HOWARD KURTZ (HOST): This is a hot button for me, the whole blood on your hands thing, because I think I criticized it when those on the right did it to President Obama. I mean some police officer would be shot somewhere, and they’d say,well he has blood on his hands because he didn't sufficiently support the police. We can debate that. I think the people who should be blamed for violence -- politicians should be held accountable, for the record, for their rhetoric, but the people who should be blamed for violence are the people who carry it out. Now, look, the coverage -- we talked about this in an earlier segment-- the president over Charlottesville overwhelmingly negative. But -- and I know you’re kind of a surrogate from the White House -- when you have critical statements from other Republicans, when you have business leaders resigning from these advisory councils, which have since been abandoned, when you have the president and the first lady saying they’re not going to participate in the Kennedy Center honors because of kind of criticism from the entertainment figures, it hasn't been a good week for the president. Is that all the media's fault?
GINA LOUDON: It is, because they didn't cover a lot of the great things this week that I think people who are sitting back on Main Street, Howie, really do care about. Look at how the economy has flourished under this president. That is a colorblind issue. It has nothing to do with race. They have put -- the media has put race front and center this week rather than putting the accomplishments of this administration front and center and advancing -- and giving him a chance to advance those.
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I think that the media can cover it, but the media has no balance, and you and I know this. They don’t cover the amazing things that the president has done. They didn’t cover really any of his initiatives this week. There was barely any mention of North Korea. Remember a week ago when they were saying he's going to put us in World War III. That was trending all over Twitter. Where is the media’s coverage that, oh my gosh, guess what, the president's approach worked. North Korea actually backed down. Why is the media not covering it? Why? Because they want to dehumanize this president, because they want to delegitimize the right because they want to work against his agenda. The American people are on to this, Howie. They see it and they’re going to demand better from their media. And if they can’t get it from the mainstream media, they’re going to get it from alternative sources, and that’s what’s happening.
