Colin Cowherd doesn’t talk a ton of politics.
But when the Fox Sports personality does, he’s busy ripping former President Donald Trump, who he lamented as a “con artist.” After being on vacation for 17 days, he talked about the presidential debate and how that’s seen “everyone,” like Mike Francesa and Charles Barkley, call for the incumbent, Joe Biden, to step aside.
Cowherd reacted on his radio show, The Herd, not wanting to let sports become politics. But he also offered his thoughts on his The Colin Cowherd Podcast, saying that while he avoids politics on his show due to its draining nature, the recent debates and media firestorm during his hiatus have undoubtedly sparked his interest.
While Cowherd acknowledged the complexities of media bias, he also pointed out that Democrats and Republicans can be overly critical of coverage that doesn’t favor their side.
“One of the things that is really interesting to me, and I’ve been offered political shows before on radio, it’s just sort of a joy-sapping experience,” he said. “I like sports. I like the drama. I like waking up every day and there’s a new game, a new drama, a new storyline, and you can build a narrative. The idea of having to cover the same political story for six months on end, I think, is just the thief of joy. It’d be tedious. I don’t want that life.
“But it was really interesting; I had this discussion with a friend. I said, ‘Politics and sports and business are all very similar.’ A political race — it’s a business. It’s the minute you’re elected; you’re raising funds. And in my business, sports has always been a little political and it’s absolutely a business. That’s why the NFL has pulled away from the other leagues. It just understands that.”
Cowherd said it was fascinating to watch the post-debate fallout and the coverage.
“We know Joe Biden has struggled, especially the last couple of years, with a lot of verbal gaffes,” said Cowherd. “The staring; you know, the look we see from grandparents we love. But it’s been fascinating to watch not only the coverage — which I think has been very fair and even-handed — but the outrage by Democrats with the coverage of CNN, Jonathan Stewart, and Brian Stelter and, Chuck Todd, and the New York Times.
“So, my entire life, I’ve been sort of an independent who leans right on business and left on social issues. But I’ve always understood that over 70% of people in the media are Democrats — and it absolutely bleeds into the coverage. I think, on average, Democrats get more favorable coverage than conservatives. Now, some of that’s earned — like, climate change denial on the right is doing you no favors. Like every week there’s a record in Palm Springs, Vegas, everywhere. The storms are getting nastier. The heat’s getting more oppressive. So, sometimes I do look at conservatives and roll my eyes when they come across as anti-science.
“Be that as it may, I do think Democrats get more favorable coverage. But you can’t trust — the White House doesn’t have a lot of credibility right now anytime they talk about Biden. But what’s fascinating has been to watch the Democrats, the liberal elites, react to the coverage. Once you start complaining about the coverage and not the content of your politician — which conservatives do a lot of — you’re cooked.
“And, I’m telling you, as an independent, I’ve appreciated CNN’s coverage and Brian and Chuck Todd and Jonathan Stewart. I’ve actually appreciated it. I think it’s been right down the middle. It’s been appropriately harsh on Joe Biden. Listen, when you come out and you cover the White House, and you say you’re surprised by his lack of mental acuity, I can’t take you seriously. Do you not have an iPhone? I can’t take you seriously.
“And so, watching the liberal elites criticize the coverage is something that’s painful and fatiguing. I’ve watched the right do for years, and it makes me think as somebody I view myself as an independent; I don’t like Trump at all. But I view myself mostly as a political independent, it makes me think when you get the favorable coverage — the favorable lean for years — you’re overreacting. You’re picking on the wrong people. The media is imperfect. We know that. It hasn’t been a great year necessarily for the New York Times. It’s not about the coverage. It’s about the candidate and the problems.”
Cowherd stated that if Biden refuses to step down, this is what the Democrats will get. He doesn’t find it very promising, and he also doesn’t think Trump with more immunity from the Supreme Court is very promising either. However, Cowherd finds it fascinating to see the attack on the coverage, which he views to be incredibly fair given the current state of Biden.
“It feels fair to me. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t feel as somebody in the media and somebody who’s mostly moderate…I don’t feel it’s been outrageous,” he adds. “Jake Tapper asked hard questions. I do think the media feeling they’ve been lied to has a little bit of a chip on their shoulder, but that’s OK. I can deal with a little of that. There’s been a lot of chips on the shoulder of media for years, sometimes they felt, in my opinion, a little dogmatic, a little unfair to the right. Now, they’re bringing the sledgehammer on Biden. It feels right to me. It feels appropriate.
“I think the simple explanation what has happened to the Democrats is that there is no more pressurized job in America than president — it ages you. And for an example, go look at President Barack Obama’s inauguration and how youthful he looks. And look eight years later. He has a head of gray hair, and he was in his prime politically. Joe Biden was always by any reasonable measure a one-term president, with some cognitive decline apparent going into that one term. And the Democrats got caught flat-footed.
“You didn’t really start to notice it until about late Year 2 of his presidency. But the last two years, it’s ugly and it’s sad, and we’ve all seen this before. And the Democrats come off as ill-prepared and not prepared and getting caught flat-footed. It’s not about the coverage. It’s not about CNN. It’s not about Bill Maher. It’s about Joe Biden. It’s a candidate issue, not a coverage issue.”
