Frank Luntz Goes After CNN’s Brian Stelter: It’s ‘Disgusting’ Media Doesn’t Give POTUS Credit
Pollster Frank Luntz and CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter butted heads about their coverage of President Trump‘s summit.
It all began when Trump slammed the media in a tweet about North Korea by declaring “Fake News” outlets like CNN and NBC as the “biggest enemy” for their negative coverage of the summit on Wednesday. Stelter reacted to the tweet on-air by calling it “absolutely disgusting” and a “form of poison.”
Luntz then went after Stelter on Twitter for putting so much focus on Trump’s tweet, prompting the following exchange:
Over half of all Americans (51%) say they approve of how President Trump has handled North Korea.
And this is what you’re focused on?
?? https://t.co/MOLD3xXIRj https://t.co/F8mCKmcKDX
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) June 13, 2018
I think it was worth 4 minutes of air time, yes. NK was a far greater part of the hour. Most Americans don’t think Trump is fit for office, and these kinds of tweets are one of the reasons why.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 13, 2018
There’s a whole world outside of Blue Checkmark Twitter. And most of them (77%) think the media does indeed report fake news: https://t.co/f8UAkcGk91
Try covering stories they care about, not just sounding DEFCON alarms any time Trump jabs your employer.https://t.co/irqaje5IXp
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) June 13, 2018
4 minutes out of 60. Lots of time for “stories people care about.” Hey, if you become a cable news producer, I’ll definitely watch your program
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 13, 2018
I’ll give you a free idea, so I’m not just attacking without solutions:
Cancel your show, and replace it with a Heartland news show covering issues affecting people outside of the Beltway and Blue Checkmark Twitter
You can call it “First-Hand Accounts.”https://t.co/yzySC3dWk9
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) June 13, 2018
Well, Luntz continued his criticism of Stelter during his appearance on The Ingraham Angle.
The pollster began by acknowledging that Trump’s polling is now better than President Obama at this point in his presidency and how “nobody talks about that.” He then asked how anyone could be so “critical” of the president between the strong economy and jobs numbers and the promising talks with North Korea. And while he argued that Trump’s growing favorability will help the GOP as a whole, their enthusiasm is still overshadowed by the Democratic base. However, he did stress the “significance” of Trump’s summit with North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un, comparing it to President Nixon‘s trip to China.
Laura Ingraham then played the clip of Stelter calling Trump’s attack on the media “disgusting.”
“You know what? It’s ‘disgusting’ that they don’t give him credit for what he’s done over the last 72 hours,” Luntz reacted, opting to ignore the substance of Trump’s tweet.
“That they don’t give him credit for an economy that is truly improved. They’re getting what they deserve by the tone and the demeanor of the coverage. They’re actually helping not just the Republicans, they’re helping to reelect Donald Trump should he run again.”
Watch the clip above, via Fox News.
