The White House remains completely out of balance, grasping at every straw to explain away the negative aspects of the disastrous debate and clinging to every lifeline the media offers. NBC News has announced that they will give Joe Biden another chance to improve by facing an interview in a controlled environment. And more than just the “what,” but also the “when” leaves a lot to be interpreted.
It’s been a fascinating two weeks as we sit back and watch the Democratic Party descend into chaos and the country’s media elaborate descend into desperate madness. The collaboration between the press and the Democrats has been laid bare, and now they’re finished. More than a few celebrities, such as Carl Bernstein, have been unable to recognize that in their efforts to appear responsible again, they end up admitting that they covered up Biden’s worsening condition.
On the other side of the recovery list are those media outlets that are unaware of the broadside their industry has taken for their loyalty to Biden. We’ve seen MSNBC and Joe Scarborough entertain President Silveralert on their show and George Stephanopoulos offer his platform to the recovery effort. Now NBC News is showing a desire to aid restore Biden’s image – and the timing of it all says as much.
It was announced that the president will sit down for his second sedate post-debate interview, in a taped session that will air next week. The conversation will be with “NBC Nightly News” lead anchor Lester Holt. But there’s even more support unspoken but clearly shown in the schedule. Snippets of their session will be teased during Holt’s 6:30 p.m. broadcast on Monday, July 15, but the full interview will air in prime time at 9 p.m.
Significantly, there is something else happening that night – Monday is also the opening day of the Republican National Convention. While that event is usually covered live by the networks – and will likely be carried throughout on cable – it seems fortunate for the Biden campaign that NBC News has inserted this Biden interview during the GOP session.
It gives the impression of the time-honored reaction of competing parties after the president’s State of the Union address. Giving Biden the opportunity to present things in the now expected controlled manner (the interview is pre-recorded) and then presenting it in the middle of opening night of the Republican National Convention seems like a very convenient, conditional move.
It remains to be seen whether Holt, or NBC News in general, will make a similar concession to Donald Trump when the Democrats hold their convention. That event, which is about five weeks away, promises to be an stimulating one, given all the intra-party turmoil over the prospects of keeping Biden at the top of the ticket. With all this intrigue thickening by the day, one has to wonder whether NBC News will be willing to give Trump an audience to comment on the Democrats’ downtrodden anthill nature. Or, as this massage-level interview seems to be, will the network focus more on bolstering the Democrats’ prospects, thus avoiding Trump any chance of disruptive airtime?
We must reserve our judgment until that Congress takes place, but for now we will simply express our doubts that a balanced presentation is likely to follow.
