On Tuesday, Neera Tanden, a prominent figure in the Biden administration, criticized what she perceives as a “double standard” in media coverage regarding the recent hack of the Trump campaign, contrasting it with the extensive attention given to the 2016 hack of the Clinton campaign.
Tanden, who heads the White House Domestic Policy Council, expressed her discontent with the minimal reporting on the Trump campaign’s hacked materials compared to the focus on WikiLeaks’ publication of similar content in 2016.
Neera Tanden slams media for focusing less on Trump campaign hack compared to the 2016 Clinton email controversy
“It’s astonishing how the double standard persists,” Tanden remarked on X. “Despite all the discussion in interviews, it’s important for those making these decisions to be held accountable. Do they now admit they were wrong in 2016, or is the rule that hacked materials are only useful when they harm Democrats? There seems to be no middle ground.”
She noted that while The New York Times had utilized hacked emails from WikiLeaks in stories from 2019, similar materials from the Trump campaign have not been prominently featured in recent coverage.
Tanden dismissed the argument that the greater coverage of WikiLeaks was justified because the materials were in the public domain. “Saying the hacking’s manner justified this coverage is merely a rationalization,” she argued.
The FBI confirmed an investigation into the Trump campaign hack, which the campaign claimed involved the leak of internal documents. Microsoft’s report attributed the hack to Iran, but did not name the Trump campaign specifically. The hack also involved communications with news outlets sharing vetting materials on Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio). Unlike the 2016 situation, news outlets have been cautious in their reporting on the latest hacked materials.
