During President Donald Trump's virtual town hall in front of the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, a viewer asked him about his contentious relationship with the media — and Trump replied, "I'm greeted with a hostile press the likes of which no president has ever seen."
Then pointing at former President Abraham Lincoln's statue, he added "the closest would be that gentleman right up there. They always said ... nobody got treated worse than Lincoln. I believe I am treated worse. You're there, you see those press conferences, they come at me with questions that are disgraceful."
President Trump says that he has been "greeted with a hostile press the likes of which no president has even seen.… https://t.co/yjlSp3KYXw— Daily Caller (@Daily Caller)1588551325.0
As you might imagine, many in the media and on the left ran with Trump comparing himself to Lincoln — but noticeably
without mentioning Trump's comparison was in regard to how he believes the media treats him.
Such as:
Trump tells Fox town hall he’s treated worse than Lincoln was— John Harwood (@John Harwood)1588550927.0
Trump says he was treated worse than ...[checks notes] Lincoln. ....President Lincoln— Jackie Kucinich (@Jackie Kucinich)1588550964.0
There's indeed much more where that came from, but you get the picture.
Dan Rather chimes in — and strikes a bum note
Among the peanut gallery throwers was former CBS News anchor Dan Rather, who in recent years left in the dust all questions as to whether or not he's a left-wing sympathizer in a journalist's unbiased uniform by launching consistent diatribes against Trump.
Here's Danno's take on the Trump-Lincoln flap:
One rule of American politics: don't compare yourself to Abraham Lincoln.— Dan Rather (@Dan Rather)1588606244.0
Indeed, Rather has scads of admirers on the left who loved his tweet. But it didn't escape the notice of others only too happy to remind the former newsman of his checkered professional past, namely that he infamously stepped down from his CBS News perch after it came to light that his 2004 report on then-President George W. Bush's national guard service used documents that weren't verified as authentic.
And they let Rather have it:
One rule of political journalism: make sure your fonts match when forging papers. https://t.co/sh6adERetL— David Harsanyi (@David Harsanyi)1588609165.0
@DanRather One rule in Journalism, don’t file a false report close to a presidential election. And when it’s found… https://t.co/NZoP1Xe9Gz— Jeff Dunetz (@Jeff Dunetz)1588624757.0
@DanRather One rule of journalism: don't fabricate stories and peddle them as news (it will cost you your career)— Mark Serrano (@Mark Serrano)1588614494.0
@DanRather Another rule - don’t call yourself a journalist when you’re nothing but a Leftist hack— Rogan O’Handley 🇺🇸 (@Rogan O’Handley 🇺🇸)1588611163.0
Oh, by the way...
As RedState points out, former President Barack Obama created a kind of cottage industry by frequently invoking Lincoln: "Virtually his entire campaign was based on making comparisons to Abe Lincoln, including his campaign launch and his inaugural address and beyond. Not only that, but the media ran right along with him in making the comparisons throughout his presidency."
In fact, Obama uttered words practically identical to Trump's in 2011: "Lincoln? They used to talk about him almost as bad as they talk about me."
Uh, Dan?
