In the wake of revelations that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's (R) office carried out a political vendetta against a NJ Democrat by closing lanes on the George Washington Bridge, right-wing media have sprung into damage control mode to protect the prominent Republican governor, using any excuse to distract and deflect attention from the scandal.
On January 8, New Jersey's The Record reported that top aides within Christie's office coordinated in order to create "traffic problems in Fort Lee" by closing lanes to the George Washington Bridge in an alleged act of political retribution against the city's Democratic mayor after he refused to endorse Christie's re-election campaign.
Right-wing media have reacted by attempting to deflect criticism from Christie, praise Christie's handling of the scandal in contrast to perceived scandals in the Obama administration, or ignore the unfolding scandal altogether. That defense of Christie was exemplified in a January 9 editorial from The Wall Street Journal, in which the Journal argued that "Mr. Christie's contrition contrasts so sharply with President Obama's handling of the tax agency's abuse of political opponents and his reluctance to fire anyone other than a military general for anything," and concluded, "If Mr. Christie really didn't know about this cheap exercise in political payback, and nothing new emerges, the incident shouldn't interfere with the Governor's expected presidential run."
Which brings us to the Obama Administration, which quickly leaked to the media that the U.S. Attorney is investigating the lane closures as a criminal matter. Well, that sure was fast, and nice of Eric Holder's Justice Department to show its typical discretion when investigating political opponents.
This is the same Administration that won't tell Congress what resources it is devoting to the IRS probe, and appears to be slow-rolling it. It has also doubled down by expanding the political vetting of 501(c)(4) groups seeking tax-exempt status. Lois Lerner, who ran the IRS tax-exempt shop and took the Fifth before Congress, was allowed to "retire," presumably with a pension. Acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller resigned under pressure but no other heads have rolled. Yet compared to using the IRS against political opponents
Following the example of the Journal and others, Media Matters has crafted a how-to checklist for conservative media covering the Christie bridge scandal:
Here are other examples of right-wing media appearing to follow this methodology:
- Right-Wing Media Deflect From Gov. Christie Bridge Scandal To Attack Obama, Invoke Benghazi
- Fox Hosts Agree: Media Using Christie Scandal To Distract From Gates Book's Criticism Of Obama, Clinton
- REPORT: Fox News Buries Christie Bridge Scandal With Less Than 15 Minutes Of Coverage
- CNN: Fox's Minimal Coverage Of Christie Scandal May Have Political Motivations
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