On an unusually busy news day, did the assassination attempt’s aftermath change the media tone?
If this were a typical presidential campaign, Donald Trump’s selection of J.D. Vance as his running mate on the Republican ticket would have likely dominated media discussions for a week or two.
This is not a typical presidential campaign.
On Monday, that choice was just part of the mix. On the opening day of the Republican convention two days after an assassination attempt on Trump, news organizations juggled several major stories and grappled with the uncertainty of whether political violence would change the tone of their coverage.
Would a lowering of volume on political combat that some, including President Joe Biden, had called for in the wake of Saturday’s shooting be evident at news outlets that many say live for the fight?
Digging into seismic events, hoping for some wisdom
Coming from a man known for his understanding of political theater, Trump’s rollout of his Vance selection on Monday afternoon was understated. First, news organizations were fed word that two men thought to be on his short list — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum — had been told they had not been chosen.
Shortly thereafter, Trump announced the choice of the Ohio senator in a post on his Truth Social outlet. Vance was later seen on the floor of the GOP convention in Milwaukee, accepting handshakes and hugs of congratulation.
As she spoke with politicians at the convention, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins put the question to a handful of interview subjects: How would the assassination attempt change the tone of the Republican gathering?
There was an obvious sadness, U.S. Sen. Katie Britt answered. But the conversation then turned to an accusation against the media.
“I really wish the media would do a better job of covering it when we do work together,” Britt said.
There was a bitter exchange earlier between the former president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and MSNBC reporter Jacob Soboroff on the convention floor when the reporter asked for specifics about what Trump’s father would do on the immigrant issue.
“I expect nothing less from you clowns even today,” Trump said. “Even 48 hours later, you couldn’t wait. You couldn’t wait with your lies and with your nonsense. So just get out of here.”
Unusual day for MSNBC
It was an eventful, and odd, day for MSNBC. The network had pre-empted its opinion programming on Sunday for an NBC News Now straight news simulcast of news surrounding the assassination attempt.
But it was noticed Monday when MSNBC did not air its “Morning Joe” program, which is often filled with anti-Trump commentary from the husband-and-wife team of Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, and their colleagues. The network denied a CNN report that executives were concerned that someone on the show might make an inappropriate remark, and said “Morning Joe” would be back on Tuesday.
It didn’t take long for MSNBC’s opinionated programming to make its return on Monday.
The network opened its convention coverage with Rachel Maddow reciting a lengthy list of unflattering things Vance had said about Trump during the former president’s early years in politics. The network’s five-woman anchor team — Maddow, Joy Reid, Jen Psaki, Nicolle Wallace and Alex Wagner — assailed Vance’s views on abortion.
“The pick of J.D. Vance is saying to women, go to hell,” Reid said.
Biden makes an appearance
Over on Fox News Channel, Brit Hume predicted Vance would “run rings” around Vice President Kamala Harris in a debate. Jessica Tarlov and Greg Gutfeld battled over which party was more guilty of inflammatory rhetoric.
Both NBC and MSNBC set aside programming for 20 minutes at 9 p.m. Eastern to air an interview Lester Holt conducted with President Biden earlier in the day — one where the anchor was forced to revamp his list of questions since it was arranged last week.
Holt asked Biden about his phone call to Trump after the shooting and confronted the president about whether a statement he had made last week was too provocative. Biden had told donors that after the presidential debate, “it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye” and said Monday that was a mistake. Holt asked about Vance’s choice and a judge’s decision Monday to throw out a case against Trump for taking classified documents.
Questions about whether or not Biden would stay in the race following a poor performance in the debate against Trump — which thoroughly dominated last week’s news cycle — didn’t come up until past the halfway point in the interview.
Even then, the president flashed annoyance, suggesting the spotlight should instead be on Trump for things the Republican said in the debate that were untrue. He disputed Holt’s statement that Trump had been called out for false comments.
“Sometime come and talk to me about what we should be talking about — the issues,” Biden told Holt.
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David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://twitter.com/dbauder.