Despite Media Hype, Trump on Target with Cabinet Nominees

If you listen to cable news and other mainstream media, you would think President-elect Donald Trump is causing controversy during the transition process. However, are those claims way off the mark?

Each day seems to be an endless parade of liberal media gobbledy gook against team Trump.
 
"They are utterly at this moment, totally and completely, abjectly unprepared to take over running the government," one reporter said on a YouTube clip.

Transition headlines range from phrases such as, "rocky start" to "state of disarray" to just plain 'ole "real panic."  
 
But what's the truth? It turns out Trump's progress is right on par with the 2008 Obama transition when it comes to naming members of his incoming administration.

"How do you separate the fact from fiction here as it relates to how much may be in turmoil and how much might not be? What's the media doing here exactly?" Brody asked Fox News Media Buzz anchor Howard Kurtz.

"Well, the press declared Donald Trump's transition to be in turmoil about the third day in, which was a little bit premature and silly," Kurtz said.
 
Howard Kurtz covers mainstream media tactics for Fox News. He says Trump's penchant of playing to the cameras doesn't help him.
 
"It's all very public. A lot of this used to be done typically behind closed doors," Kurtz explained. "There would be leaks and speculation but this is kind of like, 'The Apprentice.' I think that may give more of a sense of chaos than is really fair."

When it comes to more than fair, the media gave Barack Obama a rosy reception after his 2008 election. You'd see headlines like. "Mr. Fix It Going to Washington" or "Obama…Working to Calm Volatile Market." The fawning by the major networks seemed pretty obvious.

"Some would say it's a team of rivals a la President Lincoln; or, is a better comparison a team of geniuses," GMA anchor Robin Roberts said.  

"We have not seen this kind of combination of star power and brain power," George Stephanopoulos said.
 
Rich Noyes is with the Media Research Center.
 
"It's very night and day in terms of the media coverage, but if you look at the country, the country was split about 50/50 on Obama's election. It's been split 50/50 on Trump's election, but the media was reflecting the majority sentiment in 2008, but they're rebelling against it in 2016," Noyes said.
 
"Eight years ago I started what I call the 'Obama Suck Up Watch,'" said Kurtz. "Much of the press was either in the tank for Barack Obama as a candidate or at the very least he got the most favorable treatment I have seen in my lifetime for somebody running for the White House."
 
The way the media has treated Trump and Obama's cabinet choice picks makes the point.
 
"When Obama would appoint people who were very liberal, they got sort of straightforward profiles about their accomplishments. With President-elect Trump, you have an underlying sense of, 'wow, he's picking people without much government experience, people who are opposed to the mission of these agencies," Kurtz said, adding, "That's why we have elections."
 
The public is definitely noticing the unfair treatment. The latest Pew Research survey shows 38 percent give the mainstream media a failing grade. Just 22 percent give the press an "A" or "B" for their coverage. The good news for Trump is he's pretty good at sidestepping the media.

"Trump increasingly doesn't need the mainstream media as much as past presidents did," Kurtz said. "Part of that is technological. He can broadcast to people on Twitter and Facebook. He can put videos online. I don't believe he can fully divorce himself from the mainstream press, but he certainly has ways of going around us."
 
And we're sure to see that play out over the next four years.