NBC anchorman Lester Holt interviewed President Joe Biden on the first day of the Republican convention. In the past, that would be seen as impolite, for one party's nominee to intrude on the other party's convention week. That's why NBC offered that deal to Donald Trump – should he choose to accept it.
Holt's interview wasn't a sappy softball interview, but the versions that aired on "NBC Nightly News" and "Today" were carefully emptied of Biden's anger. Holt's evening introduction said the interview "comes as President Biden decries political violence, but [he's] not backing down in his characterization of former President Trump."
Biden clearly wasn't interested in "lowering the temperature" after Trump was shot. He's worried that Democrats still want to force him into quitting the race. You're left with whirling hypocrisy. As NBC's Peter Alexander tried to explain it, the challenge is "how sharply he can make the case against Donald Trump that he is a threat to democracy, while still casting himself as a calming force."
Trump will kill democracy, but have a nice day?
To his credit, Holt focused on Biden's fierce words, that he told his supporters before the shooting that Trump was an "existential threat" and they should put Trump in the "bull's-eye." Biden said it was a mistake, and then launched into an attack on Trump, saying he had many lies in the debate and that "I'm not the guy who said I want to be a dictator on Day One."
That would be a lie. When Sean Hannity asked if Trump would be a dictator (as Democrats claim), he joked, "Only on Day One." Holt didn't do any "fact-checking in real time," even as sites like PolitiFact softly said Biden was "missing context" here and there.
Despite these smears, Alexander's story on "Today" touted Biden lamenting the ugliness of the political climate, decrying "big Trump signs saying 'F Biden' and a little kid standing there putting up his middle finger. That's the kind of stuff that's just inflammatory and a kind of viciousness."
That's inflammatory and vicious? And saying Trump is an "existential threat" to America is not?
But the most shameless NBC omission was Biden's bitter outbursts at Holt and at the press:
"Why don't you guys ever talk about the 18 to 28 lies he told? Where are you on this? Why does the press never talk about that?" He leaned in at Holt: "Twenty-eight times confirmed that he lied in that debate …. Seriously, you won't answer the question, but why won't the press talk about all the lies that he has told?"
Holt sheepishly said, "We've reported many of the issues." Biden said, "No, you haven't." To assert that the media didn't trash Trump for "lies" in the debate strongly suggests you didn't watch them at all. Then when Holt noted Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) attacked Biden, he shot back, "What's with you guys? Come on, man!"
Once again, Biden obviously wants the "bull's-eye" of press attention on Trump, not on him. But there are rougher questions Biden could receive. I'd try this: "At the debate, you mocked Trump as a convicted felon, but during these weeks after the debate, your son Hunter has been a close adviser to you, and he is also a convicted felon. So why do you think you can trash-talk Trump as a felon when your own top adviser is a convicted felon?"
Imagine the volcanic Biden outburst at a real hardball. This interview may have helped with Democrats, but it underlines that when Biden doesn't look like a feeble bumbler, he often looks like an egotistical, mean-spirited, groin-kicking jerk.
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