THIS IS THE WAY: AG Todd Blanche Schools ABC’s Martha Raddatz on the WH Press Ban.

Throughout the past week, the top story among the Elitist Media was the Elitist Media. Specifically, the Trump administration’s revocation of White House Access to three specific outlets: CNN, MS NOW and Politico. ABC’s Martha Raddatz challenged Attorney General Todd Blanche on the merits of the ban, and got schooled for her troubles.

Watch as Blanche catches Raddatz trying to manufacture a quote:

MARTHA RADDATZ:  The judge — the judge decided this was not based on national security. So what do you think?

TODD BLANCHE:  The judge issued a temporary — the judge issued a temporary order. It’s not final. The litigation is ongoing, and I’m not going to talk about the specifics of what the judge said. That wouldn’t be right.What I’m talking about is the government’s position and what the Department of Justice said in court, which is the same thing that President Trump has said repeatedly, which is at some point, at some point, the complete misinformation and the inaccuracy and the one-sided news out of certain organizations does become a national security issue, and it’s not right for the people of the United States have to put up.

RADDATZ:  So, are you saying you’re going to screen people before they get on — on a flight coming —

(CROSSTALK)

BLANCHE:  I did not say that. No, no, I did not say that.

(CROSSTALK)

RADDATZ:  But you said the president gets to decide —

BLANCHE:  You don’t get to put words into my mouth.

(CROSSTALK)

RADDATZ:  I’m not.

BLANCHE:  That’s not the way it works.

RADDATZ:  The president —

BLANCHE:  Yes, you just said, are you saying? I didn’t say that.

RADDATZ:  Fine. You have a right to defend yourself there. But are you saying —

BLANCHE:  I’m not defending myself.

RADDATZ:  — that in the future —

BLANCHE:  You said I said something that I didn’t say.

RADDATZ:  That’s fine. That’s fine. We can go on.

The “so you’re saying…” reductio ad absurdum argument where an argument is distilled down into a ridiculous talking point is a favorite of the Elitist Media. Blanche caught it in real time, shut it down, and then rebutted Raddatz’ self-defense framing.

Raddatz inadvertently made Blanche’s case here, inasmuch as Democrats are never the beneficiaries of the Elite Media’s reduction ad absurdum distortions. As our own Tim Graham notes, Democrats don’t often have to tell an anchor “you don’t get to put words in my mouth.” That’s because the media are more than happy to let them say their own, unchallenged.

It’s a brilliant technique by Blanche, and I suspect if others start to employ it, most on-air personalities such as Cathy Newman, who singlehandedly made Jordan Peterson a global superstar in 2018 via an interview absolutely filled with “so you’re saying” attempted gotchas, would quickly be out of a job.