Fox News host Howard Kurtz on Sunday defended NBC News and reporter Dasha Burns on a sit-down interview with Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman, and said backlash from fellow journalists was the result of “sheer media partisanship” from journalists who just want the candidate to win his Senate race.

As a result of a stroke this year, Fetterman has had some issues with processing what he hears, as he and his wife and the campaign have explained, which necessitates his using closed-captioning in interviews in order to better communicate. His interview with Burns was his first face-to-face, sit-down interview, and Burns reported about what that was like, confirming in a comment that he does experience issues processing conversation without that visual aid, as he has stated.

The fierce backlash against that observation and reporting by Burns was the result of naked partisans aims on the part of the press, says Kurtz.

The outrage was driven mainly by fellow journalists, but also capitalized on by the campaign. Gisele Fetterman has even demanded to know why there aren’t consequences being meted out over the interview.

“It’s sheer media partisanship, there’s no other way to put it!” said Kurtz. “Some anchors and pundits are rushing to defend John Fetterman, who unfortunately suffered a stroke as he was winning the Democratic Senate nomination in Pennsylvania. And they’re taking aim at an NBC reporter who was just doing her job and a very good job at that.”

“Fetterman, who is running against Dr. Oz, has journalists provide him with closed captioning on a monitor so he can more easily process their questions. NBC’s Dasha Burns did just that in Fetterman’s first, in-person TV sit-down, and there were moments when he was struggling,” Kurtz said before running a clip from the interview.

He also played the clip of Burns talking about the candidate’s challenges, in which she confirmed what Fetterman’s campaign has stated. “We did find that in small talk before the interview without captioning, it seemed it was difficult for Fetterman to understand our conversation,” she said.

Kurtz described the “fierce backlash” briefly, mentioning podcaster Kara Swisher and New York Magazine writer Rebecca Traister.

He quoted Traister saying Fetterman is “not at all impaired” and that he “understands everything.”

“Burns didn’t suggest otherwise,” said Kurtz. “But there’s been plenty of stories and segments ripping her for her remarks.”

“NBC and Dasha Burns were transparent with the audience, but that was rejected by some in this process who just want John Fetterman to win that Senate seat,” he concluded.

Mediaite’s Colby Hall made a similar argument when he said that some of the media have become “wedded to their tribalism.”

Watch the clip above via Fox News.

The post ‘Sheer Media Partisanship’: Fox’s Howard Kurtz Defends NBC News Against ‘Absurd’ Fetterman Interview Backlash first appeared on Mediaite.

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