This week, the country's liberal and conservative media outlets seem to agree that Michael D. Cohen, the government's star witness against former President Donald J. Trump, is not worth taking lightly.
But they made their case in completely different ways.
Conservative media portrayed Mr. Cohen, Mr. Trump's former lawyer, as a traitor to the conservative cause. Liberal news outlets focused on Cohen's testimony that he would do anything to impress Trump.
However, there was another major difference in the coverage of Cohen's testimony. Most liberal news outlets heavily reported on his remarks at the trial, the first criminal trial against a former president. Many conservative media outlets downplayed many of his statements in court.
The results are as follows.
From the left
MSNBC
MSNBC covered Mr. Cohen's testimony extensively on both its television channel and website. Reports have often acknowledged that communications about the details of the hush-money case were incomplete, in part because Mr. Cohen was serving more than a year in prison on charges that included lying to Congress. But most commentators still suggested his testimony would hurt Trump's case.
Mr. Cohen paid porn actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to prevent her from telling the public about her affair with Mr. Trump. Prosecutors allege that Trump then paid Cohen and falsified her records to disguise her payments as legal fees. Trump has denied any wrongdoing related to her affair or the payments.
MSNBC opinion writer Hayes Brown wrote on his website that Cohen is a “known liar” and “a terrible person to rely on in a prosecutor's case.”
But Brown wrote that prosecutors did not shy away from Cohen's checkered past, which “ironically makes him more reliable as a witness.”
On the prime-time show “All In,” Lawrence O'Donnell said Mr. Cohen seemed much more cautious than usual in court. Mr. O'Donnell suggested that Mr. Cohen's demeanor on the witness stand indicated he was telling the truth. O'Donnell said Cohen was “trying to salvage what he had left in his life by simply telling the truth to prosecutors.”
From the left
“Pod Save America”
The popular liberal podcast Pod Save America devoted the first 10 minutes of Tuesday's episode to the trial.Host Jon Favreau Mr. Cohen “was not an honest broker,” he said. The show's other host, Dan Pfeiffer, said he was a “sleazy goofball.”
But the hosts, both of whom had worked in the Obama administration, said Cohen's claims were ultimately borne out. Favreau said Cohen gave the impression to reporters in court that he was trustworthy.
“It appears that we have all the documents, or at least corroborating evidence, that Michael Cohen testified to,” Favreau said.
from the right
fox news
Like MSNBC, Fox News also heavily featured Cohen online and on television. Many argue that he was not a reliable witness and that his testimony ultimately damaged the prosecution's case.
“No one can take this guy seriously,” Fox News host and commentator Greg Gutfeld said of Cohen.
“It's hard to poke holes in Mr. Cohen's testimony because it's full of holes and there's no cheese,” Gutfeld said on “The Five.” “It's just the air.”
from the right
newsmax
Standing outside the courthouse Tuesday morning, Newsmax reporter John Glasgow, covering the trial, said he “didn't see much” in Cohen's testimony to suggest Trump would be found guilty. .
Newsmax anchor Greg Kelly, who frequently praises Trump, said he had not read Cohen's testimony. Instead, he characterized Mr. Cohen as someone who craves public attention, saying that Mr. Cohen is “not a smart person” and “loves moments like this.”
“I'm sorry, but we have a real problem with this guy,” Kelly said Monday on “The Greg Kelly Report.” On Tuesday, he called Mr. Cohen a “pathetic clown.”
from the right
new york post
The day after Cohen took the stand for the first time, the front page of the New York Post made no mention of him. Instead, it focused on falsehoods in a book by President Biden's former press secretary, Jen Psaki. In his new book, Psaki writes that Biden did not look at his watch until after the 2021 Memorial Service for the Fallen (Biden actually checked his watch during the ceremony). .
The newspaper ran a full-page photo of Biden looking at his watch during the ceremony, with the caption, “Yes, I'm looking at my watch.”