The gall of this right-wing media is literally quite astounding at times.
Following weeks of intense racially charged attacks on President Obama and their nonstop promotion of the birther myth, conservative media are today incensed at what Donald Trump had to endure at Saturday's White House Correspondents' Dinner. They complain that “Trump didn't get to respond” to the “attack[s]” by the “two antagonists” -- presumably, President Obama and SNL's Seth Meyers.
Jim Hoft's Gateway Pundit blog blared: “Boorish Obama Attacks Trump Repeatedly at Media Dinner While He Is Sitting in the Room.” The post that followed read:
It was beat up on Trump night...
It took Obama about 10 seconds before he attacked Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner Saturday night. Of course, Donald Trump was sitting in the room and did not have an opportunity to respond.
How sad... He also attacked FOX News.
Allahpundit at HotAir.com congratulated Trump for showing up at all “knowing what was in store.” He continued:
[B]ut to his credit, he turned out and took his lumps -- stone-faced, as the crowd around him roared. It was kind of him to provide a designated target for the evening: The days of comics speaking hijinks-y truth to power by ripping on the president to his face a la Colbert and Bush ended abruptly in January 2009, of course.
Allahpundit went on to criticize Meyers' “nasty shot at O's opponents.”
Ace at the Ace of Spades blog wrote:
I thought, dumbly I guess, that Trump would actually get to go to the dais and speak. Wouldn't that make it more interesting? You know the guy is going to get ripped; wouldn't it be more interesting to let him give the “rebuttal” as they do in a roast?
I'm not even talking about fairness -- I'm talking about entertainment value, which this yearly paean to Obama's aweomeness could surely use.
[...]
So you have two antagonists here and you could have a bit of a show but no, of course you set it up so it's Obama goofing on Trump, and then Seth Meyers goofing on Trump, and the liberal audience galing in (somewhat forced, I-agree-with-you-so-I'm-laughing laughter at Trump, and Trump just sitting there.
Trump didn't get to respond until a phone call on Fox & Friends.
Not sure why Trump went under those circumstances.
And Doug Powers at Michelle Malkin's personal blog took issue with Obama's “tweak” at Fox News regarding its incessant promotion of the birther myth because the “bad joke ... was wildly misdirected.” Powers then cited research from Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism to make his point that Fox News “was downright moderate” in its coverage of the birther issue. We've addressed that claim here.
In its rush to defend the newly victimized Trump, Fox Nation posted video of him responding to Obama on Fox & Friends this morning. Among other things, Trump stated: “I didn't know that I'd be virtually the sole focus. I guess when you're leading in the polls that sort of thing tends to happen. You raise to a certain level in the polls and boy does the world come after you.” He added: “I thought Seth Meyers -- his delivery frankly was not good. He's a stutterer.”
The Fox Nation headline read: “Trump Fights Back Against Obama's Attack”:
On Sunday, Chris Matthews ripped into the "coded" language behind Trump's continuing attacks on Obama and suggested that Obama “stripped away the pretense that this was all about birthplace when it's really about race.” In the words of New York Times columnist Charles Blow, Trump “is helping the right shape new weapons from old hatreds, forming shivs from shackles, all the while patting himself on the back and promoting his brand.” But according to right-wing media figures, the real victim here is Trump.