AG Report 9.17.2023
CNN Follows WH Orders on Impeachment Inquiry
Last week, the White House released a memo urging news outlets to be more critical of House Republicans opening up an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden. Almost as if acting on order, CNN released an incredibly embarrassing fact-check of Kevin McCarthy’s claims at the press conference announcing the impeachment inquiry.
What made this fact-check particularly ludicrous is that it acknowledged as true most of the facts McCarthy cited, but framed the inquiry as dishonest because the conclusions were still unproven. Many of the individual fact-check responses within the article take the form of “this is true, but…” to provide the exact type of spin mentioned in the White House memo.
Instead of just providing readers with the facts and letting them judge for themselves, CNN editorialized a conclusion that “House Republicans have not presented any proof that Joe Biden ever profited off his son’s business deals.” But having definitive proof of wrongdoing is not the standard for investigation.
There’s extensive smoke relating to how the Biden family leveraged Joe Biden’s positions to receive substantial sums of money from questionable foreign entities. There’s no doubt that Hunter Biden engaged in influence peddling and that there were clear attempts to use questionable, and potentially criminal, methods to hide receipts. There’s also evidence that Joe Biden has not been transparent about how much he knew about or participated in such activities. That should raise serious questions and certainly justifies an investigation.
Now it’s true that House Republicans also have a substantial political interest in raising such an investigation and presuming a set conclusion regardless of where the evidence leads. However, that does not justify news organizations simply dismissing the concerns about the activities of the Biden family.
The media’s role should be to hold those in power accountable, regardless of their opposition to the other party. Trump being bad and House Republicans being politically motivated should not dissuade the press from investigating or even acknowledging real concerns about the president’s potential corruption.
Potential Trump Nomination Offsets Biden’s Biggest Liability
It’s no secret that Biden’s biggest electoral weakness is that voters are worried about his age and cognitive decline. A recent poll found that 77% of voters believe Biden is too old to be president. One notable person who disagrees is Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.
In a recent interview with Megyn Kelly, Trump extensively defended Biden’s ability to serve at his age, instead insisting the main issue with Biden is his incompetence. That isn’t surprising since Trump is only a few years younger than Biden and would also turn 80 just a few years into the next presidential term.
Trump has also exhibited instances of cognitive decline recently and has severely limited his campaign schedule, suggesting he could be perceived as having the same liability as Biden. It’s insane for Republicans to cancel out the biggest weakness of the current incumbent, which is exactly what they’d be doing in nominating Trump.
As if determined to undermine as many GOP positions as possible, Trump also threw the entire pro-life movement under the bus last week. First, he told NBC News that “Democrats don’t want to be radical” on the abortion issue, inaccurately reflecting the position of most federally elected Democrats and undermining attempts by Republicans to highlight Democrat extremism. More disappointingly, Trump referred to heartbeat bills like those signed in red states of Georgia, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, and Texas as a “terrible thing” and insisted the issue would be done once he passed a compromise with Democrats at a federal level.
This isn’t an argument for focusing on incremental wins at the federal level or leaving it to the states, but an attack on even red states signing pro-life legislation. The muted response from many pro-life and Republican leaders, with a few notable exceptions, will seriously damage their credibility on this issue moving forward.
What exactly is the purpose of the pro-life movement and everything they have done for 5-6 decades if they just go along with a politician who views passing pro-life legislation at a state level as a “terrible thing”?
What is even the benefit of Dobbs, which Trump tries to take credit for if that becomes the position of the right?
Trump’s already done so much damage to the right’s credibility on key issues over the last 6-7 years by getting them to abandon long-held views. He seems determined to continue down that path.