Establishment media have gone all in on dragging Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman across the finish line, even if it means attacking one of their own.
Reporter Dasha Burns of NBC News committed the heinous crime of doing actual journalism, becoming the first reporter to interview Fetterman in person for a television interview. Fetterman suffered a stroke in May and now has trouble stringing together coherent sentences. He also, according to Burns, has trouble following a conversation unless he can read the words that are being said. NBC allowed Fetterman to use a transcription device during the interview, but Burns noted that he struggled to make small talk without the device before the interview.
John Fetterman has to conduct interviews using a computer so he can read the questions he’s being asked. And he still can’t speak correctly even then. This is insane. Imagine what media would be saying if a Republican was trying to pull this campaign off: pic.twitter.com/r7QtsLkaF9
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) October 12, 2022
SEE IT: FETTERMAN USES COMPUTER TO UNDERSTAND REPORTER’S QUESTIONS
As a result, the knives came out for Burns, because she showed that Fetterman is simply not fit to serve as a senator. It was no fault of her own, as she simply reported exactly how Fetterman acted and spoke. But by reporting the truth, she became a target because she might cost the Democrats a Senate seat.
Kara Swisher of the New York Times decided that Burns is “just bad at small talk” and that her reporting is “nonsense.” Rebecca Traister, who wrote a puff piece about Fetterman’s health for New York Magazine, said Fetterman’s “comprehension is not at all impaired.” He just has a “hearing/auditory challenge.” He can understand everything, you see, except when someone talks to him.
Buzzfeed wrote that the Fetterman interview will cause people to go out and commit violence against disabled people. https://t.co/lwqj2Tby6y
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) October 13, 2022
Most galling is that the Associated Press jumped on the train, dedicating a piece to the Twitter backlash Burns was facing. In a piece headlined “NBC reporter’s comment about Fetterman draws criticism,” David Bauder bemoaned that Burns’s reporting has been picked up by Republicans to attack Fetterman. Bauder then had an “expert” dismiss all concerns about Fetterman’s health and complained that conservative media wasn’t being as charitable as possible.
Again, the Associated Press decided that the story here is not that a man on the verge of becoming a senator can’t hold a simple conversation (or that he still won’t release his medical records), but that a reporter got shamed on Twitter for doing her job.
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The Associated Press and other media figures attacking Burns don’t care about journalism or informing the public. They care about electing Democrats and, by doing her job, Burns placed Fetterman’s chances at risk. Therefore, they are telling Burns to get back in line and sending a warning to any other reporters who may have been thinking about committing the grave sin of journalism, at least if it hurts their Democratic team.
