Commentary

Beleaguered By Trump, Networks Roll Red Carpet Out For Vance

Vice President J.D. Vance is making the rounds of two networks whose news divisions are under attack by President Trump.

The appearance that ignited the most coverage last week was an announcement from “The View” that Vance would appear as a guest tomorrow (Tuesday, June 16).

The other appearance was one Vance made yesterday (Sunday, June 14) on “CBS Sunday Morning,” where he was profiled by correspondent Robert Costa (photo above).

Vance’s guest appearance on “The View” will be his first time on the show, which is known for its liberal panelists who vehemently oppose Trump.

Vance, 41, is going on the show to promote his new book, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, which gets released on the same day as his appearance on “The View.”

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“The View” has been under fire from the Trump administration for its political commentary, which -- as noted above -- is for the most part against him.

Trump’s beef is that “The View” rarely, if ever, books guests representing the political right, while featuring a parade of liberal political guests, many of whom join the show’s panelists in criticizing Trump, his policies and his behaviors.

Now, Trump’s Federal Communications Commission under Chairman Brendan Carr has started an investigation aimed at determining whether “The View” falls under equal-time rules that require it to practice balance in its bookings of political guests.

Currently, “The View” is protected by its status as a “bona fide” news show, mainly because it is produced under the auspices of ABC News, which took over the show from the entertainment division in 2014.

The FCC’s opinion of ‘The View” is that it is not really a news program -- an argument that, in and of itself, is not without merit.

The FCC has intimated -- or said outright -- that the TV-station licenses held by Disney could be in jeopardy if the FCC’s investigation comes out against “The View” and Disney does not act to make changes that would be ordered by the Commission.

Disney has been vocal in its opposition to the FCC’s action, which Disney characterizes as a direct threat to speech and press freedoms.

However, here comes conservative Vice President Vance to promote his book about his personal journey back to Christianity and faith after abandoning them in his youth.

The booking could be seen as an olive branch to Trump and his FCC. See? We can have conservatives on “The View” too, Disney seems to be saying.

Nevertheless, the press release from “The View” ended with typical p.r. boilerplate about the show in which the wording seems to have been composed to position the show as a news program, with a little help from The New York Times.

“Called ‘the most important political TV show in America’ by The New York Times, the Daytime Emmy Award-winning talk show is a priority destination for up-to-the-minute Hot Topics, invaluable conversations, celebrities, newsmakers and politicians,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, Vance’s appearance on “CBS Sunday Morning” was also scheduled to coincide with the release of his new book.

On the show, Vance was interviewed “about faith, family and [his] new book,” CBS said in a press release. Vance’s wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, also appeared.

Other subjects included the Iran War and President Trump’s relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Vance booking comes as turmoil has overtaken CBS News and “60 Minutes” under the leadership of Bari Weiss, CBS News editor-in-chief.

Like “The View,” along with all TV news organizations that Trump detests, CBS News has been attacked by the President for months starting last fall when he sued CBS for a tiny edit that was made in an interview with Kamala Harris on “60 Minutes.”

Under the reign of Weiss, CBS News has been tirelessly working to placate the President.

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