NewsBusters Podcast: The Media Obsess Over the Trump Indictment

The media’s Trump obsession overflowed on Arraignment Day in New York City. They loved analyzing Trump’s grumpiness in photographs taken in the court room, but they didn’t love the substance of the actual indictment once it was widely released. The legal analysts expressed concerns that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg didn’t explain how misdemeanors could be promoted into felony counts, and there could be problems with the statute of limitations.

NewsBusters Associate Editor Nick Fondacaro joins the show to discuss all the video tweets we put out to analyze the events. At first, analysts like CNN’s Jamie Gangel were excited to note from photographs that Trump looks like “he’s in custody. He’s in their control. I think this is very striking.” But then lawyers who hate Trump — like his former appointee John Bolton — announced on CNN “I’m extraordinarly distressed by this document…This is even weaker than I feared it would be.”

It was especially funny when Rachel Maddow announced MSNBC would be running no live coverage of Trump’s speech in Florida, because it’s the usual routine of “lies” and “grievances” about his “perceived enemies” (like he has none). But then she says MSNBC is such a serious news network: “there’s a cost to us as a news organization of knowingly broadcasting untrue things.”

Enjoy the podcast below or wherever you check out podcasts. Thanks for listening.