Beltway Insiders Ari Fleischer, Bill Kristol and David Brooks Get into Twitter Fight Over…Access Journalism?
Fox News contributor Ari Fleischer is drawing criticism over his whataboutism defense for the level of contact between his network colleagues and former President Donald Trump.
The Washington Post released a report on the House Select Committee for January 6th and their release of text messages showing the entanglement between Fox News and the Trump White House. The texts have been a source of major media intrigue for the past month, due to the revelation that several of Trump’s biggest media allies reached out to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows during the attack, begging that he get Trump to call off his supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol.
The article features multiple Trump administration alumni describing how Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro and other Fox figures had access to Trump or held influence over his decision-making. The article delves into how these Fox Newsers advised the administration on messaging, staff meetings and political strategy.
Of course, the revolving-door phenomenon at the intersection of the media and politics is not exclusive to the Trump administration. Jen Psaki became White House press secretary after working as a CNN contributor, Symone Sanders is about to join MSNBC after working for Vice President Kamala Harris, and Fox hired Kayleigh McEnany after her time with the Trump administration was over.
In any case, Fleischer reacted to the Post article with a deflection as he asked what do the texts look like between Democrats and others in the media.
“I wonder what it would look like if MSM anchors, columnists and reporters released their texts to Obama officials, Hillary’s campaign team as well as Biden’s staff,” Fleischer wondered.
I wonder what it would look like if MSM anchors, columnists and reporters released their texts to Obama officials, Hillary’s campaign team as well as Biden’s staff. https://t.co/c4CnMXTBFb
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) January 9, 2022
This whataboutism didn’t go unnoticed, so Fleischer was called out for it. Among the most vocal critics were New York Times columnist David Brooks, and The Bulwark’s Bill Kristol.
Ari, this is inaccurate cynicism. I have never heard of one of my colleagues doing anything like what the Fox pundits did with Trump. Not even in the same universe. https://t.co/DrqoaE9QZi
— David Brooks (@nytdavidbrooks) January 9, 2022
David, you’re too nice to Ari. This isn’t inaccurate cynicism. This is disingenuous gaslighting and dishonest whataboutism. If Ari saw every text from all your colleagues, it wouldn’t matter. Because the truth no longer matters to the Ari Fleischers of the world. https://t.co/kDadxM1oCF
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) January 10, 2022
[Me to the cameras, as police haul me away] Oh, like YOUR freezers aren’t also filled with the dismembered body parts of missing drifters https://t.co/8X5JKVllE3
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) January 9, 2022
And of course we actually did see campaign and DNC emails in 2016 thanks to the attacks and…nope.
— Jonathan Bernstein (@jbview) January 9, 2022
This is classic Limbaugh style propagandistic ethical sleaze. No evidence “just asking the question” knowing that the low information dupes who take him seriously will draw the conclusion that he wants. https://t.co/cKJLbUgTb5
— Steve Metz (@steven_metz) January 10, 2022
