Since the race for the presidency had started, everything has been a bit chaotic between the 2 candidates. Both President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden have spent their campaign advertising, attending interviews, and being involved with the press. 

Trump has made it very clear that he is not supportive of the freedom of the press. As a presidential candidate, he has preached to his supporters the horribleness of journalists. “Our real opponent is not the Democrats or the dwindling number of Republicans that lost their way and got left behind, our primary opponent is the Fake News Media,” Trump tweeted in September of last year. Trump has made it clear numerous times that he is strictly against the media, specifically calling out CNN, NBC, ABC, and CBS for providing fake news. “We’re going to have people sue you like you’ve never got sued before.” Trump once stated in an interview at the white house. 

Trump’s distrust in the media has played a big role in his downplaying of the coronavirus as he believed the press was using the topic as another way to attack him. Recently, Trump has made headlines for his interactions with the media once again, this time for walking out of an interview with 60 Minutes fifteen minutes early. It has been an election day tradition for 60 Minutes to have a conversation with each candidate. The conversation started pleasantly, until Trump brought up the unfairness of the media. He then proceeded to say he had enough and walked out after only 45 minutes, which had never been done before. Trump then went to Twitter where he released a clip before it went on air, violating their agreement with CBS news.

With the spotlight on Trump the majority of the time, this tends to be in Joe Biden’s favor since it allows him to minimize public appearances and avoid tough questions. Joe Biden made his first national appearance in May 2020 with “Good Morning America”, where he ended the interview by asking anchor George Stephanopoulos, “How you feeling man? You doing ok?” Just that interaction between them shows the different relationships both candidates have with the media – Joe Biden is more genuine and respectful towards the news. Biden has only accepted a few national interviews with mostly cordial hosts who are supportive of his campaign, although he has not been able to escape the security of the media completely.  Questions continue to pop up about sexual assault allegations which Biden has continuously denied, and questions about whether Biden plans to pack the supreme court if he wins this election.  

In conclusion, the different interactions Trump and Biden have had with the press prove the difference in the amount and kind of media attention they get. It is obvious the media has put Trump in the spotlight, focusing on negative aspects, while we do not hear about Biden unless it is wanted.  Mr. Alley, a civics teacher here at Norwalk high was asked his thoughts on both Trump and Biden regarding the media and he described them by saying  “ Biden is more ‘old school’, tries to be diplomatic and treat members of the media with common decency and respect.  President Trump, on the other hand, preaches that much of the media produces ‘fake news’, and he has a very contentious, if not combative relationship with many members of the media including the White House press corp.”