CNN anchor John King demonstrated his network’s dramatic double standard toward the current president and his Democratic opponent within a half hour on Memorial Day. President Trump has a Twitter feed “full of hate and spite,” and Joe Biden properly wore a mask and has a “strong tie to military families.”
At 12:16 PM Eastern time, King couldn’t maintain a somber, objective tone for more than a few sentences before launching into editorializing about the president’s Twitter feed, which often calls CNN “Fake News.”
JOHN KING: The President of the United States speaking this Memorial Day at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, the birthplace of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” You see the President there, enjoying some of the ceremony after his remarks there, very solemn remarks, and the President paying tribute to fallen and their families, also touching on the coronavirus threat, saying we are in a new form of battle against an invisible enemy.
The President sticking to the teleprompter there. It can seem a bit of a parallel universe if you watch the President in these official events and then take look at his Twitter feed. You see two very different tones. This one here — solemn, fitting. The other one, I’ll just say, not so much — full of hate and spite and grievances.
But just half an hour earlier, at 11:49 AM, King brought on correspondent Arlette Saenz to champion how the Bidens were out honoring the war dead, but carefully wearing masks (unlike you know who). Saenz also gushed about the Bidens having “a strong tie to the military families” and working in that “their own son” Beau Biden served in Iraq before succumbing to brain cancer five years ago. (In fact, Jill was Beau’s stepmother.)
JOHN KING: Arlette, on this Memorial Day, the former president is at home paying tribute to the fallen, as it is appropriate. And it’s worth noting, we have not seen him out in public in quite some time.
ARLETTE SAENZ: Yes, that’s right, John. This is Joe Biden’s first public appearance since March 12th when he gave the speech related to coronavirus right here in Wilmington, Delaware.
You saw the former vice president and his wife, Jill Biden, laying the wreath at that memorial for those who served and died during World War II and the Korean War. You saw the precautions they took. They were wearing those face masks. Biden has talked about, while he’s been home, he’s been wearing face masks and gloves around Secret Service or other aides who maybe have come into his home. But now, in his first public appearance, we are seeing he’s following through with that protocol as well.
Both of the Bidens have a strong tie to the military families. Jill Biden, while she was second lady, worked a lot, extensively with military families and children. And their own son, Beau Biden, served in Iraq as part of the Delaware Army National Guard. The five-year anniversary of his passing from brain cancer is later this week.
So the Bidens today making their first public appearance since the coronavirus pandemic really put the country and the nation at a standstill. And this is the first time that we have seen Biden out in public since March 12th — John?
Consider this a preview. If Biden wins in November, CNN’s tone will change again, from fiercely oppositional to caring nurturers of the president. If you loved the Obama years, it will be like a comfy old rerun.
