‘Trump Clean’ to ‘Paranoia, Lies and Fear’: Here’s How Top Newspapers Covered the Mueller Report
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s massive report on his investigation into President Donald Trump and Russian interference in the 2016 election was released publicly on Thursday. It was sprawling in scope and detail, clocking in at 448 pages, with only a few redactions to frustrate reporters.
Let’s start withTrump’s hometown tabloids, which printed front pages from entirely different worlds on Friday morning.
The New York Post, the Murdoch-owned tabloid that oscillates between Trump-skeptic and Trump-fanatic, went full Goodwin: “TRUMP CLEAN. No crimes committed. Dem hoax destroyed.”
The New York Daily News, meanwhile, carried the resistance torch, focusing its cover on Attorney General Bill Barr: “LOW BARR. Trump’s toady AG muddles findings on obstruction, collusion as Dems vow to subpoena.”
Meanwhile, top national newspapers in the United States dropped thick special editions to handle coverage. The New York Times rolled out the gray carpet for the report, publishing a 16-page special section that included summaries and highlights, as well as annotations and analysis from the paper’s editorial team.
The Washington Post decided to match that with their own 16-page special section.
On the front pages, both papers focused on Russian interference and, notably, Trump’s attempts to thwart Mueller’s investigation:
The Times led its coverage with a detailed — and damning — report from Maggie Haberman and Peter Baker (Online headline: A Portrait of the White House and Its Culture of Dishonesty; Print headline: Culture of Chaos Rooted in the Oval Office).
It kicks off with a quote from Trump, revealed in the Mueller report, from when he first found out a special counsel was being appointed: “I’m fucked.”
The key graf from the Times report:
The White House that emerges from more than 400 pages of Mr. Mueller’s report is a hotbed of conflict infused by a culture of dishonesty — defined by a president who lies to the public and his own staff, then tries to get his aides to lie for him. Mr. Trump repeatedly threatened to fire lieutenants who did not carry out his wishes while they repeatedly threatened to resign rather than cross lines of propriety or law.
The Washington Post was equally scathing, with its top story penned by Phillip Rucker and Robert Costa (Online headline: Paranoia, lies and fear: Trump’s presidency laid bare by Mueller report; Print headline: Again and again, president’s aides refused to cary out his orders).
Key graf:
The vivid portrait that emerges from Mueller’s 448-page report is of a presidency plagued by paranoia, insecurity and scheming — and of an inner circle gripped by fear of Trump’s spasms. Again and again, Trump frantically pressured his aides to lie to the public, deny true news stories and fabricate a false record.
Well will update this story should the president himself decide to comment on the state of the print news media this Friday morning.
[Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images]
