One big reason why trust in the mainstream media has dipped to all-time lows is the near-constant stream of supposed “blockbuster” stories about President Donald Trump during his time in office that turned out to either be blown way out of proportion or were twisted or manufactured to fit a narrative that didn’t remotely match reality.
The most notable and infamous instance of a story that was long on dramatics and theatrics but short on actual substance was the “Russia collusion” hoax in which the MSM and their Democrat allies including failed 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton alleged that Trump colluded with Russia to “steal” the 2016 election.
We heard it for four years, but as we all now know, the real conspiracy during the 2016 election was the one where Clinton’s campaign and the DNC colluded with high-ranking intelligence officials in the Obama-Biden administration to sabotage Trump’s presidential campaign by, among other things, trying to pass off a fake dossier otherwise known as the “Steele dossier” as definitive proof of Trump’s supposed guilt.
The latest instance of a media “bombshell” story that in the end turned out to be a gigantic nothingburger was the one where they breathlessly reported earlier this week that there was an alleged “seven-hour gap” in Trump’s phone logs on the day of the Capitol riot. The insinuation was strong from the Usual Suspects in the press, on the left, and the Never Trump “right” that what this really meant was that Trump perhaps had figured out a way to circumvent having any calls show up on an official log because he perhaps was conspiring with “other officials” who were supposedly in on the Capitol riot plot or whatever.
Interestingly enough, this “report” first surfaced back in February, and at the time, even news outlets like the New York Times were noting that “it is well known that Mr. Trump routinely used his personal cellphone, and those of his aides, to talk with other aides, congressional allies and outside confidants, bypassing the normal channels of presidential communication.” In other words, the mysterious “gap” was likely able to be explained away by that or another similarly inconvenient fact.
But for some reason, maybe to distract from Joe Biden’s basement polling numbers or from the fact that the Jan. 6th Committee has found nothing to implicate Trump, CBS News and the Washington Post reported on the story earlier this week as though it was new news:
Here’s a tweet from CNN where they initially talked about the “speculation” as to what the alleged gap could mean:
Twitter blue-checks rushed to proclaim this supposed phone call gap proved that Trump was somehow involved in helping orchestrate the Capitol riot. Some, like the WaPo’s Bob Woodward (who with colleagues broke the “gap” story), even compared it to the missing minutes from the Nixon tapes:
Sadly for the media and Democrats, the story had to be walked back after multiple sources said the log “reflects Trump’s typical phone habits” and was “not unusual”:
From the CNN story:
According to multiple sources familiar with Trump’s phone behavior and the White House switchboard records, the January 6 log reflects Trump’s typical phone habits. He mainly placed calls through the switchboard when he was in the residence but rarely used it when he was in the Oval Office. The fact the log does not show calls on January 6, 2021, from the Oval Office is not unusual, said the sources, because Trump typically had staff either place calls directly for him on landlines or cell phones. Those calls would not be noted on the switchboard log.The six pages of White House switchboard logs for January 6, 2021, are complete based on an official review of White House records, according to a source familiar with the matter. There are no missing pages and the seven-hour gap is likely explained by use of White House landlines, White House cell phones and personal cell phones that do not go through the switchboard.
Gee, another “walls are closing in” Trump scandal that wound up being a media-manufactured hoax. Total shocker.
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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