After this past week’s testimony, one gets the distinct impression that a story’s newsworthiness depends largely on the party affiliations of those involved.
After this past week’s testimony, one gets the distinct impression that a story’s newsworthiness depends largely on the party affiliations of those involved.
A funny thing happens when the White House trades hands from a Republican to a Democrat: Scandals that were once scandals are no longer scandals. The inverse is true as well: Scandals that weren’t scandals for a Democrat become scandals for a Republican.
Consider, for example, the lack of coverage this past week for the on-the-record statements by family members of U.S. servicemen killed in the suicide-bombing attack at the Kabul airport during the Afghanistan withdrawal. These Gold Star family members spoke at a congressional forum arranged by Representative Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), held at the Escondido City Hall near Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base in Southern California.
Chances are you didn’t even know that these families spoke about their experiences following the disastrous U.S. withdrawal, including alleged mistreatment by the president and his administration.
Now, compare this lack of coverage to the press’s all-pervasive coverage in 2020 of an anonymously sourced report stating that former president Donald Trump once referred to deceased U.S. veterans as “suckers” and “losers.” The thinly sourced story, which was authored by the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg — who, by the way, still hasn’t made good on his promise to produce evidence confirming it — even became a recurring plot line in the 2020 presidential election. Also, compare the lack of coverage this past week of Gold Star testimony with the press’s wall-to-wall coverage in 2016 of Trump’s fight with Gold Star parents Khizr and Ghazala Khan.
Given the disparities in how these stories have been handled, one gets the distinct impression that, for major media, what constitutes newsworthiness is dictated largely by the party affiliations of those involved, and that one very specific party gets preferential and even deferential treatment. This shouldn’t be how it works, but it’s hard to see it any other way. It’s just reality. Were it not, the Gold Star families this week would have been the lead story in every newsroom. Their testimony was, at the very least, newsworthy.
A Gold Star mother recounted, for example, that she had been lied to about the circumstances of her son’s death.
“I was told to my face he died on impact. That’s not true,” she said. “The only reason that I know this is because witnesses told me the truth.”
A father declared bitterly that his son had been sacrificed like a “pawn.”
Perhaps most shocking of all was the statement by Cheryl Rex, mother of Lance Corporal Dylan Merola.
“When [Joe Biden] approached me, his words to me were, ‘My wife, Jill, and I know how you feel. We lost our son as well and brought him home in a flag-draped coffin,’” said Rex. “My heart started beating faster and I started shaking, knowing that their son died from cancer and they were able to be by his side.”
Beau Biden did not die while serving overseas in Iraq. He died in Bethesda, Md., of brain cancer, six years after returning from deployment. The president keeps telling this lie. And it is a lie (or a delusion). There’s no spinning this one, despite even the best efforts by the president’s defenders, who allege he is merely using shorthand to claim Beau likely got cancer from the burn pits in Iraq. I invite those people now to explain what possible shorthand the president could be using when he says they “brought [Beau] home in a flag-draped coffin.”
“How could someone be so heartless to say he knew how I felt?” Rex asked this week.
Notably, Cheryl Rex is not alone in her shock and disgust. She is one of a growing number of veterans and Gold Star parents who’ve gone on the record to describe what they felt was rude, cold, or even callous treatment by Biden. Some felt put off by the president, and others felt downright insulted.
In a recent podcast interview, Tyler Vargas-Andrews, a U.S. Marine who lost an arm and a leg from the suicide blast outside the Abbey Gate at the Kabul airport, recounted an unfortunate meeting with the president while recovering at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Biden “almost immediately starts talking about how their son served in the military,” Vargas-Andrews said of his meeting with the president. “[He] doesn’t say anything about what happened, just starts talking about how their son served in the military.”
He added, “My mom’s furious at this point and they’re like taking pictures and stuff. . . . My mom’s furious.”
Vargas-Andrews said his mother reached out later to the office of the first lady to discuss efforts to help wounded veterans. It didn’t go well, the Marine said.
They “pretended to help” but later “brushed [her] off,” said Vargas-Andrews, adding that they “pretended like they were connecting her to the right individuals and didn’t f***ing help her at all.”
Earlier, in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, a decidedly disgusted Cheyenne McCollum, who lost her brother in the suicide-bombing attack, claimed her brief encounter with the president in Dover, Del., consisted entirely of the president’s talking about Beau, and the fact Beau once served in Iraq.
“I was able to stand about 15 seconds of his fake, scripted apology and I had to walk away,” McCollum said during a 2021 appearance on Fox & Friends.
Shana Chappell, mother of Lance Corporal Kareem Nikoui, alleged similarly distasteful behavior by the president.
“You tried to interrupt me and give me your own sob story and I had to tell you, ‘This isn’t about you so don’t make it about you!’” she wrote in a post on social media. “You then said you just wanted me to know that you know how I feel and I let you know that you don’t know how I feel and you do not have the right to tell me you know how I feel! You then rolled your f***ing eyes in your head like you were annoyed with me and I let you know that the only reason I was talking to you was out of respect for my son.”
At the very least, these stories tarnish Biden’s carefully cultivated image as a loving, “empathetic” grandfather. That’s newsworthy. It’s newsworthy when public, on-the-record statements directly contradict the image sold by the White House. Yet, were it not for social media and Fox News, you likely wouldn’t have heard about the Gold Star families’ testimony at all.
Now, compare this to how major news media treated allegations that Trump disparaged fallen veterans. Compare the non-coverage this week with the weekslong news coverage of Trump’s back-and-forth sniping at the Khans.
There is no good reason why these two narratives wouldn’t merit equal coverage and interest for the press. One involves a tactless and self-involved party leader, the other a tactless and self-involved party leader. No good reason, that is, aside from, “It’s bad when that guy does it, but our guy’s heart is in the right place.”
Sure it is.