tomfriedman suggested that Romney had learned his foreign policy from “the International House of Pancakes” more commonly known as IHOP. pic.twitter.com/DYQ2kLNWHL
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
Speaking of IHOP, the media takes have become flatter than pancakes as time has proven them so very wrong.
After Romney’s initial comments, @washingtonpost ran a straight news piece asking “Is Russia still America’s bogeyman?” calling Romney’s comments “anachronistic, if not stuck in the Cold War.”
Probably one they’d like back. pic.twitter.com/Vdhh0P2vSd
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
Perhaps the best take came from @GlennKesslerWP, who gave Romney two Pinocchios for his tough comments and said “The Russians may be tough negotiators, but there’s nothing wrong with that.” (!!) pic.twitter.com/y7LRi4Rp6W
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
@washingtonpost and @GlennKesslerWP even did a follow up on when Putin took over Crimea in 2014.
Was the finding that the original mocking was undeserved?
No. Of course not. It was simply that the “planned zinger” “probably seemed like a clever idea at the time.” pic.twitter.com/IosB3rjYsW
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
This headline from @msnbc presented without comment. pic.twitter.com/13vlkuPZSn
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
I know I can always count on @HuffPost to provide an overconfident take that will eventually prove disastrously inaccurate.
They had a few in this case, including a video of Paul Ryan who had defended “Romney’s misguided declaration” on Russia.
Doesn’t seem “misguided” anymore. pic.twitter.com/S7L44Yzch6
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
Look at how @politico frames the opening of this piece on Biden doubling down on Obama’s zinger: “Biden assailed Mitt Romney as ‘fundamentally wrong’ and ‘totally out of touch’ on foreign policy…contrasting that to a record of President Barack Obama’s tough but right choices.” pic.twitter.com/62yvqKHXSw
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
Here’s @ABC alleging that Romney’s comments amounted to a “Cold-War style assertion” before going on to credit Russia for having “a sense of humor” about Secretary of State Clinton’s famous “reset” buttons. pic.twitter.com/AwYcDDSsaZ
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
And of course, a lot of other places wrote whole pieces about Obama’s cool zinger, even if, in retrospect, his assertion was ridiculous.
I think you guys are getting the picture but if not here’s more examples from: @Salon, @thedailybeast & @thehill. pic.twitter.com/lUvz7HmCiO
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
And beyond the media there were a few gems that I couldn’t leave out.
I know I already mentioned HuffPost but Colin Powell was confidently and incredibly wrong on this (and seemingly every other) foreign policy issue. pic.twitter.com/4Lh9Fgnv39
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
And we can’t talk about being horrendously wrong without John Kerry entering the chat:
@JohnKerry had probably the most ridiculous assertion “Mitt Romney talks like he’s only seen Russia by watching Rocky IV” but the real cherry on top is this not-a-joke image was designed by the Obama campaign’s account dedicated to “debunking myths” @OFATruthTeam. pic.twitter.com/ipRYQDXN8J
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
“If you also loved that line, retweet this!” @dccc pic.twitter.com/sIHE9V8UZk
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
Yep, they sure nailed that one! *Eye roll*
@TheDemocrats said that Romney “doesn’t seem to realize it’s the 21st century,” a take that has aged like milk. pic.twitter.com/XTW0qB38ES
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
I know that there have been some mea culpa’s and admissions that Romney was right all along, given Russia’s recent actions in Ukraine.
But don’t lose sight of not just how bad but how openly partisan the coverage here was, nearly a decade ago.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
While I’m of the opinion that the corporate press has grown increasingly partisan, it obviously isn’t a new phenomenon.
Before taking sides in the next political squabble, perhaps the press should reflect on how confidently wrong they were about Romney, Obama and Russia.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
Being confidently wrong is what much of the media does best.
Your generous support helps me relive awful media cycles so that you don’t have to. Now accepting tips via Venmo and Bitcoin by following this link, available through twitter’s mobile app. pic.twitter.com/ohLXNbWpP2
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 23, 2022
Another great thread!
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