Melissa Joskow / Media Matters
On Saturday, October 20, President Donald Trump floated a new claim that he and Republican leaders are planning to implement a “very major tax cut” for middle-income Americans “sometime just prior, I would say, to November.” GOP policymakers reportedly had no idea what Trump was talking about, and Congress is not even in session to pass this supposed tax plan, so it appears that this claim is just another blatant lie by the president. Nevertheless, multiple media outlets have run headlines built around Trump’s completely unsupported promise of a “middle-income tax cut.”
Media have a long history of privileging obvious lies, frequently from conservatives, but their repeat shortcomings are even more egregious when applied to a president who lies all the time. The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent wrote in December 2016, “If the headline does not convey the fact that Trump’s claim is in question or open to doubt, based on the known facts, then it is insufficiently informative.” According to Sargent, “If the known facts show that his claims are false or outright lies, the headline should clearly indicate that, too.”
By constructing headlines that only repeat Trump’s unfounded claim and fail to note that the claim is without evidence, media outlets convey as fact something that is almost certainly untrue. This failure leaves readership critically misinformed, and it is particularly egregious when committed by The Associated Press and Reuters, whose articles and headlines are syndicated to countless outlets nationwide. This shoddy practice also reveals these media organizations as easy marks for the president to manipulate into pushing his dishonest messaging onto the country.
Reuters
Trump says team working on tax cut for middle-income earners
Trump eyeing a 10 percent middle-income tax cut plan
Associated Press
Trump wants to push middle-income tax cut through Congress
CNN
Trump says GOP working on tax plan for middle class
The Hill
Trump says he will push for new round of tax cuts after midterms
ABC News
Just before midterm elections, Trump claims he'll propose cutting middle class taxes 10 percent
Wash. Post
Trump: Republicans planning tax cuts for middle-income earners before November
Axios
Trump looking at “major tax cut” ahead of midterms
Politico
Trump wants new middle-class tax cut 'of about 10 percent'
The MaddowBlog
Trump eyes ‘very major tax cut’ before Election Day
MarketWatch
Trump Today: President floats middle-income tax cut as he vows to slash aid to Central America
