That’s right. In addition to using various media figures to attack Trump, Media Matters went out of its way to launch an attack on not just Trump but Roger Ailes of Fox News (then departed from Fox), former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Trump adviser Steve Bannon and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
None of the non-presidential candidates had been accused of rape, as had Bill Clinton by Juanita Broaddrick. Media Matters instead portrayed them as “philanderers” – as if being a philanderer (no applause for that here) was the same as rape.
This attempt at serious deflection from the Bill Clinton rape allegation and the enabling of his behavior by Hillary Clinton was a way for the Hillary obsessives of Media Matters to brazenly ignore the obvious. Which the Trump campaign refused to let them do.
How does Media Matters play their deflection game? This is Media Matters when discussing Giuliani:
“That same year, the news broke that Giuliani was having an affair with Judith Nathan. At taxpayer expense, Nathan received chauffeur service from the New York Police Department, as well as police protection. Giuliani and Hanover filed for divorce, and he later married Nathan, who is his current wife.”
But when the subject is not having an affair but actual rape – as made by Juanita Broaddrick of Bill Clinton? Or being groped in the Oval Office, as charged by Kathleen Willey? Here’s Media Matters on the subject during the campaign when Trump accurately raised the subject:
“Right-wing media have bolstered Donald Trump’s campaign strategy of falsely claiming that Hillary Clinton has targeted women who have accused her husband, former President Bill Clinton, of sexual misconduct, in order to distract from numerous reports that Trump sexually assaulted several women. Multiple independent fact-checkers and media organizations have debunked the claims as unsubstantiated, calling them an ‘exaggeration too far.’”
The charges by these women, according to Media Matters, have suddenly been “debunked.” They are “falsely claimed.” They are “unsubstantiated.”
Now? Now, in response to the Harvey Weinstein stories and those of a growing list of Hollywood stars, attention has finally returned again to the Clintons. This time even some Democrats are abandoning the Clinton ship.
But Media Matters? No, bursting with their selective outrage they are still obsessing how to defend Hillary and Bill while targeting serious victims of sexual assault.
Isn’t time to debunk Media Matters?