Matt Lauer Fears Trump Attacking Media, Longs for Obama Praising Press

Matt Lauer Fears Trump Attacking Media, Longs for Obama Praising Press (NewsBusters)

During a panel discussion on Firday’s NBC Today examining President Trump’s first week in office, co-host Matt Lauer fretted over the new administration’s willingness to call out the liberal media: “[Trump] ran on this...idea that the media is bad and dishonest. Now his chief strategist at the White House, Steve Bannon, has given an interview to The New York Times....Quote, “The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while.” Another quote, ‘The media here is the opposition party.’”

Lauer turned to political analyst Nicolle Wallace and MSNBC host Steve Kornacki and wondered: “People watching may say, ‘Well, I agree with some of that. The media did get the election wrong.’ But there is a reason he made these statements at this particular time. What’s the political strategy here?” Wallace argued: “...the leader of the free world is obsessed with his media coverage....And I think they are trying to put some steel in his spine because the truth is he gets sad when he watches coverage that isn’t good. He gets sad and bummed out...”