Welcome to another edition of Head-to-Head, where News Views demonstrates how conservative media can be so easily dismantled with facts.
The Head-to-Head theme gives readers the chance to let their Jessica Tarlov flags fly. Enjoy!
Today’s example is an opinion piece from Christopher Tremoglie at the Washington Examiner:
“Yes, Byron Donalds should be the next speaker of the House“
Let’s preface our examination of a Washington Examiner article with a Media Bias/Fact Check report that lists this fish wrap as Right Biased based on editorial positions that almost exclusively favor the right and Mixed for factual reporting due to several failed fact checks.
After Florida Man Byron Donalds announced his candidacy for the vacant Speaker of the House position, Mr. Tremoglie, the author, jubilantly declares, “It’s about time!” because he advocated for a Donalds speakership back in January.
I will say now what I said then: He is “everything any Republican could ever want in a politician, let alone speaker of the House.”
Apparently Donalds’ selling point is thus: “My sole focus will be securing our border, funding our government responsibly, advancing a conservative vision for the House of Representatives and the American people, and expanding our Republican majority,” he said.
Tremoglie notes a Donalds speakership would:
- … be a refreshing change of pace to see a candidate for House speaker acknowledge and embrace being a conservative instead of trying to hide from that fact
- … a promotion of reforms of the education system
- … and of course, because conservatives believe in the identity politics in which “diversity” and “representation” matter, Republicans have the opportunity to elect the first black speaker of the House in history
Tremoglie defends Donalds congressional inexperience (elected in 2020) in a comparison to Barack Obama, who Tremoglie declares served only half his term as a U.S. Senator who essentially campaigned during most of that time. Also, if experience really mattered, according to the author, Joe Biden would be much more effective as President.
In these perilous times, Donalds is the kind of change that Republicans need. He has shown he won’t shy away from doing what is right. It’s time Republicans give Byron Donalds a chance.
The Rebuttal
Ocasio-Cortez is referring to a fake image Byron Donalds presented during a House “impeachment” hearing in September, when Donalds was trying to pass off a text “screen shot,” purportedly showing Hunter Biden had business dealings with Joe Biden when it did not.
Facts First from CNN: Donalds didn’t invent the James Biden text message, but Ocasio-Cortez was correct that Donalds left out critical context – specifically, context that showed there was no sign that the purported text exchange between James Biden and Hunter Biden was about business dealings. The information released by House Republicans this week appeared to show that James Biden’s purported text about getting “help” from Joe Biden came in direct response to a purported Hunter Biden text saying he could not afford alimony, school tuition for his children, food and gas “w/o [without] Dad.” Donalds did not display this purported Hunter Biden text at the Thursday hearing.
Your turn, News Viewers warriors!
