AP Is Aghast That the GOP Would Use Biden's Failures as a Political Weapon. Aghast!

The Associated Press is well known — and rightfully so — for writing long, detailed articles on “what it all means.” They’re called “thumbsuckers” in the news business, and the AP has perfected them.

A thumbsucker article presupposes that the reader is an ignorant rube and needs to be guided from Point A to Point B of a topic in order to have it explained to them. The problem for the reader is that the AP reporter writing the story — or most other mainstream reporters writing the story — almost always allows his or her own bias to permeate the story, making a “what it all means” story into a “what it should mean to you, you ignorant wretch.”

But the AP’s latest thumbsucker — “GOP’s new midterm attack: Blaming Biden for formula shortage” — makes a silly attempt to guide the reader to the conclusion that the Republican attack lines are politically motivated.

OMG! Really?

Republicans aiming to retake control of Congress have already sharpened a message centering around blaming Democrats for high inflation, expensive gas, migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and violent crime in some cities.

But GOP leaders landed on an issue this week that it hopes could prove even more potent: tying President Joe Biden to a shortage in baby formula.

The uproarious response says a lot about how much respect the AP has lost in recent years.

Joe Biden, just an elderly bystander to events in this country happening around him. Give the guy a break already. https://t.co/iJ4UbjOFMD

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) May 14, 2022

The @AP is shocked, shocked to discover accountability in the electoral casino.

If the parties were reversed, this would read "GOP faces difficult election in explaining inflation, shortages, gas prices, crime …" https://t.co/Z1ObUXvcqg

— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) May 14, 2022

It’s not just Republicans blaming Democrats – have you seen Biden’s approval ratings or the generic ballot lately?

This is what happens when you win the WH, House, and Senate on the promise of “competent leadership” but can’t change a lightbulb without falling down the stairs. https://t.co/7ijA51Y5Lr

— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) May 14, 2022

"Republicans are blaming the Party that has a majority in Congress and a President in the White House" is a newsworthy take. https://t.co/jlPYUA6Kjc

— PolitiFact Bias (@PolitiFactBias) May 14, 2022

The AP tried to assure America that Biden was on top of the problem. They didn’t say, however, whether or not he was awake.

The administration has sometimes been slow in responding to sudden political threats, perhaps most notably when signs of inflation began to surface last year. The White House appears determined not to repeat that mistake, announcing on Friday that formula maker Abbott Laboratories committed to give rebates through August for a food stamp-like program that helps women, infants and children called WIC.

Biden insisted there’s “nothing more urgent we’re working on” than addressing the shortage.

Asked if his administration had responded as quickly as it should have, Biden said, ”If we’d been better mind readers, I guess we could’ve. But we moved as quickly as the problem became apparent.”

The “problem became apparent” in February when Abbot was forced to close its plant in Sturgis, Mich., which supplied 40% of infant formula made in the U.S. and almost all the specialty formulas manufactured in America. In fact, this was an issue only for parents with infants needing specialty formula until the news media awoke from their slumber and discovered that parents were panicking about finding food for their babies.

Then and only then did Biden ramp up some kind of government response. And it wasn’t until last week that the government began to attack the problem as a crisis.

Perhaps the AP should do its job and ask Biden what he has been doing since February to replace the specialty formula market and the 40%t market share held by Abbott? But that might embarrass the old man, and the AP just can’t have that.

And that would be guiding the reader in the wrong direction. Best to keep the article on track and protect Biden from the political fallout of his incompetent leadership.