What To Know
- Jessica Tarlov criticized Republicans’ claims of being “media victims’ on ‘Real Time With Bill Maher.
- The panel discussed President Trump’s recent ban of CNN, Politico, and MS NOW from the White House.
- The conversation highlighted differing views on media influence, with some panelists emphasizing audience size and others stressing the importance of prestige.
Fox News’ Jessica Tarlov blasted Republicans’ claim of being “media victims” after President Donald Trump banned CNN, MS Now, and Politico from the White House.
On the Friday, September 18 episode of Real Time With Bill Maher, Bill Maher‘s guests, conservative activist Christopher Rufo and Tarlov, butted heads during the “Overtime” segment of the HBO late-night show.
“What does the panel think of Trump banning CNN, Politico, and MS NOW from the White House because he says they are fake news?” one question for the panel read.
To that, Maher joked, “He just did that? I thought he did that like 10 years ago.”
“Like an hour before we came on,” Tarlov explained. “He’s been trying. It’s a slow burn.”
Maher then pointed out, “Everything in this country is always just like, ‘Everything is terrible, unless our side does it,’ and then it’s always perfectly OK,” Maher said. “I mean, like the free speech thing. I mean, come on. That has to make you laugh a little.”
That’s when Rufo admitted, “This is a mistake in the same way it was a mistake for Robert Kraft to ban Macklemore. You’re giving your opponents an easy win. They can say, ‘We stand for free speech, good journalism, we’re being, you know, kicked out of the White House.’ I think it’s a mistake strategically, but it’s also a mistake on the substance.”
Rufo further explained, “The president’s best moments are oftentimes in combat with people from the left-wing media. And so as conservatives, we don’t have the benefit of having the mainstream media on our side. We have to be smart in how we do combat with the left-wing media if we want to have our message break through. And so, hunkering down, remaining in the echo chamber, it’s a mistake on all fronts.”
However, that didn’t sit well with Tarlov, the lone Democrat on The Five.
“I just want to add to that: You guys aren’t the media victims,” she pointed out. “You actually have more share of eyeballs than the left does. So, Fox has many more millions of viewers on a per-hour basis than CNN or MS NOW combined. The biggest podcasts are conservatives.”
Maher then argued, “I mean, that’s one way to measure it. But there’s also who has more clout. Clout is what matters.” He added, “But the cool kids are all on the left. That means a lot. That matters a lot.”
To conclude their thoughts on the topic, Rufo said, “To Bill’s point, it’s about prestige. And so, look, the fact of the matter is, The New York Times is more powerful than Fox News. That’s how it is. I wish it weren’t that way, but that’s the world we live in.”
Real Time With Bill Maher, Fridays at 10/9c, HBO