Veteran journalist and associate editor of the Washington Post Bob Woodward appeared on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday to discuss Woodward’s releasing the audio of previous interviews with former President Donald Trump for his 2020 book, Rage. Woodward’s commentary revealed a lack of respect, disdain, and hyperbolic sensationalism about “the dangers” of Trump. It was a sensationalized opinion from a savvy journalist intent on advancing a political agenda.
During the conversation, Woodward discussed with Trump the infamous phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which led to his first impeachment. His reaction, though, was particularly telling. First, he lamented that Trump wouldn’t concede to any wrongdoing, which is clearly the first time a sitting president ever did that. Then, he portrayed Trump in every negative light possible. While speaking with host Wolf Blitzer, he never gave Trump any credit for any accomplishment and didn’t have one positive thing to say about his presidency. Everything Trump said or did, according to Woodward, was delusional narcissism.
THE TRUMP TAPES: TRUMP HEARD DROPPING F-BOMBS AND BRAGGING ABOUT TOUGHNESS IN AUDIO
Political tribalism aside, every president has at least something positive they accomplished during their term. The fact that Woodward took issue with seemingly everything Trump claimed was a victory revealed his lack of objectivity.
Woodward’s pomposity continued as he claimed to, at one point, “interrogate” the 45th president about the call with Zelensky.
“I spent 15 minutes interrogating him down in Mar-a-Lago, and he would just not give. He would avoid the plain language of that call,” Woodward said.
Interrogate? Since when do journalists interrogate people they are interviewing, let alone former presidents? It was a pompous comment and reflective of Woodward’s overvalued opinion of himself. This was an agenda-driven hit piece, not an objective interview. It’s clear there wasn’t any impartiality.
Such antagonistic methods aren’t used equally on all politicians by journalists — especially Democrats. It’s indicative of all that is wrong with today’s media. And, regardless of anyone’s feelings about Trump, I hope that even his biggest critic can acknowledge these biased and aggressive tactics are wrong.
Another concerning revelation was Woodward’s insistence on portraying Trump as an insensitive racist and getting him to admit he had “white privilege.”
“We’re white, privileged,” Woodward told Trump. “Do you have any sense that that privilege has isolated and put you in a cave, to a certain extent, as it put me — and I think lots of white privileged people — in a cave? And that we have to work our way out of it to understand the anger and the pain, particularly black, people feel in this country?”
First, consider the arrogance of such an assertion.
Bob Woodward, a 79-year-old white man, claimed to know how black people — all black people — felt in the country. Then, Woodward tried to pass off “white privilege” as if it was a fact rather than just an opinion. The truth is there is nothing factual about “white privilege.” It’s a made-up term and a left-wing sociological theory; it’s not a scientifically proven truth.
Trying to get someone to agree with your own biased opinion has no place in an interview, especially with a sitting president.
If Woodward believes in it, that’s his right. After all, some people still believe Elvis is alive. However, his opinion is not a validation of truth. Woodward harassed and tried to bully a former president of the United States into agreeing with his radical opinion. Then, when he didn’t, Woodward chastised him as hostile, defiant, and delusional.
It’s evident this was a political hit piece on Trump. Woodward didn’t stumble upon some big revelation; this wasn’t analogous to covering the Watergate scandal. It was yet another left-wing propagandist article with the sole intention of tarnishing Trump.
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And, while Woodward certainly has the right to not like Trump — everyone does — it’s essential to acknowledge what this “interview” really was: an opinion. It’s no different than my opinion here about his comments. Every criticism about Trump that Bob Woodward told Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday was nothing more than his own beliefs. Some would undoubtedly agree with him; many others would not. However, attempting to assert one’s opinion as legitimate fact in the left-wing media is the real threat to the country. And it’s more of a hazard than anything Woodward tried to claim about Trump.
