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TO BOOK OR NOT TO BOOK? — JAKE TAPPER confirmed what’s been apparent since Jan. 6: Republicans who push election fraud conspiracies are not welcome on his show.
“It’s not a policy, but it’s a philosophy where I just don’t want to deal with it,” Tapper told KARA SWISHER on her NYT podcast, “Sway,” last week. “I mean, there’s about a third of the House Republican caucus that I am willing to book. I could name them to you if you want.”
This means no KEVIN MCCARTHY, no STEVE SCALISE and no ELISE STEFANIK on “State of the Union.” Tapper makes a fair point: If they’re willing to lie about the election, what else are they willing to lie about to his audience?
After hearing Tapper’s comments, we were curious whether hosts of the other big political shows have adopted the same practice. Among those that have are “Morning Joe” duo JOE SCARBOROUGH and MIKA BRZEZINSKI. Brezinski recently called out media outlets for “booking Republicans who support the big lie and tiptoed around it just because they’re so grateful to have a Republican on to talk about other things.” Those Republicans have not been invited on “Morning Joe” since Jan. 6.
But at least one host who’s been tough on Trump and election conspiracies disagrees. “Moral posturing” is how CHRIS WALLACE of “Fox News Sunday” described such blanket bans on Republicans who voted against certifying the election.
“I don’t think moral posturing goes well with news gathering,” Wallace told us in a statement, adding: “There are plenty of people I would like to have on Fox News Sunday that voted to challenge the election — House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy for one. And I don’t have any rule about what the first question has to be. I have asked plenty of guests about voting to challenge the election and about Trump’s role in the January 6th insurrection. But I cover the news, wherever that takes me.”
We shared that with Tapper, and he sent us this statement in response: “This isn’t a policy, it’s a discussion I think everyone in the news media should be having. Should those who shared the election lie that incited the deadly attack on the Capitol and that continues to erode confidence in our democracy be invited onto our airwaves to continue to spread the Big Lie? Can our viewers count on these politicians to tell the truth about other topics? This isn’t an easy conversation for some folks — especially for journalists who work for organizations where the Big Lie was platformed — but that’s all the more reason to have this conversation.”
Fox News is being sued by Dominion Voting Systems for allegedly propagating election lies. The network is seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed.
Wallace has taken a different approach in dealing with election denialists — invite them on, and grill them. In an April interview, he left McCarthy stammering when he asked about the GOP leader’s phone call with Trump as the Capitol was being ransacked.
NBC’s CHUCK TODD has said in the past that he doesn’t ban categories of guests. But since Jan. 6, he hasn’t had a single Republican on “Meet the Press” who voted against the election results. In a guest column for Playbook in January, he called it “very frustrating” trying to get Republicans on his show.
“Meet the Press” has tried to book McCarthy, according to a network source.
When Republicans who opposed the election results are booked, the host of the show inevitably gets dragged on social media — for giving the politician airtime and/or, after the interview, for not questioning them aggressively enough. It happened with ABC’s JON KARL when he interviewed Scalise.
And WaPo media critic ERIK WEMPLE slammed ABC’s GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS for not making his interview with Sen. RICK SCOTT (R-Fla.) just about his vote. Wemple suggested that each host start the interview asking about their vote to overturn the election and then if they don’t recant it, simply end the interview.
We don’t envy the hosts: It’s a tough dilemma whether to invite on lawmakers who have enormous sway over the country’s direction — but potentially give them a platform to spread conspiracies. The quandary doesn’t end there: How do networks cover the modern Republican Party if 147 of its most senior officials are effectively off limits for interviews?
What happens if McCarthy becomes speaker of the House in 2022? Soon after that, GOP politicians who voted against the election results — like JOSH HAWLEY, TED CRUZ and Scott — may be running for president. Will they, too, not be allowed in the chair?
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