President Donald Trump. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Bernie Sanders (I-VT). All three have done town halls with CNN, including one that featured the Democratic socialists on Wednesday night. Anchor Kaitlan Collins moderated the Trump town hall back when he was a candidate in 2023, and she also moderated the AOC-Bernie affair this week.
As the headline says, it really is nice to be a Democrat in these situations. One reason is this interesting stat courtesy of the Media Research Center, which found that Collins interrupted Trump 113 times in 2023 over the course of the town hall, or approximately two times per minute. As for Sanders and AOC, they were interrupted just nine times, or more than 100 times less.
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The second reason why it’s great to be a Democrat can be found via the lack of fact-checks and follow-ups. Here’s AOC, a potential Democratic candidate for president, claiming that Deloitte, an accounting firm, is pouring hazardous waste into waterways. “Rivers were on fire because of corporations poisoning the people who lived in those areas!” she charged. “Poor, middle-class communities getting poisoned and dumped on by corporations like Deloitte and 3M, pouring chemicals into these places!” she continued.
And Collins just let it slide.
It harkens back to when Ocasio-Cortez once claimed during another CNN interview back in 2018 that unemployment was low during Trump’s first term because people were working two jobs (that’s not remotely how employment tallies work). And again, she wasn’t challenged on the assertion.
The third reason is the bias of omission. A look at the transcript of the AOC-Bernie town hall shows the word “billionaire” or “billionaires” was said on ten different occasions by Sanders, with the senator saying they were not paying their fair share in taxes.
OK, that’s one perspective and Bernie has been saying it for decades. But wouldn’t this have been a good time to broach the fact the AOC and Sanders have been flying on private jets to their stops on their “Fight the Oligarchy” tour? Overall, renting such jets costs $15,000 per hour while also leaving a major carpet footprint. Remember, AOC said seven years ago that the earth would no longer be habitable by the year 2031, and flying on luxury jets just may look patently hypocritical to the average person watching at home.
The fourth reason why it’s nice to be a Democrat is in the tone of the questions. Here’s Collins doing the exact opposite in terms of tone with Trump back in 2023 as opposed to AOC and Bernie this week.
Per the official transcripts:
Collins: You are running in the 2024 race. If you are the Republican nominee and you are in that 2024 race, will you commit tonight to accepting the results of the 2024 election?
TRUMP: Yes, if I think it’s an honest election, absolutely, I would.
COLLINS: Will you commit to accepting the results of the election regardless of the outcome?
TRUMP: Do you want me to answer it again?
If I think it’s an honest election, I would be honored to. And, right now, we are so far ahead of both Democrat and Republican. And you know what? If I don’t win, this country is going to be in big trouble. It’s so sad to see what’s happening.
COLLINS: But no commitment there on the — accepting the results regardless of the outcome?
TRUMP: It’s — if it’s an honest election, correct, I would.
COLLINS (dripping with piousness): OK, so not committing to accepting the 2024 election results or acknowledging what happened in 2020.
Now compare that to how Bernie and AOC were treated Wednesday night.
Collins: Senator Sanders, when we look at funding that Congress has already approved, one thing Democrats want to try to do here is to limit the White House‘s and the president’s ability to rescind funding that’s been approved by Congress. As you’re negotiating a deal, or if we try to get closer to one, is that something that’s a deal breaker for you?
Sanders: Absolutely. You know… one of the things that frightens me, Kaitlan, is we begin to accept as normal the unconstitutional, illegal, and outrageous actions on the part of the White House.
The Vermont senator would go on to claim, without evidence, that Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, signed into law, will kill 50,000 Americans. And no challenge on that figure came from Collins.
Again, Trump was interrupted nearly 13 times more than AOC and Bernie.
Finally, the fifth reason: You can treat reporters with total disdain and disrespect.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, when recently asked a perfectly reasonable question around why she refused the National Guard on Jan. 6, 2021, barked back: “Shut up! I did not refuse the National Guard. Why are you here with Republican talking points, as if you’re a serious journalist?”
And here’s Pelosi last week demeaning another reporter after she was asked why AOC is telling Republican senators to come to her house to directly negotiate with her despite AOC not being in the Senate: “Wait, wait, why are you saying such a ridiculous thing? She’s not directing this!” Pelosi retorted.
How about then-President Biden calling Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy, who is always respectful and professional, a “stupid son of a bitch,” after Doocy asked about rising concerns regarding inflation in January 2022.
CNN’s Chris Cillizza responded with a column with this unintentionally-hilarious headline, “Why Biden’s ‘son of a bitch’ moment is nothing like Trump’s attacks on reporters.”
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There are no words, except these seven:
It really is so nice to be a Democrat…
