If you’ve read RedState for any length of time, you know one of the things we are most known for is our hard-hitting commentary on press bias. Whether you come for the facts or the snark, we do our best to deliver insight into how the far-left twists narratives to push their political desires.
That’s what makes this next story so surprising. According to Politico, Donald Trump’s campaign team wined and dined with top left-wing reporters on Tuesday night in preparation for the GOP primary debate (the former president will not be attending).
SPOTTED IN MILWAUKEE — Team Trump wining and dining with a number of top reporters at a steakhouse called “Rare” — and passing out pudding snack packs (a swipe at RON DeSANTIS’ “pudding fingers” story) as well as debate bingo cards to troll the Florida governor. Squares included: “dismisses polls,” “wipes snot,” “red ears,” “Dee-Santis,” “Duh-Santis,” “flip flops on Social Security… again,” “woke” and “pudding mention.” See pictures here and here
Who was there: Reporters Dana Bash, Shane Goldmacher, Kristen Welker, Bob Costa, Fin Gomez, Dasha Burns, Rachel Scott, Rick Klein, Josh Dawsey, Rob Crilly, Mario Parker and David Chalian along with Chris LaCivita, Jason Miller and Steven Cheung. And across the restaurant, feet away: members of Team DeSantis.
According to the report, the conversation centered heavily on Ron DeSantis, including the passing out of pudding cups as a way to mock the Florida governor. Bingo cards pertaining to the debate, again mocking DeSantis, were also given away.
What specifically was agreed to at the dinner is not known. Certainly, CNN’s Dana Bash, the Times’ Shane Goldmacher, CBS News’ Bob Costa, and the other far-left reporters didn’t show up just to talk about the weather. What we do know is that on Wednesday, those reporters all seemed to be reading from the same sheet of music.
While Trump’s team put out a statement essentially declaring victory and asserting the debate was all about the former president, Bash did a piece on CNN that seemed to echo that narrative, declaring that Trump was soaking up the “debate spotlight.”
Reminder, @DanaBashCNN pic.twitter.com/ywMWDqqrUJ
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) August 23, 2023
Then there was Goldmacher, who had a hit piece on DeSantis ready to go the morning after the dinner.
Amazing that this comes out after this happened: https://t.co/iaLs0A9WT4 pic.twitter.com/XH133p9xdd
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) August 23, 2023
Perhaps that’s all just a coincidence. Regardless, I would heavily caution the Trump campaign from engaging in too much hubris in their battle to take down DeSantis. I understand these far-left reporters and Trump share a common enemy in the primary, but the primary will eventually end. When it does, these far-left reporters are going to be working overtime to destroy Trump, not help him.
Opening these doors for short-term gain could come back to haunt the current GOP frontrunner, especially when access can just as easily be abused as used. To put it succinctly, Dana Bash is not your friend.
Lastly, I’ll just say that on a base level, I hope this doesn’t become a trend. You can imagine, given how much time I’ve spent pushing back on the mainstream media over the years, that I do not want to see Republicans joining hands with the far-left press just to attack other Republicans. That it’s not even necessary only exacerbates the issue.
