Katie Couric Said She’d Have Been Live Fact Checking Donald Trump During Interview

Left wing journalist Katie Couric had some harsh words for NBC's recent interview with former President Donald Trump.

Kristen Welker, the new host of "Meet the Press," was accused of "normalizing" Trump by allowing him to speak on a public news channel. And more importantly, not interrupting him every time he spoke.

Couric appeared at the 2023 Texas Tribune Festival in Austin to discuss what she'd have done differently. According to Fox News, she was asked about the "lessons" the media could learn for their coverage during the 2024 election cycle.

She said the media faces a "big challenge" with Trump and that "it's mind-boggling" that he's currently the frontrunner for the Republican nomination.

"I think that it's very, very difficult for a journalist- and we saw this with the CNN town hall, more recently on Meet the Press,' for a journalist to interview Donald Trump because he ignores every question and he's just like a bulldozer. He just doesn't listen to the questions and just, just talks over you and repeats lies and you can try to correct him." 

"And I really don't appreciate that the women are the sacrificial lambs in these situations," she continued. "I think it's because he's sexist and he rolls over women more and I think he refuses, probably- I think Jonathan Swan kind of was the most successful guy to get him. But I think he refuses to interview men because I think probably some of his female, you know, interrogators are more polite? I don't know what it is… I don't know. It's tricky. It's very, very tricky."

DALLAS, TEXAS - AUGUST 06: Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Hilton Anatole on August 06, 2022 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Katie Couric Plays Many Classic Liberal Trope Cards

In her estimation, despite women being "sacrificial lambs" in her own estimation, she'd have been so tough on Trump that he'd be "walking off" the set of the interview.

"I would have had so many facts and figures ready and I would have been really focused on predicting what he was going to say… I would have some system," Couric said. "And I think absent of that, if he still insists his lies are- or he's telling the truth or he's not fabricating stuff, I think I would have done interstitials within the body of the view. I would have done freeze frame. And then later, as the interview aired because it was videotaped, it wasn't live, I would've said, ‘Actually, despite his protestations, this is not true.’ And I would have given the reasons why." 

Couric's views and mindset are, of course, completely ridiculous. Journalists are supposed to ask questions, and frequently, politicians give their interpretation of events or ideas that contradict what the media believes is true.

Joe Biden and Gavin Newsom frequently lie in interviews, making demonstrably untrue claims about things like COVID interventions or climate change causing hurricanes. But Couric has no problem with their lies or misrepresntations, because they share her worldview.

It's unclear what she means by saying that women are "sacrificial lambs" in Trump interviews, but these are ostensibly professional journalists. If they can't deal with a mildly argumentative interview, they're in the wrong profession.

And all of this ignores the biggest problem with her response.

The media is always wrong.

Deflecting From Media Misinformation

Couric's claim is that the news media, or at least, her and the shows she watches, are unbiased, impartial arbiters of truth.

Except, of course, we know that's nonsense.

The media fell hook line and sinker for the Russia collusion hoax, and then spread it widely while criticizing anyone who pointed out how nonsensical it was.

They lied about the Hunter Biden laptop story, claiming that it was Russian disinformation because they wanted Joe Biden to win the election. They were wrong about COVID. In every possible way.

Masks, school closures, lockdowns, the lab leak - opponents or outside observers that contradicted their consensus were labeled or demonized. Despite being right.

And that's just in the past few years.

The media has arguably lied more consistently and caused more damage with misinformation than Donald Trump ever has. But admitting that would require intellectual humility, a willingness to admit mistakes and take accountability.

And that's something Couric and the media will never do.