This may be harmless if Biden and Trump are truly equivalent, but nothing could be further from the truth.
The time has come for everyone, especially the media, to face the real choice between constitutional democracy and authoritarianism. Between a normal human being and a self-centered, mean-spirited lunatic. Between governments that achieved good results and those that vacillated from one personal obsession to another.
The news of the past few days shows another contrast. The president is seeking a compromise to protect the southern border while getting support for Ukraine, and his opponents claim (though there is little evidence) that terrorists and drug traffickers are pouring into Ukraine. And who wants them to keep coming to win elections?
False equality is the bane of our politics, especially (I hate that word) “legacy” and “mainstream” media. At its best, old media, which I have been involved with for part of my career, does the important work of informing the public about what is happening in the world, with a sense of impartiality and a dedication to truth. I am in charge. You can decide.
Journalists must never give up on this. But decades of attacks from the political right have made mainstream media far more sensitive to the appearance of liberal bias than they are to worrying about other forms of distortion. This makes the false equivalence formula very attractive. That is, statements such as “Both sides are equally bad” or “What this person did was terrible, but look at the other (much less egregious) action.”
The Trump movement has been capitalizing on the mainstream media’s, well, liberal guilt ever since its defenders came down the escalator.
Reporters were told to take Trump “seriously, not literally.” No, you should do both. It is said that they lacked understanding of those who voted for him. There is some truth here – there is class bias in the media – but understanding what motivates groups of voters glorifies voters, whether they support Trump or not. It shouldn’t mean that. Of course, this does not prevent us from clarifying the difference between politicians who stir up and exploit people’s anger and politicians who are trying to solve problems.
Most of all, it suggests that Trump and his opponents (be it Biden, Hillary Clinton, Nikki Haley) live in the same moral world as he does and are just as flawed as he is. It should not mean acting like.
Mr. Biden is 81 years old, so there is great objectivity to the age issue. And there is actual polling data to back up voters’ dissatisfaction with their choice between Biden and Trump. It’s understandable why Haley says Trump and Biden are “equally bad” and too old. After all, she’s running against both, and she hopes to wean voters of her own party away from Trump’s habits. Putting Biden and Trump on the same level may be a way to win the hearts and minds of Republicans.
But the fact that they are not “equally bad” was reminded on the night of the New Hampshire primary when Trump launched an unbridled, vitriolic attack on Haley. He’s narrow-minded (“I saw her wearing a costume that probably wasn’t all that flashy”) and threatening (“I’m not too mad,” he said angrily, “I’ll get revenge”). , and vindictive (“She’s not going to win, but if she wins, she’ll be investigated”). Haley knows it’s ridiculous to act as if Biden is capable of such vulgar expressions.
And when it comes to the age issue, the 77-year-old Trump’s frequent gaffes and escapism didn’t get much press until Republican Haley criticized a speech in which she kept confusing “Nikki Haley” with “Nancy Haley.” The fact that it was not done is also a sign of the carelessness of the media. Mr. Pelosi. ” It’s true that strong women seem to annoy him, but Haley shouldn’t have been forced to consider Trump’s isolation issues.
There is no doubt that Biden has a lot of work to do. In particular, there is much work to be done to sway the younger voters who need Biden’s support and prefer someone new and dynamic. But the fact that none of the key Democrats chose to challenge Biden shows that he has the qualities needed in this perilous year: his character, his desire to unite the country, and his party’s internal This suggests that they may have the ability to maintain peace. The contrast with Mr. Trump could hardly be more stark.