Bias Trumps Media Coverage

We have an instructive contrast between how the mainstream media treats a candidate whose positions it supports and how it treats a candidate whose positions it loathes.

Both of our candidates have remarkable similarities. They’re outsiders who parachuted into the political arena and have never previously held office. Both are scornful of the entrenched political elite and promise big changes if they’re elected.

And while the net worth of the candidates varies considerably, both rely on extensive free media coverage to increase their exposure while at the same time reducing the need for expensive media budgets.

Finally, both candidates prefer rallies and crowd-generating events to the traditional grind of going door-to-door to engage the public and mobilize support.

So wouldn’t an ideal test of political relevance and candidate support among the general public be the number of votes amassed on Election Day?

Well yes. And no.

If the election confirms the media’s pre-determined bias, then the people have spoken!

If the election doesn’t go the media’s way, then who cares what a bunch of yahoos think?

Which brings us to DeRay Mckesson and Donald Trump.

Trump wants to build the wall. He wants a pause in Muslim immigration. And Trump is proud of America. With this issue combination Trump could pick George Ramos for his running mate and he still couldn’t carry the newsroom at Univision.

On the other hand, DeRay Mckesson’s Black Lives Matter philosophy reads like the editorial page of the New York Times.

The shooting in Ferguson was a police execution. The criminal justice system is stacked against blacks and police are its brutal enforcers. Institutional racism is the root cause of problems in the black community. And America doesn’t inspire pride.

Naturally, the Times deems Mckesson the “national voice for the Black Lives Matter movement” and Trump the voice of bigotry, Islamophobia, and nativism.

Fine, but on Election Day how does the “national voice” for a racial shakedown movement compare with the piñata for the pinhead set?

During the GOP primary campaign Trump received more total votes than any other GOP candidate in history, and this was in a candidate field so large it could have surrounded Chris Christie and still had candidates left over.

Of the top four, Trump received an overwhelming 46 percent of the 28,585,528 votes cast and set an all-time record for total number of votes.

Mckesson’s target was lower: He ran for mayor of Baltimore, his hometown. The Post description: “Baltimore is a city of almost 623,000, where nearly a quarter live in poverty, fewer than 30 percent hold a bachelor's degree and the median income sits just above $41,000.

"It's a community where a racially mixed group of police officers are facing trial this year in connection with the in-custody death of a black man, Freddie Gray . . . Baltimore is a city with all of the problems of Ferguson.”

In other words Baltimore’s a perfect testing ground for Mckesson’s message of police brutality and unequal justice. The media gave him an enthusiastic sendoff. “It is hard to imagine that many mayoral race announcements . . . would generate stories in The Washington Post, the New York Times and on CNN.com.”

Mckesson, too, faced a multi-candidate field with shop-worn establishment candidates.

Sen. Catherine Pugh part of the “leadership” Baltimore rioters were protesting and she represents the neighborhoods that burned.

Pugh was joined by former mayor Sheila Dixon who resigned in disgrace and was convicted of stealing money meant for needy families. Fringe candidates include a white one-percenter with lots of money, a white female prosecutor and an incumbent city council member.

If Mckesson and his movement really reflected the thinking of the black community this was a lineup tailor made for overwhelming victory.

What a shock it must have been when even the white folks beat Mckesson.

Pugh totaled 37 percent; the felon 34 percent and Mckesson trailed the field with a risible 2 percent.

Trump’s victory didn’t mean validation. He remains beyond the pale to the expense–account leftists covering his campaign. While Mckesson’s humiliating rejection did nothing to deter mainstream media fanboys.

The Times explains: “He may not have won but . . . Mr. Mckesson’s campaign was considered a major step into the mainstream for the Black Lives Matter movement.”

The fact that step was unaccompanied by voters or measurable support from the community it allegedly represents is not important to the media.

As the Daily Mail gushed, “the national revulsion over videos of police officers shooting to death black men in Minnesota and Louisiana was undeniable proof that the group’s message of outrage and demands for justice had finally broken through.”

Rush Limbaugh isn’t exaggerating when he calls the mainstream media  “Democrats with bylines,” and the public isn’t wrong to hold them in contempt.

Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher (for the League of American Voters), and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian’s Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with added humor!)." Read more of Michael Shannon's reports — Go Here Now.