Summary
The topic I chose is a sit-down interview between former president Donald Trump and Kristen Welker from NBC’s “Meet the Press.” They spoke about all things reelection, the capital riots, and policies. Three outlets that covered this interview were Vox (left-leaning), Washington Times (right-leaning), and The Hill (center). In all three articles, they spoke about the capital riots and Trump's part in it. The Vox article had a lot more details about the interview than the other two. This article spoke about Trump’s policies regarding abortion, Ukraine, and the economy. More specifically, the Vox article focused on parts of the interview that made Trump look incompetent and put him in a bad light. The article used language to highlight this saying, for example, “Trump doesn’t know substantive policy — but he knows what appeals to his followers.” Additionally, the article uses words like “lie” and “falsely claimed,” amongst others, in order to bias readers against him and his campaign. Conversely, the right-leaning Washington Times article didn’t mention any portion of the interview centered on policies and focused entirely on the 2020 election. The article included many quotes from Trump that described his belief on the election. Another thing that stood out about the article is that Trump was constantly addressed as “ex-president,” “president,” and more notably, “Mr. Trump”. The Hill article also focused exclusively on the interview portions referencing the riots. The article used language like “repeatedly refused” and “repeatedly declined” to make Trump seem like he was on the defensive. Furthermore, the article used quotes that made Trump seem weak and dismissive. Overall I feel that the articles are in line with their political leaning, and each paints Trump in a way that their readers are accustomed to
