By Michael Hernandez
The mainstream media and celebrities are pushing “doom and gloom” scenarios in regards to the coronavirus and partisan attacks on President Trump as the nation deals with this major international crisis.
Now is the time for our nation to come together as Americans; but this is not what mainstream media and celebrities are doing. They would rather see the mortality rates (due to covid 19) increase; so they can blame this pandemic on the President.
This reporter has written four Citizens Journal stories on this pandemic in recent days (please see links below):
2) https://www.citizensjournal.us/?x=0&y=0&s=governor+and+los+angeles
3) https://www.citizensjournal.us/covid19-march-19-report/
In order to be most informed, I have chosen to watch the White House Task Force daily Coronavirus press briefings. Thus, I was watching the Friday’s news conference in which mainstream media and celebrities went ballistic in their attacks of President Trump.
Frankly, as a journalist, I was embarrassed and repulsed by questions asked by some members of the White House Press corps especially the exchange between NBC’s Peter Alexander and President Trump.
Media outlets and social media platforms reported on the President’s response to a single question: “What do you (say) to Americans who are watching you right now that are scared?” These outlets and platforms shared President Trump’s berating the reporter and his network MSNBC/NBC/Comcast.
What the media outlets and social media platforms are not showing is the complete line of questions that were asked by the same reporter—in which any impartial observer can see was an attack on the President and his “optimism” to the effectiveness of drugs like choloroquine to fight the coronavirus. It was quite clear that the reporter wanted Americans to panic, be fearful, and have “no hope” for themselves, their communities and the nation.
Former ABC News journalist (23-years) and political commentator Brit Hume’s response to Alexander’s question: “Legitimate question my a**. It was the kind of bullsh*t gotcha question which hack WH reporters have been asking for decades.”
It also appears to me, that many in this nation are willing to attack a National Day of Prayer (called by President Trump last Sunday) such as U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib who used the “f” word against prayer in her tweet (she was forced to explain her tweet on Monday) and celebrities who seem not to care about the sick or dying if it can only reinforce their hatred of the President.
To their credit, almost all our elected officials—governors and Congressional representatives—have avoided partisan comments as they work relentlessly to pass covid 19 legislation. The coronavirus is neither Republican nor Democratic.
But not every politician has been able to resist the opportunity to attack the President. Hillary Clinton this past Wednesday tweeted: “The president is turning to racist rhetoric to distract from his failures to take the coronavirus seriously early on, make test widely available, and adequately prepare the country for a period of crisis.” Interesting enough, this tweet was re-tweeted by a Chinese Communist Party ambassador to South Africa, Lin Songtian.
Ironically, President Trump was fiercely attacked for imposing a travel ban restricting entry into the United States from China—the first nation to enact a travel ban on Friday, Jan. 31 when only eight cases of the coronavirus had been reported in the United States. The President was even challenged by Center for Infectious Disease and Research Policy Director (and epidemiologist) Dr. Michael T. Osterholm concerning the travel ban. Doctor, what do you say now?
In fact, this reporter has been mortified by the gleeful comments made by celebrities against the President and the medical experts working with the White House Task Force led by Vice President Mike Pence.
For instance, this past week Cher declared the President “a murderer” and “a cancer ravaging our nation” as she demanded he step down before “killing thousands of Americans.”
Another example was Sean Penn’s “deliberate attempt” to spread even more anxiety by stating Trump “will use the coronavirus to exploit the use of the military in some ways.”
Hollywood and the elite media, continue to spread fake news about the president’s response to the global pandemic—for example eight New York Times authors deceptively edited a quote Monday from President Donald Trump’s recent call with state governors and created the false impression that the president is denying federal support for ventilators that are needed in hospitals treating coronavirus patients. These Times journalists omitted the bulk of the president’s statement as they shared the story on social media. This misleading, partial quote was boosted by a CNN correspondent and became the lead headline at the Huffington Post.
President Trump is going to win this “invisible war” against the coronavirus. He will also win the battle against mainstream media and celebrities. This is a war!
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal.
Michael Hernandez, Co-Founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service; editor of the History Makers Report and founder of History Makers International—a community nonprofit serving youth and families in Ventura County, is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. He worked 25 years as a middle school teacher in Monrovia and Los Angeles Unified School Districts. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted by email at [email protected].
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