Donald Trump’s willingness to go after his adversaries with “ugly rhetoric” has some pundits worried about the state of modern political discourse, but members of the press themselves have long been saying things that are just as bad, or worse, about people with whom they disagree.
The casino tycoon has dominated the 2016 presidential election with his many uncensored, unpredictable and sometimes “crass” attacks on media personalities and GOP primary rivals.
He shocked reporters in August 2015 when he seemed to suggest in an interview with CNN that Fox News’ Megyn Kelly was menstruating when she moderated the first GOP primary debate.
Later, in November, he took control of the news cycle after he suggested Dr. Ben Carson’s “pathological temper” was incurable, and compared the retired neurosurgeon to a child molester. The month after that, newsrooms were aghast when the real estate mogul said of Hillary Clinton’s failed 2008 bid for the White House that she “got schlonged” by then-Sen. Barack Obama.
Journalists have responded to Trump’s pointed and sometimes unscripted barbs by characterizing them as shocking, stupid, ignorant, senseless, insensitive, thoughtless and vulgar. Major newsrooms, including MSNBC, Politico, the New York Times and the Washington Post, each of which has produced multiple news segments, editorials and op-eds pining for the return of civility in politics, would seem to agree.
But it’s difficult to detect how his rhetoric differs from the sort of stuff that mainstream media pundits have been saying for years about American politicians. And in fact, some news groups have published op-eds suggesting the media bears some responsibility for the constant eroding of civility on politics.
There are numerous examples. Bloomberg News host and senior MSNBC political analyst Mark Halperin, for example, infamously said during a panel discussion in 2011 that he thought President Obama acted like “a d*ck” during a press conference.
That same year, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews said during a discussion of potential 2012 GOP primary candidates that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich looked like a “car bomber” who “looks like he loves torturing” people.
Mainstream media pundits often blame a handful of right-wing talking heads, including radio hosts Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and author Ann Coulter, for the coarsening of political discourse. Matthews has also argued at length that television shows like his are not to blame for the current lack of civility in politics, and maintains that the problem is that there are now “too many points of view” in media.
But outlets like Politico and MSBNC have a civility problem of their own.
Former MSNBC host Ed Schultz said in 2011 of former Vice President Dick Cheney is “an enemy of this country,” and later wished for his death by saying, “Lord, take him to the promised land, will you?”
Former MSNBC host Martin Bashir stirred controversy later in November 2013 when he said former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin needed to be taught a lesson about U.S. slavery, and suggested that someone defecate in her mouth.
MSNBC contributor Mike Barnicle said in 2014 the former Alaska governor was a “moron.” “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski added to his thought by clarifying that Palin was “a multimillion-dollar moron.”
Even political cartoonists have gotten in on the incivility act, as some have suggested things that many would construe as equally or even more offensive as the stuff that Trump has said on the campaign trail.
In November 2014, Politico’s Matt Wuerker depicted Republicans lawmakers who support voter ID laws as Nazi SS officers. He denied later that he meant to do this.
In another newsroom, the Post’s Ann Telnaes raised eyebrows when she published a cartoon depicting Cruz’s two daughters, Caroline, 7, and Catherine, 5, as dancing monkeys. This sort of thing wasn’t a first for Telnaes: In September 2015, she posted a cartoon to social media wherein she depicted Carson as a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
The Post later removed the cartoon of Cruz’s daughters, and apologized for its error in judgment. Media responded to the incident by whitewashing the details of the story.
The Hill published an op-ed this week that referred to Cruz as “the prince of darkness.” Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton is getting the Bob Dole and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., treatment as newsrooms ask if she’s “too old” to run for president. The Times’ editorial board in October derided the 2016 GOP primary field as a “circus of haters” and “ranters” who “know nothing” – all while declaring “civility” the big winner of the first Democratic presidential debate.
Then there is the type of rhetoric that media reserves for Trump: The billionaire businessman has been called a clown, a serial liar, a rampant xenophobe, a racist, a misogynist, a birther, a bully, a moron and a dangerous narcissist.
Politico’s chief political columnist, Roger Simon, wrote an entire article in November comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler. And this sort of thing isn’t new for Simon: He suggested in 2013 that America would be “saved” if former House Speaker John Boehner and Cruz were drowned.
These examples of media incivilities come from just the last five years, and don’t even mention how the press behaved during the Bush and Clinton administrations. For all of Trump’s “bluster” and hardnosed rhetoric, and media’s worries he will permanently scar political discourse, he’s just a newcomer in a game that pundits have been playing for a long time.
