The media spin has begun!

[Trumpocalypse]

Fox News’ Chris Wallace: This Has Been a ‘Disaster For the Reputation of Robert Mueller’

‘This is Painful’: Pundits Question Mueller’s ‘Frail’ Performance at Hearing

ABC’s Dan Abrams: Mueller Hearing ‘A Bit of a Bust’ For Democrats

[Iliyah]

1. LOL

fake news . . . .

[underpants]

2. Good grief. Predictable but still sad.

[ooky]

3. Yep, here comes the M$M bullshit.

Right on time.

[FredSanderson]

10. They ignore the words and import of the testimony as they ignore the words of the Report. The

focus is on appearance, people! Ignore the crimes of Trump! Please?

[Anon-C]

35. Well said!

[jalan48]

4. What a surprise.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. But there's also this:

Mueller testifies his investigation did not exonerate Trump on obstruction -https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/robert-mueller-testimony-congress-n1033156

Mueller declares his Russia report did not exonerate Trump https://www.apnews.com/94323cfc164c4759ba6bf84ad2a46203

Mueller testifies report did not exonerate Trump; president could be charged with obstruction once he leaves office https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testify-capitol-hill/story?id=64508660

These headlines seem to be dominating the news.

[onetexan]

32. agree, here's a couple more as well from BBC & Huffpost

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49100778

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mueller-testimony-exoneration_n_5d38621be4b0419fd33617c3

[spanone]

6. As Expected.

[Kingofalldems]

7. Interesting post.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212310768

[Tech]

8. I turned off NBC as soon as Chuck Todd spoke.

[BlueIdaho]

12. Me Too

WTF is wrong with the M$M? I watched the hearing and thought it was damning to Trump. Mueller did exactly what he said he would do. He re-enforced the report. But he also did say 1.The reason he did not indict was the DOJ opinion that no president can be indicted. And 2.Once a President is out of office they can be indicted, charged, and convicted of obstruction. That’s good enough for me.

[mcar]

9. CNN is nailing Dotard to the wall

[jayfish]

11. It's Not Spin.

This was a fucking debacle. If I was a conspiratorial type I'd say Mueller was chosen for this very day. His best days are well past him.

[StarfishSaver]

23. A debacle?

Seriously?

I don't know what you were expecting, but it sounds like you were expecting something that was never going to happen.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

29. Which hearing were you watching?

I didn't get that impression at all. I saw what I was expecting to see - Mueller stuck to his original promise that he wouldn't deviate from the text of the report. He didn't get all Incredible Hulk, which seems to have disappointed a lot of people, but it shouldn't because he did exactly what he said he was going to do.

[jayfish]

37. The One Where Robert Mueller...

stuttered and stammered for four hours, refused to even read his own words and let Republican talking points lie.

[SCantiGOP]

13. A lot of folks on DU

Want all media to be like FOX, except slanted to the left. To listen to many frequent posters here, you would think that all of the media is pro-Trump, even when they are merely giving both sides of the story.

[USALiberal]

20. +1000, MSNBC and CNN are going to report things we don't like! Nt

[StarfishSaver]

25. True. And they want Mueller to be like Barr, except slanted to the left, as well

[NYC Liberal]

30. And I remember when Obama was extremely disliked on DU because

he was not essentially a liberal version of Trump.

[StarfishSaver]

34. I have friends who were curious that he didn't govern like Trump

Instead of catering only to the MAGA crowd, doing only what the far left wing of the party wanted - and trashed him whenever he behaved like he thought he represented the entire country, not just them.

Now, whenever they complain about Trump, I remind them.

[Joe941]

40. Just stop with the both sides stuff...

[Blaukraut]

14. The same pundits that cautioned against high expectations are screaming "disaster" now

I'm getting whiplash.

[jayfish]

15. Huh?

Sounds like two followed one.

[Blaukraut]

19. In the weeks leading up to today pundits cautioned not to expect too much today

And as the hearing pretty much unfolded as we were told - Mueller sticking to his report; not going beyond anything that was within the 400 odd pages; evading and declining to answer otherwise; - that same group of pundits are declaring the event a disaster and disappointment.

[jayfish]

26. "In the weeks leading up to today pundits cautioned not to expect too much today"

And they were right. Some might say, myself included, it was a disaster. Two followed one.

[Vinca]

16. Maybe I'm dim, but I'm not getting this "disaster" depiction at all.

No one expected Mueller to say, "Yes, you're right, if I had been able to I would have indicted Trump." I thought Mueller was calm and dignified and the Democrats asked meaningful questions and cited the his report. Republicans, on the other, engaged in character assassination, hyperbole and falsehoods. They didn't shake the bottom line verdict of the report at all.

[jayfish]

22. "Republicans engaged in character assassination, hyperbole and falsehoods."

And Mueller let it all stand with "I'm not going to answer that". Hooray, what a treat.

[LanternWaste]

36. Thankfully, no one argued it would be a treat.

Merely process.

[live love laugh]

17. "Begun"? They've tried to take the wind out of the sails for days. nt

[spanone]

18. chuck fuck todd called the optics 'a disaster'

[PA Democrat]

21. Apparently the lack of drama and fireworks.

is more important than the facts.

Even MSNBC is is spouting the same theme.

[DeminPennswoods]

24. The media wanted a John Dean or Alexander Butterfield

moment. That was never going to happen because the PURPOSE of the Judiciary hearing was to educate Americans on what was in the Mueller Report. I think it accomplished that purpose.

My only surprise was that Mueller was as much as a hands-off supervisor as he apparently was, but it makes me understand why he asked to bring his deputy, who actually handled the day-to-day operations, along.

I expect lots more Dems to now come out for an impeachment inquiry.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

33. It's true that it wasn't very good TV - no fireworks; nothing unexpected.

Too many people expect everything to be like TV.

[PA Democrat]

27. Fuck Brian Williams "a televised disaster."

The disaster is the media's abject failure to pursue educating the public about the facts. Flashy trumps honesty.

[jayfish]

31. Disingenuous.

CNN and MSNBC have been "educating the public about the facts" on this for two+ years. It was a televised disaster.

[DeminPennswoods]

38. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Americans don't watch

CNN or MSNBC or even Fox News.

[PA Democrat]

39. Not at all. Williams was characterizing the entire hearing as a

failure for the Democrats. I don't argue that SOME of the MSNBC hosts, SOME people on CNN have attempted to educate the public, but if the American people had been watching and listening all along, we would not be where we are today. But personally even MSNBC needs to stop their extensive coverage of the outrageous tweet of the day.

So for people who have not been tuning in or God forbid have not actually READ the Mueller report, THOSE people most likely won't watch the hearings today and will rely on the one-liners offered by the likes of Brian Williams and Chuck Todd. "A televised disaster"- that was their summary. Nothing about the FACTS that were presented to the American people because the last time I checked THAT was stated intention of the hearings.

As someone who has read the entire report, I thought that the Democrats did as best as they possibly could to bring forward the FACTS of the investigation given the challenges they faced. The Republicans used their entire allotted time in an attempt to SMEAR Mueller. THAT should have been the takeaway, not the lack of fireworks.

[calguy]

28. I wasn't expecting anything out of this

so I'm not inspired or disappointed