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Opinion: Biden's polls aren't great. How much is the media's fault?

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Opinion: Biden's polls aren't great. How much is the media's fault?

Long before Fox News co-opted the phrase “fair and balanced” as its slogan, American media was striving to meet that standard. Unlike Faux News, which has since dropped those words as well as just about any pretense of aspiring to them, the mainstream media still does aspire — to a fault.

Opinion Columnist

Jackie Calmes

Jackie Calmes brings a critical eye to the national political scene. She has decades of experience covering the White House and Congress.

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That was the case in 2016 with the excessive coverage of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server for some State Department business, a performance that spawned numerous critical journalistic postmortems — and the meme “but her emails.” The media, obsessed with seeming fair to Donald Trump, sought to balance all the negative coverage he generated because of his lies, slurs and bigotry and turned Clinton’s email habits into a pseudo-scandal. In the end, that imbalance in harping on the matter was unfair to her.

The media seems to be at it again. The new “but her emails” is “but his age” — that is, President Biden’s age, though Trump is only three years and seven months younger.

The issue isn’t unwarranted. Both men are the oldest by far to seek the presidency, breaking the record they set in 2020.

What’s unwarranted is the barrage of “but Biden’s age” coverage unleashed since late last week, when a Republican special counsel coupled his finding that Biden shouldn’t face charges for keeping some classified material after his vice presidency with wholly improper quackery about the “elderly” president’s “diminished faculties.”

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On Monday, media analyst Margaret Sullivan provided a rundown of some of the coverage. It’s “nothing short of journalistic malpractice,” she wrote, for the media to make Biden’s age “the overarching issue” of the 2024 campaign — especially against the aging and democracy-threatening Trump. According to the Popular Information newsletter, in the four days after the special counsel’s report, the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal published a combined 81 articles about Biden’s age and memory.

Memory lapses, lies, name mix-ups and gaffes by Trump, a man so addled that he thinks repeating “person, woman, man, camera, TV” proves otherwise, get far less journalistic examination. For one thing, the media is as inured as the public to Trump’s falsehoods and malevolence; it’s “white noise,” the Bulwark, a Never Trump news site, bemoaned this week. Even so, he piles up outrages that can’t be ignored — like prospectively inviting Russia to attack or “do whatever the hell” it wants against NATO allies.

And as the negative coverage of Trump adds up, the media seizes disproportionately on Biden’s foibles and fumbles as if to even the score.

That is just another form of the bothsides-ism long evident in journalism: the tendency — in the interest of being fair and balanced — toward reporting that suggests that both sides, both parties or both candidates should get equal measures of critical coverage, or are equally culpable in some regard. The result too often is false equivalence.

It’s worth reprising a caution to journalists from political scientists Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, in their 2012 book documenting that Republicans were more responsible than Democrats for the dysfunction and polarization in our politics: “A balanced treatment of an unbalanced phenomenon is a distortion of reality and a disservice to your consumers.”

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Even the New York Times Pitchbot, an account on Twitter/X that mocks the media for just this bothsides tendency, couldn’t out-caricature the real thing on CNN. The satirist behind the account posted a photo of the network’s screen during a panel discussion. The chyron at bottom read, “Is Biden’s age now a bigger problem than Trump’s indictments?”

Some in the media have tried to explain why significantly more voters worry about Biden’s age and mental acuity than Trump’s. A poll by ABC News and Ipsos released on Sunday found that 86% of Americans say the president is too old for another term compared to 62% who say the same of Trump.

Among the reasons is the perception that Trump, while hardly physically fit, seems more energetic than Biden. Also, reporters talk a lot to Democrats, who as a party tend to overreact to unfavorable news, polls, whatever — “bedwetters,” as Obama officials used to bellyache. So you get stories like the one this week headlined “ ‘A nightmare’: Special counsel’s assessment of Biden’s mental fitness triggers Democratic panic.”

Republicans, on the other hand, typically give reporters nothing when it comes to the disgraced former president. They’re Trump toadies, obsequiously mute about his transgressions when they’re not actually defending him. Take Trump’s obscenity about abandoning NATO allies: “I couldn’t find a single sitting Republican that openly opposed what he said,” lamented former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a rare Republican who has opposed Trump. Kinzinger also said Trump’s ramblings were further evidence that he “is clearly in mental decline.”

One factor that’s missing from the media explanations for why Trump fares better than Biden on assessments of age and mental stability: the media’s own role. Might the polls be less bad for Biden if the coverage were different?

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It was a Trump sycophant, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who back in 2016, when he was still second-guessing his support for Trump, warned that he, voters and the media would someday have “to justify how they fell into this trap.”

The unprincipled Rubio certainly has much to account for. So, too, does conservative media. As for mainstream media, it’s not too late in the election year to avoid the trap of bothsides-ing.

@jackiekcalmes

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US military announces another deadly strike against ‘narco-terrorists’

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US military announces another deadly strike against ‘narco-terrorists’

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The U.S. military announced another deadly strike against a vessel that it alleges was involved in “narco-trafficking” efforts.

“On April 19, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” U.S. Southern Command indicated in a post on X.

“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” the post continued.

US MILITARY KILLS 2 SUSPECTED CARTEL OPERATIVES IN LATEST EASTERN PACIFIC LETHAL STRIKE, SOUTHCOM SAYS

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The U.S. military announced that it killed three “narco-terrorists” in a strike in the Caribbean on Sunday, April 19, 2026. (@Soutcom via X)

SOUTHCOM indicated that the attack killed three men.

“Three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed,” the post noted.

President Donald Trump’s administration has carried out dozens of deadly strikes against vessels of alleged “narco-terrorists.”

US MILITARY CONDUCTS MORE DEADLY STRIKES AGAINST VESSELS OF ALLEGED ‘NARCO-TERRORISTS’

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Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Francis L. Donovan, nominee for commander of U.S. Southern Command, testifies during his Senate confirmatino hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 15, 2026. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

In a completely different part of the world, amid ongoing tensions between America and Iran, the U.S. attacked an Iranian-flagged cargo ship on April 19.

“Guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) intercepted M/V Touska as it transited the north Arabian Sea at 17 knots enroute to Bandar Abbas, Iran. American forces issued multiple warnings and informed the Iranian-flagged vessel it was in violation of the U.S. blockade,” U.S. Central Command noted.

US SEIZES IRANIAN SHIP AFTER OPENING FIRE; PAKISTAN TALKS IN DOUBT

President Donald Trump on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, April 16, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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“After Touska’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period, Spruance directed the vessel to evacuate its engine room. Spruance disabled Touska’s propulsion by firing several rounds from the destroyer’s 5-inch MK 45 Gun into Touska’s engine room. U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit later boarded the non-compliant vessel, which remains in U.S. custody,” CENTCOM noted.

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Uproar over mama bear killing could help launch a state wildlife coexistence program

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Uproar over mama bear killing could help launch a state wildlife coexistence program

A month after a public uproar over a mama bear being euthanized after swiping at a resident in Monrovia, state lawmakers are considering mandating the use of nonlethal ways to help allow wildlife and humans to coexist.

Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas) said she believes the bear’s death, and the state’s decision to kill four wolves last year that were preying on cattle, raised public concern.

“That made everybody realize we have to do better here,” she told The Times on Thursday. “We need to recognize the importance of seeing ourselves, humans, as part of a larger ecosystem that includes animals and plants and our world and trying to protect it.”

Senate Bill 1135, introduced by Blakespear, would direct the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to create the Wildlife Coexistence Program, which would provide public education, offer technical assistance and maintain a statewide incident reporting system. It would help communities deploy nonlethal devices to deter predators, like barriers or noise and light machines.

At a legislative hearing on Tuesday, Blakespear told the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water that a three-year state initiative offering similar services was seeing positive results — until it was discontinued two years ago after funding ran dry. She said it was time to implement a permanent program.

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“Human population growth, habitat loss and the growth of industry across California inevitably leads to interaction between humans and wildlife,” Blakespear told legislators. “No two animal species are the same and each has unique behavior patterns and territories. SB 1135 recognizes these differences and gives communities the tools to prevent conflict and respond when it occurs.”

The bill would also rename a state program that reimburses ranchers who lose livestock to wolves, calling it the Wolf-Livestock Coexistence and Compensation Program. It would require ranchers seeking compensation to show they were using nonlethal deterrents approved by the department.

Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) stressed that life in rural areas is different than living in a city. She said some families and cattle ranchers have a genuine fear of predators.

“When these baby calves drop on the ground and then two wolves start ripping them apart, it’s not the prettiest thing you’ve ever witnessed,” said Grove, who abstained from voting on the measure. “These wolves are not puppies.”

More than 30 organizations are supporting the legislation, including the National Wildlife Federation, Defenders of Wildlife, California State Assn. of Counties, Animal Legal Defense Fund and Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife.

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The California Farm Bureau and the California Cattlemen’s Assn. are in opposition due to concerns over funding.

Last month, Blakespear sent a letter to the chair of the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review requesting $48.8 million to implement the legislation, with $25 million earmarked for addressing wolf encounters. Half of the money for wolf conflicts would go toward deterrents; the remainder would compensate ranchers for their losses.

Kirk Wilbur, vice president of government affairs cattlemen’s association, said the organization is concerned about that division of funding — especially if funding is reduced.

Wilbur told legislators Tuesday that the organization supports some aspects of the bill and was having productive conversations with Blakespear to address their concerns.

The bill ultimately passed the committee with a 5-to-1 vote and now heads to the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

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Human wildlife conflicts have made headlines in California recently, with a bear refusing to leave a basement for weeks in Altadena and a mama bear dubbed Blondie crossing paths last month with a woman walking her dog in Monrovia.

Blondie swiped the woman’s leg, and was subsequently euthanized by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Her two cubs were sent to the San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center. The bear’s death upset many in the community, as thousands had signed a petition calling for other solutions, like relocation.

Deadly wildlife attacks on humans, however, are rare in California.

There have been six reported human fatalities from mountain lions since 1890, according to the state Fish and Wildlife Department. The agency recorded one human fatality from a coyote in 1981 and another fatality from a black bear in 2023. The department has no recorded human fatalities from gray wolves.

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Trump ally diGenova tapped to lead DOJ probe into Brennan over Russia probe origins

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Trump ally diGenova tapped to lead DOJ probe into Brennan over Russia probe origins

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The Justice Department is turning to former Trump attorney Joeseph diGenova to spearhead a probe into ex-CIA Director John Brennan and others over the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, as the department reshuffles leadership of the sprawling inquiry.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has tapped diGenova to serve as counsel overseeing the matter, according to a New York Times report, putting a former Trump attorney in a key role in the high-profile probe. A federal grand jury seated in Miami has been impaneled since late last year.

The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

DOJ ACTIVELY PREPARING TO ISSUE GRAND JURY SUBPOENAS RELATING TO JOHN BRENNAN INVESTIGATION: SOURCES

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Joseph diGenova represented President Donald Trump during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images)

DiGenova, a former U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., who represented Trump during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, has repeatedly accused Brennan of misconduct tied to the origins of the Russia probe—allegations that have not resulted in criminal charges.

He also said in a 2018 appearance on Fox News that Brennan colluded with the FBI and DOJ to frame Trump.

The origins of the Russia investigation have been the subject of ongoing scrutiny by Trump allies, who have argued that intelligence and law enforcement officials improperly launched the probe.

BRENNAN INDICTMENT COULD COME WITHIN ‘WEEKS’ AS PROSECUTORS REQUEST OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS

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Joseph diGenova has previously said that ex-CIA chief John Brennan colluded with the FBI and DOJ to frame Trump. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images)

DiGenova’s appointment follows the ouster of Maria Medetis Long, a national security prosecutor in the South Florida U.S. attorney’s office. She had been overseeing the inquiry, including a false statements probe related to Brennan and broader conspiracy-related investigations.

As the investigation continues, federal investigators have issued subpoenas seeking information related to intelligence assessments of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

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John Brennan has denied any wrongdoing related to the Russia investigation. (William B. Plowman/NBC/NBC NewsWire via Getty Images; Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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Brennan has previously denied wrongdoing related to the Russia investigation and has defended the intelligence community’s assessment that Moscow interfered in the 2016 election.

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