WaPo editorial bashed for demanding more of Harris while having 'no expectations' of Trump
National security expert and progressive writer Marcy Wheeler is not happy that the American news media is setting what she describes as a low bar for Donald Trump low bar compared to any other candidate in a presidential campaign.
In fact, Wheeler thinks that the media is guilty of having the "bigotry of no expectations" when it comes to Trump's 2024 presidential run.
She began by pointing out a Washington Post Editorial Board column that scolds Vice President Kamala Harris for not releasing more detailed policy proposals.
"Its punchline is that Kamala can lift up politics by going deep on policy, something it admits Trump has not done," Wheeler writes.
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Wheeler then knocked the Post for drawing false equivalency between the detail offered so far by Harris and the offerings that Trump has brought to the table.
"WaPo ignores some obvious policies from Trump, such as his tax cuts for billionaires (though that is alluded to in its observation that Trump would add $5.8 trillion to the nation debt, as compared to $1.2 trillion for Kamala), or his determination to eliminate protections for civil service workers and use DOJ for what he calls revenge but which is in reality forced loyalty. Plus, they count 'deport millions' as a stated policy goal of Trump, without noting that he has never provided, never even been asked to provide, details about how he would pay for it, how he’d make up for shortfalls in things like Social Security, how he’d ensure food gets picked and houses get built."
Wheeler then noted the irony that, by more actual policy fleshed out, Harris was more vulnerable to being critiqued by the Post, which didn't do the same for Trump.
"Trump has been running for 21 months; his campaign is more than 90% over. The Vice President has been running 43 days; her campaign still has almost 60% to go," Wheeler continued. "And yet they’re putting demands on the woman in the race, making no such demand on the white male former President."
She pointed out that the media has allowed Trump to operate for 21 months without suggesting, much less demanding, to see his policies and details.
The Post Editorial Board piece "says more about the failures of journalists to hold Trump accountable than it does any shortcoming on Kamala’s part," she explained.