How Cable News Handled The Dueling Ex President Vs. President, Southern Border
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The occasion was dueling visits by President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump to the U.S.-Mexican border. Although the men were several hundred miles apart, on TV their back-to-back speeches left the impression of a head-to-head matchup.
The major cable news channels — CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News — played up the prizefight angle, with CNN deeming the occasion the “Border Battle Up Close.” But each network’s programming choices spoke to the different lenses through which voters may experience news coverage of the campaign.
Fox
Hosts on Fox News have been warning viewers about the dangers of a porous southern border for years. On Thursday, the network dedicated almost the entirety of its afternoon to the topic. Martha MacCallum, the 3 p.m. host, welcomed several guests who dismissed Mr. Biden’s visit as a cynical photo op. Fox News aired several minutes of blurry footage of Mr. Trump meeting with a Border Patrol agent in Eagle Pass, Texas, though the audio was often indecipherable.
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Ms. McCallum offered her own take to viewers about undocumented migrants: “If they break one law, they should be deported from the country, at the bare minimum. I think that’s just a basic common sense that I think most Americans would agree with.”
Still, Fox aired Mr. Biden’s remarks in full, in addition to those of Mr. Trump. Later, on “The Five,” the pro-Trump host Jesse Watters sparred with the show’s in-house liberal, Jessica Tarlov, who defended Mr. Biden.
Mr. Trump has a chance to address Fox News viewers directly on Thursday night; Sean Hannity, one of the former president’s chief media allies, taped an interview with him in Texas on Thursday, to air on Mr. Hannity’s 9 p.m. show.
MSNBC
On MSNBC, the day’s events at the border were relegated to a minor role. MSNBC did not air any of Mr. Trump’s speech in Texas, nor did it take Mr. Biden live, but the channel later broadcast snippets of Mr.
Nicolle Wallace dedicated most of her afternoon talk show to the implications of the Supreme Court’s move on Wednesday to take up Mr. Trump’s claims of presidential immunity. Ms. Wallace opened her 4 p.m. program by warning that the court had endangered a cherished notion that no individual is above the law. She spoke with Andrew Weissmann, a lead prosecutor in Robert S. Mueller’s investigation of Mr. Trump, and Charlie Sykes, a former conservative pundit who identifies as a Never Trumper.
Ms. Wallace did not notify her viewers when either Mr. Trump or Mr. Biden began speaking in Texas, although later in the program she aired clips of Mr. Biden’s remarks.
CNN
CNN carried the appearances of both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump. After Mr. Trump concluded, the anchor Kaitlan Collins told viewers, “As we do after every Trump speech, it seems, we have to have a series of fact checks.” Ms. Collins noted that Mr. Trump had “told several lies about the border” and misrepresented his past actions on the issue. Daniel Dale, a CNN fact checker, presented a segment breaking down the falsehoods in Mr. Trump’s remarks.
Later, after Mr. Biden spoke, Mr. Dale came onscreen again. He noted that Mr. Biden had stuck closely to his prepared remarks, which were “scripted accurately,” as opposed to Mr. Trump’s more freewheeling approach. “I don’t have any fact checks of President Biden here,” Mr. Dale said, “but that’s for an obvious reason.”
Given Americans’ fatigue with political news and general dissatisfaction with the expected candidates, it may not be surprising that CNN offered viewers a broader mix of topics. Shortly before Mr. Trump spoke, CNN brought on Bill Nye, the famed “science guy,” to explain the phenomenon of Leap Day. Mr. Nye offered an astronomy lesson, complete with a miniature globe.
“Bill, that was so much of what I wanted and more,” said the CNN anchor, Boris Sanchez. “I appreciate you and all of your props.”
Michael M. Grynbaum writes about the intersection of media, politics, and culture. He has been a media correspondent at The Times since 2016. More about Michael M. Grynbaum
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