Liberal media bias is a fact that "is not worth disputing," Washington Post national political reporter David Weigel admits.
Asked during an appearance on "The Hard Line" on
Newsmax TV about the growing perception among Americans that there is rampant liberal bias in the media in the
wake of the heavily-criticized Oct. 28 Republican presidential debate hosted by CNBC, Weigel acknowledged to host Ed Berliner that "I think there's a cultural bias on social issues, definitely. A bias [that determines] who gets into the media. That's not worth disputing in my view."
"The idea that the media is just an amorphous ideology-free organism that has no bias whatsoever, that's not worth pretending about. There are reporters who work to be that way but the climate we come from, the education we have, etc. leans people in a certain direction. "
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National Review senior editor Jay Nordlinger, also appearing on the program, sees the bias as self-evident and says GOP candidates must be able to deal with it as part of the campaign process.
"It's a fact of life. Republicans are long used to it," he said.
"I quote my [National Review] colleague Kate O'Beirne, who said some years ago 'it's like we' – meaning Republicans – 'run every race with a weight tied to our ankle.'
"We just have to be better.
"This bias needs to be assumed and an adept candidate such as Chris Christie can turn media hostility to his advantage. Certainly in the primary, the general election, that's a little dicier."
As for the struggling campaign of Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, Nordlinger says that with the financial backing he has and the fact that he has been campaigning for months already, it makes no sense for Bush to drop out of the race before Iowa and New Hampshire have even held their primaries.
"He's been campaigning for president for months now, maybe more, and it's probably too early to give up," Nordlinger says. "I myself, if I were running, would want to give voters a chance to vote against me before dropping out.
"These early dropouts such as Tim Pawlenty four years ago and Scott Walker and Rick Perry this year, I don't fully understand. I myself would want to make Iowans and New Hampshirites and others vote against me if the money were there. And for Jeb I assume it is. "
Weigel said he is not surprised to see Bush struggling since he never expected much from his campaign anyway.
When asked if Bush has absorbed too much damage at this point to mount a winning campaign, Weigel said:
"I don't know that he's in a good position to even damage in the first place. I've always been very bearish on Jeb Bush as a nominee. I just don't see the logic if you're a Republican voter who just watched your party win a landslide in 2014 – I don't see the logic in settling for someone like Jeb Bush.
"If you look at his approval numbers, he's always been very low. He's been behind [Donald] Trump for most of the year, he's been in the 40s, and this is after months of campaign advertising and about nine months of campaigning personally.
"There's just no evidence that voters really will even want to give the guy a chance, especially when they got a field of really impressive candidates."
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