RNC Co-Chair Bob Paduchik: ‘Mainstream Media Has No One Else to Blame but Themselves for Reputation’

When Republican National Committee (RNC) Co-Chair Bob Paduchik joined Deputy Political Editor Amanda House on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Sunday, he highlighted the media left’s latest missteps.

High on the agenda was Daily Show comedian Michelle Wolf’s poorly received routine at this weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, which included vulgar insults of White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. According to Paduchik, the faux pas highlighted the “disconnect between the Washington media elite and regular Americans.” “It supposed to be a celebration of the First Amendment, but I guess that means try and be as offensive and derogatory towards the Republican administration as possible,” he told House.

“As far as I can tell, the White House Correspondents’ Association hasn’t issued an apology or distanced themselves from this at all. By not doing so, they condone and they embrace this activity,” Paduchik said, referring to a media double standard that harps on President Donald Trump’s supposed outrageousness while letting conduct like Wolf’s go unchecked.

The WHCA President Margaret Talev did issue an apology of sorts Sunday night after Paduchik’s comment. “Last night’s program was meant to offer a unifying message about our common commitment to a vigorous and free press while honoring civility, great reporting and scholarship winners, not to divide people,” she wrote, “Unfortunately, the entertainer’s monologue was not in the spirit of that mission.”

Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway was less than satisfied with Talev’s apology, telling the Daily Caller Monday, “It was late, and it was generic.”

“The mainstream media has no one else to blame but themselves for the reputation and the relationship that they have with the American public,” Paduchik said.

“The president has a unique and I would say almost special ability to connect with the American public. And the news media has been losing that connection, not just in the last year and a half or two years since the campaign, but for decades now, because they have a tendency to choose sides,” Paduchik explained about the success of yet another Trump campaign event scheduled opposite the White House Correspondents’ Dinner he refused to attend, this one in Washington, Michigan. “The president has kept his word. Promises made, promises kept, that has been the record of this administration for the last 15, 16 months, and it’s exceptional. When he went out and campaigned on these issues and he started delivering on them immediately, people aren’t used to that from politicians.”

Going into the meat of the 2018 election cycle, Paduchik told House he saw this trait of the president’s as a great asset. “At least the voters that I’ve talked to, whether their Republicans, independents, or disaffected Democrats, they appreciate that this president means what he says and delivers on it.  And I think as long the president continues to do that – and I’m confident that he will – this momentum will still be there,” he said. “We’ve had record fundraising at the Republican National Committee, 172 million dollars in this cycle alone to date and 13.9 last march. Under Ronna McDaniel’s leadership, the RNC has broke fundraising records every month and she’s doing a great job.”

Breitbart News Sunday is broadcast live on SiriusXM Patriot Channel 125 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. eastern.