MSNBC’s Katie Phang, host of the show named after her, pointed out that calls for President Joe Biden to withdraw discount his first term successes, writing:
“The only person who can, and will, decide whether Joe Biden drops out is Joe Biden.
I, personally, support Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee. I think calls for him to withdraw discount his first termâs successes, of which there are many. It also ignores some practical realities that cannot be overlooked a mere months away from Election Day.
Covering the latest news about this issue will happen because itâs the news. Ultimately, that info is distilled and processed by those consuming that news. Iâll bring you that info and Iâll share my perspective, and then youâll decide how best to move forward with it.
I trust YOU to trust ME that Iâll always endeavor to do the right thing by all of you. Thatâs my promise.”
Phang’s statement is pragmatic, transparent, upfront and accountable. This is what you should expect from everyone in the media. Claims that they have no bias are dishonest, as there are few people who work in news and therefore are aware of the events of the last nine years in a country as divided as the USA is who haven’t chosen a president yet.
As to her point about Biden’s successful first term being ignored, President Biden was rated by 154 historians and presidential experts as the 14th best president in history and he hasn’t even finished his first term yet. That is truly an accomplishment of which voters should be cognizant.
Felon Donald J. Trump is dead last. Not because he’s a felon, this rating was published in February of 2024 and conducted from November 15 to December 31, 2023.
One of President Biden’s biggest challenges is how to convey the scope and breadth of his policy achievements to people without sounding like a professor due to the sheer size and impact of his transformative policies.
President Biden isn’t perfect, but no one has suggested he is. What voters have told me they feel about the President recently is: “He’s a good guy,” “He’s a decent guy doing a good job,” and “He sacrificed so much to run for president because he saw the threat Trump posed.”
That kind of good will isn’t easy to earn in a long political career, and it’s lightening in a bottle as far as candidates go, because even though Biden has an objectively impressive policy record, many people will vote on their gut feeling. They will vote for who they like. They will vote for the person they want their kids to hear on the TV for the next four years.
It was obvious in the swing voters’ reactions to the debate that the media says Biden lost that they were very turned off by Trump every time he opened his mouth. This is something the media ignores about Trump, because he has made the media so much money and since he left office the stability of the Biden White House has allowed people to focus on their own lives instead of being in a state of terror and chaos on the Trump roller-coaster.Even Trump voters tell me they are embarrassed by Trump and they found his “drama” exhausting.
Katie Phang’s statement is a breath of fresh air in a media that is drowning in its own sludge and turning readers and viewers off as it pins its financial hopes on a Trump presidency.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Connect with Sarah on Post, Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.