Corporate media cheered President Joe Biden’s Wednesday announcement of withdrawing remaining U.S. forces in Afghanistan by Sept. 11 this year after the same outlets raised hysteria when President Donald Trump pursued the same policy. The former Republican president announced drawdowns of U.S. troops in 2019 and 2020. He was attacked not only by corporate media but also deliberately undermined and lied to by high-ranking federal personnel.
As outlined in a lengthy Twitter thread by Republican public affairs consultant Drew Holden, legacy outlets met Biden’s announcement with a sharp contrast in tone to the hysterical coverage that greeted Trump’s same pursuits just months ago.
CNN highlighted testimony from foreign policy professionals opposed to the troop withdrawal while Trump was still president, amplifying those who said the decision to pull down forces in Afghanistan “reckless.” For Biden, on the other hand, CNN showed him being praised by former President Barack Obama for “bold leadership.”
One of the things I’ve discussed before is how outlets can frame the narrative they want by focusing on people who support or oppose a certain policy. It’s misleading, but also a calling card of @CNN. pic.twitter.com/sypGhatZdZ
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 14, 2021
The New York Times engaged in a similar double-standard, offering “news analysis” of Trump’s announcements to pull out of Afghanistan that said it was playing into terrorists’ hands. Biden was merely quoted as justifying his decision.
For Trump, we hear about the “fears” of Afghan officials from @nytimes.
Biden, on the other hand, gets a sympathetic write up despite being the second most powerful man in the country during the height of US forces. Just incredible memoryholing here. pic.twitter.com/2vu2GdBqxR
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 14, 2021
Time Magazine, which refused to call Iranian terrorist Qasem Soleimani a terrorist in January of last year, was no different.
“Can Donald Trump accept defeat in Afghanistan?” the publication questioned under Trump on the premise removal was concession while quoting comedian-journalist Trevor Noah, who compared the strategy to German dictator Adolf Hitler’s. Biden on the other hand, enjoyed free advertising.
Also, what even is this, @TIME? pic.twitter.com/yM62TPK9q5
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 14, 2021
Over at MSNBC, it’s the same story. By withdrawing from Afghanistan after nearly two decades, Trump was engaged in dangerous behavior. Biden, however, is making “the right call.”
So much of today’s coverage reads as if nothing had ever been said to the contrary by anyone on @MSNBC pic.twitter.com/qSNnMg0k09
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 14, 2021
The Washington Post, which infamously eulogized an ISIS terrorist as an “austere religious leader” in its 2019 obituary, predictably followed suit, highlighting warnings from the Pentagon with Trump’s announcement and celebrating Biden when he made the same call.
“Trump administration to cut troop levels in Afghanistan despite Pentagon warnings,” the Trump-resistance paper wrote in November.
But under Biden, the paper celebrated that “America’s longest war may soon be coming to an end.”
Some places, like @NPR, don’t even seem to be trying at this rate.
Were no military leaders worried when Biden made the decision to do the same thing? pic.twitter.com/FET0KE1DeE
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) April 14, 2021
NPR also hyped fears among “military leaders” under Trump’s decision without the same framing applied to Biden’s in the lede.
There is no shortage of blatant double-standards of corporate coverage under the Biden administration White House to the immediate predecessor, even less than six months into the new administration. That’s so whether it’s the coverage of familial scandal to the sex of the White House communications team to the erosion of norms through the unusual termination of career bureaucrats.
In February, news broke that attorneys at the Justice Department appointed by the previous administration were asked to resign by the Biden administration. When Trump did the same thing in 2017, legacy outlets hysterically charged the president with sparking needless controversy.
A tale of two presidencies pic.twitter.com/fNWoNzEXoD
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) February 9, 2021
Source: The Federalist
