So many lies and smears by Republican Party of Virginia Chair John Whitbeck on today’s Kojo Nnamdi Show (see below), so little (basically zero) pushback from either Kojo Nnamdi or Tom Sherwood. I mean, why even have hosts do interviews with political guests if they’re just going to provide a platform for the guest(s) to lie and smear, without being challenged in any way? Just a few examples:
1. Whitbeck equates Bob McDonnell and Hillary Clinton. The obvious pushback? See here: “there is no clear evidence that Clinton did anything because of donations that her charity received, and unlike McDonnell — who received golf outings, vacations and other personal financial benefits — Clinton pocketed nothing herself.” Yet no pushback from Kojo Nnamdi or Tom Sherwood on this bulls***.
2. Whitbeck absurdly claims that the McAuliffe administration has been an “utter disaster”, the top disaster being restoring ex-felons’ voting rights, and that McAuliffe’s now in “contempt of court.” Basically, all of that is AT BEST wild exaggeration, at worst totally false, yet again, no pushback from the hosts.
3. Whitbeck claims that Tim Kaine has “completely compromised his integrity to join this ticket,” that “this election has really exposed Kaine’s true character,” says that “if they need [Kaine] to lie about her talking to the press, he’ll lie about it…he’ll do anything he can.” Again, at best, these are wild exaggerations, at worst outright smears and lies, yet again, no pushback to speak of from the hosts.
4. Whitbeck claims he doesn’t care about what’s in either Hillary Clinton’s or Donald Trump’s tax returns and people need to get off of that. WTF? I mean, even 62 percent of Republicans want Trump’s tax returns. More substantively, as this Boston Globe editorial explains: “every major-party nominee for more than 40 years has done so. The lone exception, so far, is Donald Trump.” And as this Washington Post editorial argues: “The information Americans lack about Mr. Trump concerns not his personality, which is all too evident, but his life’s work before entering politics — his business record and tax history…Mr. Trump is evading transparency and eroding one of the country’s essential democratic norms. As his family seeks to reintroduce him to the nation with a series of testimonials this week, Mr. Trump should do his part and keep his word: Release the tax returns.” Yet none of those points were made by either Kojo Nnamdi or Tom Sherwood. Why not?
I mean, I’m just about beyond disgust and disappointment with the media this election cycle, but mostly it’s been the corporate media. Unfortunately, when it comes to Virginia politics, it’s also public radio, specifically the Kojo Nnamdi Show, which consistently fails to ask tough questions of right wingnuts (e.g., Corey Stewart, now John Whitbeck) they have on their show. Total #FAIL
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