If this were a typical presidential campaign, Donald Trump‘s selection of JD Vance as his running mate on the Republican ticket would have likely dominated media discussions for a week or two. This is not a typical presidential campaign. On Monday, that choice was just part of the mix. On the opening day of the Republican convention two days after an assassination attempt on Trump, news organizations juggled several major stories and grappled with the uncertainty of whether political violence would change the tone of their coverage. Would a lowering of volume on political combat that some, including President Joe Biden, had called for in the wake of Saturday’s shooting be evident at news outlets that many say live for the fight?
Quick Read
- Trump’s economic plans include proposed tariffs, tax cuts and no taxes on tips. Details are scarce:
- RNC focuses on economy despite shooting: The Republican National Convention opened Monday with an emphasis on the economy, even after the shooting at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania.
- Promises without specifics: Trump and speakers claimed he would fix inflation and restore prosperity, but provided few details or concrete policy plans.
- Broad economic goals: Trump’s platform includes tariffs on trade partners, eliminating taxes on tips, lowering the corporate tax rate slightly, and increasing fossil fuel production.
- Deportation and policy rollbacks: Plans include the “largest deportation program in American history” and scrapping Biden’s policies on electric vehicles and renewable energy.
- Economic criticism: Economists and Democrats argue Trump’s ideas could cause significant inflation, harm the middle class, and increase national debt by over $5 trillion.
- Lack of response to inquiries: The Trump campaign declined to answer 20 basic economic questions from the Associated Press.
- Biden’s detailed proposals: Biden has a comprehensive 188-page budget proposal outlining his economic vision, contrasting with Trump’s lack of specifics.
- Economic impact of deportations: The Peterson Institute estimated that deporting 1.3 million workers would shrink the U.S. economy by 2.1%, effectively causing a recession.
- Support from some economists: Stephen Moore, a Heritage Foundation economist, supports Trump, citing his past performance and pragmatic approach.
- Concerns over extremism: Democrats worry Trump would be more extreme in a second term, using federal agencies to settle scores and enacting radical policies.
- Bipartisan backing for some ideas: Trump’s plan to ban taxes on tips has bipartisan support, including from Nevada’s Democratic senators.
- Corporate tax and tariff plans: Trump’s corporate tax rate cut is favored by businesses, but his tariff plans are criticized for potentially worsening inflation and increasing consumer costs.
- Tariff analysis: Economists Kimberly Clausing and Mary Lovely estimate Trump’s tariffs could cost households $1,700 annually and act as a tax hike.
- Political strategy of tariffs: Despite economic drawbacks, tariffs may appeal politically in industrial areas that lost jobs to international competition.
- Inflation concerns: Trump’s proposed tariffs on over $3 trillion of imports could significantly raise prices and exacerbate inflation.
- Potential disaster: Clausing warned that such tariffs could be disastrous for the economy, making everything more expensive for consumers.
The Associated Press has the story:
Did Trump assassination attempt’s aftermath change the media tone?
Newslooks- (AP)
Digging into seismic events, hoping for some wisdom
Coming from a man known for his understanding of political theater, Trump’s rollout of his Vance selection on Monday afternoon was understated. First, news organizations were fed word that two men thought to be on his short list — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum — had been told they had not been chosen.
Shortly thereafter, Trump announced the choice of the Ohio senator in a post on his Truth Social outlet. Vance was later seen on the floor of the GOP convention in Milwaukee, accepting handshakes and hugs of congratulation.
As she spoke with politicians at the convention, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins put the question to a handful of interview subjects: How would the assassination attempt change the tone of the Republican gathering? There was an obvious sadness, U.S. Sen. Katie Britt answered. But the conversation then turned to an accusation against the media. “I really wish the media would do a better job of covering it when we do work together,” Britt said.
There was a bitter exchange earlier between the former president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and MSNBC reporter Jacob Soboroff on the convention floor when the reporter asked for specifics about what Trump’s father would do on the immigrant issue. “I expect nothing less from you clowns even today,” Trump said. “Even 48 hours later, you couldn’t wait. You couldn’t wait with your lies and with your nonsense. So just get out of here.”
Unusual day for MSNBC
It was an eventful, and odd, day for MSNBC. The network had pre-empted its opinion programming on Sunday for an NBC News Now straight news simulcast of news surrounding the assassination attempt.
But it was noticed Monday when MSNBC did not air its “Morning Joe” program, which is often filled with anti-Trump commentary from the husband-and-wife team of Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, and their colleagues. The network denied a CNN report that executives were concerned that someone on the show might make an inappropriate remark, and said “Morning Joe” would be back on Tuesday.
It didn’t take long for MSNBC’s opinionated programming to make its return on Monday. The network opened its convention coverage with Rachel Maddow reciting a lengthy list of unflattering things Vance had said about Trump during the former president’s early years in politics. The network’s five-woman anchor team — Maddow, Joy Reid, Jen Psaki, Nicolle Wallace and Alex Wagner — assailed Vance’s views on abortion. “The pick of JD Vance is saying to women, go to hell,” Reid said.
Biden makes an appearance
Over on Fox News Channel, Brit Hume predicted Vance would “run rings” around Vice President Kamala Harris in a debate. Jessica Tarlov and Greg Gutfeld battled over which party was more guilty of inflammatory rhetoric.
Both NBC and MSNBC set aside programming for 20 minutes at 9 p.m. Eastern to air an interview Lester Holt conducted with President Biden earlier in the day — one where the anchor was forced to revamp his list of questions since it was arranged last week.
Holt asked Biden about his phone call to Trump after the shooting and confronted the president about whether a statement he had made last week was too provocative. Biden had told donors that after the presidential debate, “it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye” and said Monday that was a mistake. Holt asked about Vance’s choice and a judge’s decision Monday to throw out a case against Trump for taking classified documents.
Questions about whether or not Biden would stay in the race following a poor performance in the debate against Trump — which thoroughly dominated last week’s news cycle — didn’t come up until past the halfway point in the interview.
Even then, the president flashed annoyance, suggesting the spotlight should instead be on Trump for things the Republican said in the debate that were untrue. He disputed Holt’s statement that Trump had been called out for false comments. “Sometime come and talk to me about what we should be talking about — the issues,” Biden told Holt.
