Arguably, the conservative movement’s biggest coup these past few decades has been to convince a considerable swath of the American public (and news journalists) that the media landscape is inherently “left-leaning.” The term “liberal media” is believed true in many circles. Even if one were to go through the history of the news media superficially, it wouldn’t be hard to disprove this mythology. In fact, the news media is, on whole, at its most liberal, right down the center. It always has been.
Media Matters’ Matthew Gertz sent out a tweet on Sunday in response to the news that the Trump administration was considering a move that would create a purposefully narrow definition of gender, creating a legal loophole by which the federal government could ignore the existence of transgender people in America.
Gertz follows up his point with a list of journalists, who, wowed by Trump’s words, regurgitated Trump’s talking points on LGBT rights as if anything the man has ever said ended up being true. Here are some of the bad takes that came after Trump told the world he was the bestest friend to LGBT people … ever.
- Fox News person John Roberts the day after Peter Thiel spoke at the RNC convention in Cleveland, Ohio: “And Donald Trump, this is one point where he departs from the platform of the Republican party and he's really kind of framed this in the context of what happened in Orlando and he has become a champion for the cause. And there are a lot of people in the LGBTQ community who are not on board with that yet.”
- During pretty much the same hour of television, Joe Scarborough had this lame take: "You don't want to overstate anything, but I think culturally, I think that was a significant landmark for this country." The landmark was simply that a convention of Republicans didn’t pull out tiki-torches and burn a billionaire on live television for being gay. One thing the Republican Party cares about more than anything in the world is where its money comes from.
- Hallie Jackson’s report on Trump, back in 2016, included this: “While Trump is considered one of the more LGBT-friendly Republican candidates, he hasn't talked much about those issues on the campaign trail. Not a typical part of his stump speech, and not mentioned tonight at his rally here in Delaware.” “Considered?” By whom? Journalists? Trump himself?
- ABC News’ White House correspondent Jonathan Karl made this outrageous statement: “Trump is the most pro gay rights Republican presidential candidate that we have ever seen.” This after clips of Trump literally saying, “The LGBT community is beginning to really love Trump.” That information and the fact that Trump didn’t say God killed the LGBT people massacred during the Pulse nightclub shooting seem to have created—in Jonathan Karl’s mind—a world where Donald Trump is baking wedding cakes for same-sex marriages across the country.
Then there are stories like Politico’s 2016 “In Trump, pro-gay rights Republicans see a new hope,” which had this amazing paragraph:
Trump buoyed Republican LGBT activists with his defense of the gay community in the wake of Sunday’s mass murder at a gay nightclub. “Ask yourself, who is really the friend of women and the LGBT community. Donald Trump with his actions, or Hillary Clinton with her words?” he said Monday, in a speech condemning the Orlando attack, which left 49 club-goers dead at the hands of a man who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and other terrorist groups. Trump followed it up with a tweet Tuesday in which he thanked LGBT Americans and said: “I will fight for you.”
“Republican LGBT activists.” Remember that phrase, because it isn’t a thing. Here’s another paragraph in that article, about a foot down the page.
And Trump hasn’t expressed any willingness to spend political capital on changing the party’s platform, a divisive fight at a time when he’s trying to focus his energy on beating Hillary Clinton in the general election. Asked whether he would consider backing efforts to moderate the Republican Party platform on marriage, Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks said, “Mr. Trump continues his outreach to coalitions and communities all over the country. There has been tremendous support for Mr. Trump and we are excited to see that continue to grow.”
The entirety of this article could be the phrase “nothing burger” written over and over again. The “liberal media” seems to have created policy for Trump that he never had. Telling people “I’ll help you” and then never being held accountable as to how you are going to do that isn’t policy. When the speaker is a liar of historic proportions, known in media circles as a liar and a snake-oil salesman, not distinguishing between his regular lies and his actual policy lies is unforgivable.
In spite of these glowing reviews of Trump, the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay group that supports conservative candidates, decided not to endorse Trump. Then Trump began dismantling LGBT legal protections within a month of being sworn into the presidency.