As we told you earlier, Politico’s Jack Shafer has written a fun new piece — ripped to shreds by Christina Pushaw — all about why it’s a bad thing that Republicans are starting to push back against an openly very hostile mainstream media and shunning interviews with the journalists who hate them.
"If you stop talking to us, we'll turn on you, start smearing you and will only say bad things about you"
A series pic.twitter.com/1lA2mBWhoF
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) July 28, 2022
Honestly, all we really have to say in response is “What took the Republican Party so dang long?”
I'm definitely a person whose position on this has changed (perhaps 'crystallized and hardened' is better) over the years. I just don't think any Republican candidate should interact with the MSM anymore, unless you're running some reverse-bank-shot gen-elex play in a blue state.
— Jeff B. is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) July 26, 2022
If anything, Republicans are just taking a cue from the Democratic Party on this:
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I say this as somebody who has tried repeatedly to get a one-on-one interview with Joe Biden. He won’t do it. And there’s no convening power on planet earth that could compel him to do an interview that his advisers deem to be unsafe. This is of course true of many politicians.
— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) July 28, 2022
I was thinking about this during the "oh, no, Republican candidates aren't talking to the MSM anymore" controversy of recent days… https://t.co/PGHjAYshrH
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) July 28, 2022
And — wouldn’t you know it? — here is what Democrats got up to just today:
A heads up to the Hill press corps. Senate democrats have barred reporters from staking out the room in which they’re discussing the reconciliation package. So dont waste your time going!
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) July 28, 2022
Senate Democrats are shutting out reporters? Is that not a direct attack on our very democracy???
So much for transparency and accountability. Freedom of the Press? Nah, not so much. https://t.co/tZxRAZzPDI
— jay allen (@jimjo199) July 28, 2022
Do the American people not deserve to know?
This is killing democracy! https://t.co/K2WIsuKlbW— @pidten (@pidten) July 28, 2022
https://twitter.com/unvaxxedistan/status/1552661482210484225
Wow… democrats destroyed the economy and now are waging a war on the free press. CHILLING! https://t.co/NXYjKkTLdw
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) July 28, 2022
Well, for what it’s worth, the free press doesn’t seem to mind all that much:
Is it that stupid room on the ninth floor of Hart?
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) July 28, 2022
Yup
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) July 28, 2022
service journalism
— Annie Karni (@anniekarni) July 28, 2022
When Republicans ice out liberal journalists, it’s a travesty, a slap in the face of the First Amendment.
When Democrats ice out liberal journalists, it’s just doing the journalists a favor.
Isn’t it fascinating how that works?
GOP officials/candidates see no upside of doing interviews, and few Democratic officials/candidates suffer any real consequences for declining to do real sit-down interviews with hard questions…
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) July 28, 2022
Hey, as long as the journalists don’t mind, Democrats have no reason to agree to take hard questions.
Looking forward to the threats of freezing out the press! https://t.co/pGOpzoaLbD
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) July 28, 2022
The journos will just sit there and take it and beg for more.
I believe it was yesterday the corporate press talking point was the great threat coming from the GOP not talking to the press.
Wonder whats up today? https://t.co/HRM3lHMh0h
— Small Gov Lizard (@smallgovlizard) July 28, 2022
Can we except tweets from @jonathanchait on how this will lead to noxious governance or nah? https://t.co/DoLPgL2oah
— Hammerjack (@Hammerjack90) July 28, 2022
We wouldn’t hold our breath if we were you.
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