Huffington Post is the site that embarrassed itself by refusing for months to take the Trump candidacy seriously, relegating Trump coverage to its Entertainment section while explaining to readers that the Trump campaign was simply a “sideshow.”
So it’s notable that it was HuffPo’s Sam Stein, of all people, who testified to the decency of Trump supporters on today’s Morning Joe, saying he found them “kind, very nice” and that there was no “blood in the streets.” Stein and Joe Scarborough contrasted the decency ofTrump supporters with the scare story on the front page of today’s New York Times, headlined “Some Donald Trump Voters Warn of Revolution if Hillary Clinton Wins.”
In contrast, Hillary supporter Donny Deutsch spoke of the “rage” among Trump supporters. Scarborough shot back that there is rage on both sides, but that the national media “only sees it through their own goggles. There’s only rage on one side all the time.”
SAM STEIN: So I was at a rally. We were attending a Trump rally in Springfield, Ohio, and we were just talking to a bunch of attendees about what happens potentially on the day after the election. The New York Time had this big story about rioting in the streets. First of all: the people at the Trump rally: kind people. They don’t care about rioting. They understand the stakes of the election, they’re very invested in it. There’s no blood in the streets.. . .JOE SCARBOROUGH: You’re exactly right, Sam. And I want to thank you. I’m serious about this. I want to thank you for what you say about Trump supporters. I read stories on the front page of the New York Times, which is a paper I love and respect and read every day. It is my paper that I read every day. But when I see headlines “Trump backers see revolution if Clinton wins,” it’s deeply insulting to people like my brother, people like Nicolle [Wallace’s] parents and to the people that you see and the people that most people see when you go out to these rallies. Yes, there’s always bad apples in every crowd but to suggest that they are, like, these people, the Bundys, who I just can’t even begin to imagine how any jury on this planet could acquit those people. I’m sure that all of the jurors were talking about they love the constitution. How about the rule of law? There is no such thing as rule of law I guess in that. It’s just absolutely staggering to me that the jury acquitted all those defendants in the case who just basically spit at the rule of law. But anyway, Sam, back to your point, there’s going to be no blood in the streets. And it’s deeply offensive that the national media is pushing this narrative.. . .DONNY DEUTSCH: Is it beyond the palm [sic, pale?] having seen, yes, a few bad apples, some of the rage. You talk to the reporters who have been at every one of these rallies, some of the great reporters on this show all the time, and they say–Joe, let me finish please. They say they feel it. So, no, do I think they’re going to be –JOE: They feel it. They feel it.DONNY: Joe, is there no rage?JOE: Yes, there’s rage. There is rage on both sides. There is rage on both sides.DONNY: Joe, you’re saying the rage is equal on both sides? I guess I’ve been watching something very different.JOE: Yes. You go to — Donny, if you’re going to let me talk here. If you talk to people, reporters who actually dared to cross Bernie Sanders and the things that were said by Bernie Sanders supporters, who we love and respect Bernie, there was rage there. There’s rage on both sides. But the national media only sees it through their own goggles. There’s only rage on one side all the time. And there’s only one party that ever believes elections are fixed. Forget the fact that we’ve only won two elections, Republicans, in like 87 years and Democrats freaked out and said we fixed both of them.. . .STEIN: So it could be just that I’m in Ohio and people are super nice, but we talked to, like, maybe two dozen people about what — we asked them the question. Let’s say, hypothetically, you wake up November 9th and your guy has lost. What is that day like for you?And of course any reporting is anecdotal, but these people were by and large understanding of how democracy works. Respectful of the electoral process. They do think that there’s some tilting on the scales for Hillary Clinton when it comes to media coverage and so on and so forth, but they said life goes on. I have other things in my life that I have to worry about. Jobs. Health care. Religion. Stuff like that. And I recognize that I’m going to have to go back and I’ll have to work doubly hard to elect Republicans in 2018, 2020.
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