The American political scene heats up towards the 2024 presidential election, the media finds itself grappling with the challenge of how to cover a race marked by unprecedented legal scrutiny surrounding one of its candidates—former President Donald Trump. In a remarkable departure from standard coverage, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos underscored the exceptional nature of this year’s electoral landscape, stating, “Until now, no American president had ever faced a criminal trial.”
This election year, the traditional metrics and methods of assessing presidential races seem inadequate as the country witnesses a former president concurrently campaigning and attending courtrooms. Stephanopoulos did not mince words when he described the election as a “test for the candidates, for those of us in the media, and for all of us as citizens.” His words echo the sentiment that President Biden voiced, urging the press to “rise up to the seriousness of the moment” and move past the usual horse race politics to focus on what’s at stake for the nation’s democracy.
Trump’s legal battles range from a criminal trial in Manhattan where he faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Stormy Daniels hush money case to a federal indictment for retaining classified documents. Add to this the Supreme Court’s considerations regarding presidential immunity, and the battleground becomes even more complex. Stephanopoulos warned, “It’s all too easy to fall into reflexive habits, to treat this as a normal campaign, where both sides embrace the rule of law, where both sides are dedicated to a debate based on facts and the peaceful transfer of power. But that is not what’s happening this election year.”
Despite this vast scale of “abnormality,” a new CNN poll showed that Trump is leading Joe Biden by a staggering six point margin, 49% to 46%, if they were to go mano a mano in November. Factor in the two Independents and one Green Party candidate, and Trump is up 42% to Biden’s 33%, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at 16%, Cornel West at 4% and Jill Stein at 3%.
Stephanopoulos’s own analysis, unwaveringly candid. “Those bedrock tenets of democracy are being tested in a way we haven’t seen since the Civil War,” he stressed.
Relevant articles:
– ABC’s George Stephanopoulos says 2024 race can’t be treated normally after Biden urges press to alter coverage, FOX News, 04/30/2024
– ‘This Week’ Transcript 4-28-24: Trump’s Legal Landscape, State of Play in Battleground Georgia, and White House Natl. Security Comms Adviser John Kirby, ABC News, Sun, 28 Apr 2024 15:23:32 GMT
– FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP’S LEGAL LANDSCAPE, 2024 STATE OF PLAY IN BATTLEGROUND GEORGIA, AND WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER JOHN KIRBY, SUNDAY ON “THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOUL, ABC News, Fri, 26 Apr 2024 21:28:18 GMT
– George Stephanopoulos Opens His Show With a Blistering Commentary: ‘Bedrock Tenets of Our Democracy Are Being Tested’, Mediaite, Sun, 28 Apr 2024 19:11:00 GMT