What happened: The mainstream media published some ridiculous headlines about President Joe Biden's handling of the Chinese spy balloon he allowed to traverse the continental United States before the military finally shot it down over the Atlantic Ocean.
• Yahoo! News: "Republicans pounce on Biden over appearance of Chinese spy balloon"
• ABC News: "Republicans paint Biden as soft on China as surveillance balloon soars over US"
(Yes, the ABC News headline is real. We're not making this up.)
Why it matters: This is how the mainstream media always cover stories that reflect poorly on Democratic politicians. They'd rather not cover the scandal itself, so they skip ahead and frame the story in terms of the Republican response while implying that any GOP criticism is overblown or in bad faith.
Where it's headed: There are presumably no depths to which mainstream journalists are unwilling to stoop when it comes to protecting their allies in the Democratic Party, no scandal egregious enough to warrant fair and balanced coverage. Their ability to demand the American public's respect while conducting themselves in such an unserious fashion is almost impressive.
Here are a few examples of how the media might cover future scandals using the "Republicans pounce" framing, according to a Washington Free Beacon analysis:
