When ABC News’s Martha Raddatz pushed a Trump lie about the recount to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sanders shot back with the facts and set the mainstream media straight.
Video:
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Transcript via ABC’s This Week:
RADDATZ: I want to talk about this recount that’s going to go on.
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You said right after the election that it’s over, Mr. Trump will be the next president and Democrats must focus on the realities of where we are.
So are they wrong to do this recent and question the election’s results?
SANDERS: The Democrats, Martha, are not doing the recount. I trust that you know that was initiated by the Green Party, who has every right in the world to do it…
RADDATZ: I’m aware of that, but Hillary Clinton has joined in.
SANDERS: Well, of course they joined in. It’s taking a (INAUDIBLE). We will see what happens. It’s a legal right. It’s not a big deal. I don’t think anybody, Secretary Clinton or anybody else, thinks that there’s going to be profound changes. And we will see what happens.
But the focus right now has got to be doing everything that we can to address the real issues facing the working families of this country.
Mr. Trump talked about dissolving, doing away with The Affordable Care Act, throwing 20 million Americans off of health insurance.
What happens to those people?
He talked about the need to make college more affordable.
Is he serious about doing that?
Donald Trump tweeted earlier in the morning that Hillary Clinton was behind the recount. Less than two hours later, ABC’s Martha Raddatz used Trump’s lie as the basis for a question to Sen. Sanders.
The mainstream press is legitimizing Trump’s lies by reporting them as truth. Hillary Clinton is not behind the recount. The Democratic Party is not behind the recount. Sen. Sanders’ answer on the recount was in lockstep with the official answer given by the Clinton campaign.
Martha Raddatz was one of the media attendees at the off the record meeting with Trump in Trump Tower. According to reports, Trump used the session to yell at the press. That bullying appears to have paid dividends, as journalists like Martha Raddatz are using Trump’s tweets as a factual basis for their questions.
The corporate media is not going to stand up to Donald Trump. They are already acting like state-run press for the incoming Trump administration.
Democrats need to do what Sen. Sanders did in every single interview. When dealing the Trump fawning press, challenge the basis for their questions, and when they are wrong, correct them.
The mainstream press can’t be trusted, so it will be up to Democrats and the left to check Donald Trump.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
