Newspapers across the country almost uniformly are blaring headlines accusing President Donald Trump of falsely claiming the election is being stolen.
But Trump’s “claim” that some locales are ‘stealing’ the election is an allegation. It may be unproven but it should not be dismissed as false.
The media’s claim that Trump’s allegation is false is mere opinion, which should not be disguised as fact on editorial pages.
Due Process
The media has no basis for unilaterally rejecting Trump’s claim, let alone accusing him of lying. They don’t know. They have not verified the absence of fraud, especially in Democratic strongholds that are notorious for corruption.
When prosecutors issue criminal indictments, they are not required to prove their case until it gets to court. When civil litigants file lawsuits, they are permitted to develop their case by eliciting facts from the other side through discovery. They don’t have all of the facts at the outset.
It would be absurd if the media declared that criminal indictments and civil lawsuits to be “false” because they are not proven at the point of being made. Yet, this is what media outlets are doing to President Trump, while the election is still on-going and before any serious investigation has been conducted.
As for Trump, if he expects remedial action, due process requires him to put up or shut up. He will have to provide persuasive evidence of malfeasance in a court of law. Otherwise, his claim of election theft will remain an unsubstantiated belief.
How Do They Know?
Until this election, it was never the role of the news media to serve as judge and jury regarding complex issues like election fraud allegations. Their job was to accurately report the news.
Yet, the headline today at Reuters, a national news service, is:
“Vote counts push [Vice-President Joe] Biden closer to victory as Trump falsely claims election being ‘stolen’”
The Associated Press, which calls itself the most trusted source of information with respect to elections, published a supposed “fact check” with the headline: “Trump fabricates election corruption.”
Meanwhile, many television networks cut away from a statement President Trump gave Thursday night from the White House briefing room explaining his claim the election is being stolen because, acccording to the networks, what Trump was saying was not true.
The media’s rush to judgment is unseemly, partisan and contrary to fundamental American values of fairness and due process. It also smacks of censorship.
Corrosive Effect
The media was humiliated in this election, which was forecast to be a rout for Democrats and a repudiation of Trump’s four years in office. That’s not what happened by a long shot.
No media outlet was more rabidly partisan on Biden’s behalf than the once venerable The New York Times, which today carries a front page headline that reads: “Frenzied Rush of Falsehoods From The Top.”
But who are they fooling?
Approximately half of American voters cast their ballots for Trump. These voters disregarded the mainstream press as biased and untrustworthy. This distrust is now fueling suspicion and discontent that will only heighten if Trump’s claims that the election is being stolen are swept under a rug.