It is no secret that there is little love lost between President Donald Trump and the bulk of the mainstream media establishment.
Even as Trump disparages the corrupt and dishonest media, however, he often adds that there still remain some journalists who do a fair and accurate job of reporting the news. It would appear that, at least for Sunday, famed journalist Bob Woodward fit that description, as he was the subject of rare praise from the president.
Woodward cautions against impeachment rush
Fox News reported that Woodward, an author and associate editor for The Washington Post who first gained fame breaking the Watergate scandal, appeared on the CBS Sunday morning program “Face the Nation” and actually seemed to caution Democrats against relentlessly pursuing the impeachment of Trump.
Woodward sat alongside reporter Peter Baker of The New York Times to discuss the latest news regarding the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry efforts over the past couple of weeks.
At one point Woodward warned host Margaret Brennan that “the Democrats need to really be careful about how they let this play out.” He also later cautioned about the divisive and provocative stance taken by the Democrats, saying, “Let’s hope it’s not a bloody 2020.”
Rare compliment
It appears that President Trump appreciated Woodward’s cautionary words for those on left rushing headlong toward an ill-advised — and likely doomed — effort to remove the president from office over allegations thus far lacking in substance or support, let alone actions amounting to actual “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
On Sunday afternoon, Trump tweeted, “Good job, I must say, by Bob Woodward on ‘Deface the Nation.’ The CBS no name host(ess), and other guest, Peter Baker of The Failing New York Times, were totally biased, boring and wrong (as usual), but Woodward was cool, calm and interesting. Thank you Bob!”
Temporary truce
To be sure, it is unlikely that Trump approves of everything Woodward has to say on this topic, but for at least one day, all was well between the two.
Trump’s complimentary comments stand in contrast to the fiery criticism the president rained down on Woodward in 2018 following the journalist’s release of a book entitled “Fear: Trump in the White House.”
In it, Woodward painted a largely unflattering portrait of the Trump White House. The president responded by suggesting that Woodward was a “Dem operative” who had manufactured fake quotes from “made-up frauds” and perpetrated “a con on the public.”
All of that may be water under the bridge for now, but the pleasantries probably won’t last very long.
Trump and Woodward will most likely find themselves at odds again in the near future, and their history of back-and-forth mudslinging will pick up right where it left off.
