In April, Twitter referred to PBS and other media as “government-funded media,” which angered some users. Despite the fact that their government support is an undeniable reality, PBS’s main Twitter account ceased using the platform as a result. They disliked the moniker because they believed it alluded to state-owned media in countries such as Russia. This is indicated in the bio for PBS’s primary Twitter account.

“PBS’s editorial independence is central to our work and will never change. We produce trustworthy content that features unbiased reporting.”

Tuesday evening, during former President Donald Trump’s speech in Bedminster, New Jersey, PBS Newshour did something unusual.

Trump explained the legal basis for his case in a speech to a cheering audience, describing his access to papers under the Presidential Records Act. Additionally, he claimed that because he had been unfairly targeted, he had been working with NARA and going through the boxes to decide what was personal and what they could want. He asserted that the targeting was “election interference” as it had been in the past when he had been targeted. He did, in fact, present some strong defense arguments for a non-lawyer, arguing that the Presidential Records Act is not a criminal statute and that a president has never been investigated for something similar in the past.

In support of his position, Trump cited the “Clinton Socks Case,” in which a federal judge ruled that Bill Clinton had the authority to retain recordings of conversations with foreign leaders, some of which involved exceedingly sensitive matters. Trump noted in his explanation of the Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton secret document issues that Biden allegedly had improperly classified records from his time in the Senate in 1974, when the Presidential Records Act was not in effect, while Clinton allegedly deleted emails.

In general, Trump’s speech was composed and deliberate, and in light of what he endured on the day of his arraignment, he displayed a level of remarkable fortitude and vigor that Joe Biden could never match. Trump briefly mentioned “destroying the deep state” near the conclusion of his speech. He never uttered a single word that even tangentially suggested or encouraged violence.

During the address, however, PBS used chyrons, which shouted bias.

Wow. Look at this propaganda from PBS during Trump's speech tonight. pic.twitter.com/7zGwVI11UH

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) June 14, 2023

Here, they added a chyron that reads, “Violent rhetoric has escalated in online forums and far-right militia groups since Trump’s federal indictment.”

They did not, however, provide any supporting evidence. What relevance would that have, even if it were true, to what Trump said? They appear to be accusing Trump of “violence” solely because he ventured to defend himself.

More on this story via The Republic Brief:

They still had one more chyron to complete. They were stating their argument in case it wasn’t obvious what they were attempting to get through to you. CONTINUE READING…