The Navarro Incident: Interviews Are Inputs to the Narrative Machine

Cable News Network clearly has become Cable Narrative Network.

And this is a clear loss for the American democracy.

Rather than providing interviews, CNN has shaped a narrative and if you are interviewed, you are being interviewed in order to find your place in their narrative.

Their narrative is intensely political, but my point is not.

But they have become so intensely political, the might miss that point.

There is a clear need for reasoned debate and discussion.

Interviews of prominent figures can be part of the consideration of ideas and their examination in public.

But the Navarro case illustrates how far Cable Narrative Network has strayed from any such concept.

Peter Navarro works on international trade for President Trump.

One of the key areas of focus of the Administration has clearly been upon dealing with the challenges from Communist China, within which trade is a key element.

And no one living through COVID-19 in the West, can miss the fact of how important the Chinese factor has become in the defense of liberal democracies and the reworking of alliances.

One need only to look to Australia to see how dramatic a change is underway.

One might then expect the CNN interviewer to ask Navarro about these critical issues, one with which he deals with and is empowered by the President to shape policies for the Adminstration.

But no, there is no interest in this.

Rather, Navarro just happens to be an interview speed bump to the core point – the President has to be defeated at all cost because of the various sins of which CNN spends its 24 hour “news cycle” focusing upon.

One wonders what they could fill 24 hours up with if they could not use the T word.

As reported in multiple newspapers, CNN host and note the ironic word, host, Jake Tapper, focuses on what he thinks is the core question – “Why wasn’t the President honest with the American people” about COVID?

This is clearly a politically motivated question and fine, if you invited me on to discuss that, and we agree that is the question to be debated, debates on.

But you are inviting the senior international trade specialist on the program to deal with a question for which he is simply one more private citizen having views on this subject.

How about asking Navarro: “Do you think Biden, who hides in his basement doing his Zorro imitation has the courage to be President?”

Would that be a fair question to ask Navarrro?

I certainly think not.

But then again, I am not a 24 hour narrative news network.