In a new article, longtime journalist Dan Rather heavily criticizes the handling in the mainstream media of the respective presidential candidacies of former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden, who are heading towards an expected electoral rematch later this year.
Following a televised debate between the two recently held in Georgia, an outspoken contingent in mainstream media and elsewhere began questioning whether Biden should stay in the race at all on account of the idea his advanced age was seemingly getting to him. Biden’s performance at the debate was widely criticized as poor — which he acknowledged and discussed as he subsequently continued his campaign, recommitting himself to the Democratic ambition of defeating Trump.
In the meantime, Rather argued there was a dubious lack of coverage of a consistent drumbeat of rambling Trump comments.
“So here we are — one slightly hard to discern word in an otherwise coherent interview. And then there is the other guy. The one who can’t seem to string together a single coherent sentence — a fact news organizations don’t even bother mentioning any more. Try making sense of this gobbledegook from Trump’s remarks at a recent rally in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania,” wrote Rather, then moving to a sprawling quote from Trump that went, in literal terms, all over the place in an attempt to discuss the Civil War battle at Gettysburg.
“Why are the rules so different for these two men? Both should be held accountable for their deeds and words. But they aren’t. Trump gets pass after pass,” continued Rather. “The Republicans have hitched their wagon to a cult leader.”
He was somewhat accepting of at least a conversation around Biden’s continued candidacy but focused on lambasting what he deemed a glaring lack of attention on Trump’s actual latest actions. Trump himself has faced some calls to leave the race, but he’s made no indication of exiting the face-off, either.
