Fox News v. MSNBC: JD Vance Responds to Taylor Swift's Harris Endorsement

 


On Wednesday on Fox News' The Story with Martha MacCallum, JD Vance responded to Taylor Swift's endorsement of Kamala Harris. Below is the segment from The Story. Start watching the video from the 11:55 mark to view Vance's response. 


I will now examine the coverage of Vance's response by Fox News and MSNBC.

Fox News: "JD Vance reacts to Taylor Swift's jab at him, Harris endorsement: 'fundamentally disconnected'" 
  • After Taylor Swift announced her endorsement of Kamala Harris, JD Vance stated on The Story with Martha MacCallum, "We admire Taylor Swift's music, but I don’t think most Americans, whether they like her music, are fans of her or not, are going to be influenced by a billionaire celebrity who I think is fundamentally disconnected from the interests and the problems of most Americans. When grocery prices go up 20%, it hurts most Americans, it doesn't hurt Taylor Swift. When housing prices become unaffordable, it doesn't affect Taylor Swift or any other billionaire. It does affect middle-class Americans all over our country"
  • Swift's endorsement of Harris came minutes after the first presidential debate on Tuesday.
  • In her endorsement Swift signed off as "Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady." 
    • MacCallum noted this as a jab at Vance as it is in reference to his 2021 comment. 
      • Vance has defended his comment as a "joke" that was "willfully misinterpreted" by Democrats.
  • Swift stated her reasoning for voting for Harris is because "she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them."
  • Vance believes Trump's campaign offers a more compelling and relatable message for female voters.
    • "I think our pitch to women voters is very simple. Donald Trump delivered policies that lowered the prices of groceries, lowered the prices of housing and most importantly, Donald Trump delivered public safety in our country. I've got three little kids, I want my kids to grow up in a country where the neighborhoods are safe enough, the streets are safe enough for them not to make mistakes and not have it take their lives. 20 years ago, [if] you smoke a joint you got yelled at by your parents. Today you smoke a joint, it’s laced with fentanyl and might take a teenager's life. I don’t want that for my family, I don’t think most women want that for their neighborhoods and their families and our argument is elect Donald Trump. We will redeliver the public safety that has been so lacking in this country the last few years"
  • Trump appeared unbothered by Swift's endorsement and commented on "Fox & Friends" that he expected her to endorse the Democratic candidate
    • "It was just a question of time. She couldn't […] possibly endorse Biden. You look at Biden, you couldn't possibly endorse him" 
    • Trump clarified that he isn't a fan of Swift. 
    • Trump noted that Swift is a very liberal person who typically endorses Democrats. 
    • Trump believes Swift's endorsement will cause her to pay a price in the marketplace. 
MSNBC: "JD Vance responds to Taylor Swift, flunks test of self-awareness"
  • Taylor Swift issued a written statement endorsing Kamala Harris shortly after Kamala Harris "dominated" Donald Trump in their debate. 
  • The right did not respond well to Swift's endorsement.
    • Several far-right media personalities "threw online tantrums"
    • Elon Musk published a "creepy message" on social media
    • Trump whined on Fox News
      • Swift will “probably pay a price for it ... in the marketplace.” 
  • Swift endorsed Joe Biden four years ago.
  • JD Vance's reaction to Swift's endorsement was one that stood out.
    • Vance stated on FOX News "We admire Taylor Swift’s music, but I don’t think most Americans, whether they like her music, are fans of hers or not, are going to be influenced by a billionaire celebrity who I think is fundamentally disconnected from the interests and the problems of most Americans.”
    • Vance added that Swift hasn't been "hurt" by "grocery prices"
  • Grocery inflation has improved in recent months. 
  • This is just one of many examples of the Trump campaign "flunking tests of self-awareness"
  • Trump is a "billionaire celebrity who is fundamentally disconnected from the interests and the problems of most Americans."
  • The fact that Vance referenced Swift and grocery prices is particularly interesting since Trump has made comments suggesting he has no idea how grocery stores even work and that consumers need to show identification to buy boxes of cereal. 
  • Vance should come up with a different line of attack against Swift
  • In terms of Swift's impact, the General Services Administration confirmed that on Wednesday, more than 337,000 people visited a custom URL posted by Swift that directs people to vote.gov
Discussion: 

The Fox News article focused on restating and reinforcing what JD Vance said while the MSNBC article focused on analyzing and criticizing Vance's statement. I found the MSNBC article to display a more obvious bias mainly due to some of its word choices. Some words and phrases that stood out to me in the MSNBC article were "dominated",  "threw online tantrums", and "creepy message". These phrases express an opinion and add an element of sensationalism to the article. 

I found it interesting that the Fox News article didn't address the fact that Vance's reasoning for Swift being 'fundamentally disconnected' could also be applied to Trump. I have seen a lot of criticism calling out the hypocrisy of Vance's statement and I am curious as to why Fox News didn't make an attempt to clarify the statement. 

In terms of the impact of Swift's endorsement, the Fox News article focuses on Trump's belief that it will cause her to pay a price in the marketplace while the MSNBC article focuses on the number of people that have clicked on the link posted by Swift. 

What do you think, was Vance's statement hypocritical? Will Swift's endorsement hurt her in the marketplace or will it have an effect on the outcome of the election?

Sources:


https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/jd-vance-responds-taylor-swift-flunks-test-self-awareness-rcna170779


Comments

  1. Breaking News or Breaking Trust? Media's Role in Political ScandalsSeptember 17, 2024 at 2:04 AM

    I enjoyed reading your blog post on how JD Vance is treated by both Fox News and MSNBC. You really hit the nail on the head when pointing out how both networks cater to their audiences' biases. It's fascinating to see how the same person can be portrayed so differently depending on where you tune in. This polarization in media coverage makes it difficult for viewers to get the full picture. This shows just how important it is to seek out different perspectives to understand the full picture.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Keanu GarrettSeptember 19, 2024 at 3:29 PM

    I think that its very important to get multiple perspectives on a topic because there are so many biases. Its so easy to believe that the first perspective you hear on something is right until you hear the second one and it changes how you were initially thinking. People don't even realize a lot of the time that they are speaking out of a bias that they have which creates situations like these where one person is presented in two different days.

    ReplyDelete

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