Six Questions Media Should Relentlessly Ask Republicans
Journalists of all outlets should constantly pepper Republicans with these routine queries
Publisher’s Riff
for more analysis, listen to Reality Check on WURD Mon - Thur, 4-7pm ET, streamed live at WURDradio.com, in Philly on 96.1 FM / 900 AM | #RealityCheck @ellisonreport
Journalists, especially those in what’s typically called “the mainstream,” are peculiar and, sometimes, shady creatures.
During the 2016 elections, most if not all stripes of reporters, pundits and talk show hosts couldn’t get enough of the most manufactured faux scandal any modern American election has ever seen: Hillary Clinton’s emails. It was the end of the political world if they didn’t get an answer. It was as if the very fabric of civil society would unravel over the former Secretary of State’s emails. “Professional” journalists - despite decades of credible information on scandals, corruption, crime family ties and alleged sexual assaults by her Republican opponent - just could not get enough. The Democratic nominee was daily, pretty much hourly, assaulted by questions on those pesky emails as journalists seemed to proverbially high-five each other like volleyball players on a beach.
But, since then, you’ll find less energy or enthusiasm to routinely, hourly and unrelentingly pester Republicans (including the president) on what they think of some of the most uncomfortable scandals still existing … and in the same relentless way they did Clinton over … yeah, those emails.
If many of us were those same journalists who we see daily cornering Republicans, aligned surrogates and the White House from the halls of Capitol Hill to the lawns along 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, we’d be doing it differently. We’d be asking the following six questions in the same ear-splitting way rambunctious kids in the back seat of a road tripping car ask: “Are we there, yet?”
“You or many of your colleagues voted for or supported President Clinton’s impeachment in 1998. So, tell us, are you saying that a president lying about oral sex in the Oval Office is a far worse crime than a president bribing a foreign leader to investigate a domestic political rival? Just asking, just asking, just answer the question, please!”
[When Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) walks up in his trademark no-suit-jacket look] - “Congressman! Congressman! Just a moment of your time, Congressman! So, can you comment on allegations made in numerous lawsuits and now a recent federal lawsuit that alleges you were, indeed, aware of the sexual abuse of Ohio State University wrestlers by Ohio State doctor Richard Strauss while you were an assistant wrestling coach from 1987 to 1995 - even as you shared a locker room with him? How did you not know, Congressman? How did you not know?” [now, run down the hall after him and film it]
2a - [Repurpose the same question for Rep. Jordan’s House GOP colleagues, but add] - “…. Because of these allegations, is he really fit to serve on the House Intelligence Committee during impeachment proceedings?”
“Senator/Congressman/Congresswoman, just a moment of your time, please. Thanks. So, do you have any comment on the over 2,500 conflicts of interest discovered between President Trump and his various businesses? Do you know how much money to date the president’s businesses and his family, including his children and in-laws, have made from taxpayer dollars while serving as senior advisers to his White House and ongoing presidential campaign?”
“Is it a federal crime or violation of federal law to divulge the name of a federal whistleblower? Is it a breach of national security and a federal crime to publicly disclose the names of senior intelligence officials. Just answer the question, Senator, just answer the question! Sir, sir!” [Keep rushing down the hall after him TMZ-style, with microphone in hand till either he runs out of breath or you get stopped by Capitol Hill police]
“Mr. President, Mr. President! Do you still want to comment on allegations that you sexually assaulted a 13-year old girl in 1994? Have you read the book ‘All the President’s Women?’ Any comment? Sir, sir: and is that more serious than Oral Sex in the Oval Office? Sir, sir, just answer the question, Mr. President!” [film him walking away and waving his arms in the air while you ask the question again]
5a. [Modify same question for Congressional Republicans]
[For the president and all other Republicans, conservative pundits] - Do you think Jeffrey Epstein really committed suicide? Do you know how close the president was to Mr. Epstein?