by Dan Gainor | February 1, 2017 12:02 am
It wasn’t flashy or sensational. Instead, President Donald Trump delivered a somber and solemn Supreme Court nomination is less time than it takes to drive a few blocks in D.C. during rush hour. And most of the media ate it up. Even US Weekly[1] was paying attention.
[2]
Damon Linker, senior correspondent for The Week, summed up what for many was reluctant praise[3]: “That was the most presidential seven minutes of Donald Trump’s presidency so far, and most normal.” Politico called the pick “Antonin Scalia 2.0,” hardly a phrasing designed to appease the left[4].
That positivity was a huge departure from what CNN’s Jim Acosta was expecting. Acosta, who had a big league run-in[5] with the president, was denied a question at Trump’s first big post-election press conference. Here the CNN senior white house correspondent summed up what was probably a popular media view: “We were expecting something a little bit more reality TV event here.”
Commentators were obviously impressed with what actually happened. “This is how it’s supposed to be done. I mean this is done to the T,” commented CNN’s Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash. New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor even noted that[6], “Barack Obama and Neil Gorsuch were in the same Harvard Law School class, graduating in 1991.”
Another CNN Political Analyst, David Gregory, was so complimentary that he got four-lettered Twitter pushback, which he then retweeted[7]. “Tonight represents a stroke of genius/obstruction by Senator McConnell who saw to it Judge Garland never got a hearing,” he wrote.
His response to the F-bomb tweet was quick[8]. “All you haters on twitter need to get out of your bubbles – not everyone thinks like you. I provide analysis. Take it or leave it.”
Naturally, the left was unhappy. Still smarting after the Merrick Garland snub[9], many liberals were glum or angry. Philadelphia Daily News columnist Will Bunch was both[10]. “2017: The year America became a dictatorship but ‘the optics were great,’” he lamented, retweeting a comment from Erik Wemple of The Washington Post.
CNN political commentator Keith Boykin[11] couldn’t get past the Garland nomination. “It doesn’t matter if Neil Gorsuch is qualified. Merrick Garland was too. Confirming Gorsuch would reward @GOP[12]‘s unprecedented obstruction,” he complained.
Lefty movie director Michael Moore reflected[13] the Hollywood reaction[14], mocking Trump’s planned announcement: “Oh no! Really?! What could it be? You’re stepping down?”
Former Star Trek actor George Takei blasted the nominee for his views, saying that “Religious based discrimination and abortion foes just got a boost.” Funny or Die host Billy Eichner hammered the Garland connection. “Gorsuch is extremely anti-LGBTQ and this is a #StolenSeat that belonged to Merrick Garland,” he tweeted[15].
Many others in the media simply used the high-profile event for sport, with the British press winning the day. The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs noted how Trump’s other likely choice hadn’t won much of anything[16]. “Congratulations to Thomas Hardiman on winning a set of steak knives.”
David Martosko[17], of The Daily Mail, joked about the speed of the announcement. “The bounce rate from these livestreams is going to be astronomical.”
Time’s Ryan Teague Beckwith gave the American snark, lamenting[18] the lost effort writing up Hardiman stories. “There’s a newspaper in heaven where your profile of Thomas Hardiman will be published.”
Dan Gainor is the Media Research Center’s Vice President for Business and Culture[19]. He writes frequently about media for Fox News Opinion. He can also be contacted on Facebook and Twitter as dangainor.
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