Have US Media outlets gone soft on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden?

President
Donald Trump will take on his democratic opponent Joe Biden in the US presidential elections scheduled for November 3. The 74-year-old incumbent is
facing the former US vice-president in an election that the latter has stated
will “test the soul of the country.”

With
the Senate also up for grabs in 2020, the Democrats will look to usher in the
Blue Wave which they missed out on in 2018, managing to secure only the House of
Representative.

The
74-year-old Trump is facing an avalanche of criticism over his handling of the
coronavirus pandemic, that has seen the death of over 210,000 Americans.

While
President Trump has repeatedly cried foul of the “main-stream
media’s” nefarious agenda against him, he has also repeatedly accused the
likes of CNN and other established media house of going soft on the Biden
campaign.

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Ahead
of the final US Presidential debate, Trump accused moderator Kristen Walker
of treating him unfairly on previous occasions, throwing shade on her ability to moderate the debate in an unbiased manner. Similarly, in the first Presidential debate conducted in
Ohio, on September 28, Trump was seen bickering with moderator Chris Wallace of
FOX News, a media outlet supposedly in sync with the President’s point of view.

Yes, from a journalist’s point of view, media house like AFP and CNN can go overboard
in their scathing rebuttal of Trump instead of indulging in mere reportage.

However,
the countless fact-checks made by media houses that counteract spurious claims off
the  US President are welcome and
necessary. Neutrality, balance, and proper reportage are essentials in the
armoury of every reporter, and while President Trump’s associations, stray
statements or mere egging on off certain pernicious ideals can be detrimental
to the democratic ethos of a nation, using one’s position of a journalist to
condemn the move can be problematic.

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A journalist has the liberty as a public
intellectual to condemn a President or a leader, however if he evokes his position
to wage an ideological war against the individual, then the sanctity of the
office of journalism is sabotaged.

Similarly,
President Donald Trump’s angry tirade against mainstream media and his
accusatory tone against them is detrimental and inimical to the very rubric of  democracy.

However,
claims of media houses going soft on Presidential candidate Joe Biden is ridiculous
as the two Presidential debates and the town hall with ABC News host George
Stephanopolous has time and again highlighted how gruelling and rigorous running
for the office of the President can be.

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Biden had to bear the barrage of Chris Wallace’s repeated questioning during the
First Presidential debate, leaving him grasping for answers on issues.

The
Fox News host, repeatedly pressed the former Vice-President on his son’s
dealings with Ukraine drawing an answer on the issue. Similarly his plan of
raising taxes for the rich, and his plan to invest in green infrastructure and
reducing carbon footprint drew sharp questions from the Fox News anchor.

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Wallace similarly questioned the 77-year-old on his plan for the environment
and the green new deal. Wallace also shut President Donald Trump down when he
launched an attack on former vice-president Biden’s elder son, asking him to
practice restrain.

Similarly,
in the town hall conducted by ABC News in coordination with the Biden campaign,
George Stephanopolous forced some difficult answers from the former Vice
President. Biden who is running on a Democratic ticket, had to explain his
stance on taxing the rich and further elucidate on his plan off transitioning
the oil based energy industry to renewable fuel based industry without cutting
jobs.

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Similarly,
Stephanopolous’ repeated questioning forced Biden to answer the question on
whether Democrats wanted to pack the senate by adding more judges. Fierce
journalism and repeated questioning from moderators and journalists on the
course of the Presidential elections have held both Presidential candidates to
the pulpit forcing out answers from them. Spurious statements made by the President
Donald Trump and Joe Biden during the course of the debate were fact checked by
journalists repeatedly.

Likewise
in the final debate conducted on October 22 at Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee, moderator Kristen Welker
posed some difficult and challenging questions to both Presidential hopefuls.
Welker did a good job of reigning in Trump and earned a rare accolade from the
President over how she conducted the debate. Similarly she posed tough
questions to Democratic nominee Biden forcing him to illustrate his stand of
race relations in America, tax reforms, police reforms, climate change and questions
related to the coronavirus pandemic.

While indeed a retinue of American
journalists have been verbose with the disliking for Trump, Trump’s association
with Right-Wing fringe figures like Steve Bannon, Rush Limbaugh, Roger Stone
and others hasn’t helped his cause. Similarly his statements like ‘fine people
and both sides” and his refusal to condemn White Supremacy has alienated
him further.

Trump readily spread misinformation and dis-information
through his social media websites which when checked by journalists illicit an
angry reaction from him. Trump’s berating off CNN White House journalist Jim
Acosta and others, who pose tough questions to him, have been a constant in the
last four years.