The arrangement of the first

P

resident

Donald

Trump created one of those increasingly rare collective TV viewing experiences Tuesday in a Manhattan criminal court with every cable news channel and broadcast network

S

focused on business.

The day was dotted with images of Trump’s motorcade making the four-mile ride down

the

FDR Drive from Trump Tower to the criminal courthouse in downtown Manhattan where he was arrested and pleaded not guilty

up up

the 34 felony counts filed against him pertain to

supposedly

silent cash payments

paid

to a porn star with whom he allegedly had an affair.

The event It

was the most historic and summery video by a living president since Richard Nixon took off in a helicopter from the White House lawn the morning after he resigned in 1974.

“A scene unlike any other in American history,” said CBS News

C

progressive correspondent Scott MacFarlane described the scene from outside the courthouse. “A former president brought here to Manhattan to face criminal charges.”

CNN branded his coverage with an ominous caption at the bottom of the screen: “The Arrest and Arraignment of Donald Trump.”

In a fragmented and

partisan

media landscape, viewers had their pick of outlets, especially those that cater to conservative and

pro Trump

Audience, reflecting the tribal nature of the TV news audience that is divided along political lines.

But the political critique was not as hyperbolic as usual due to the solemn nature of the event and a somewhat lukewarm response from many Trump critics as they processed Manhattan’s unsealed indictment.

District Attorney Dist. thoughtful

Alvin Bragg.

Jonathan Turley, a legal analyst for Fox News who is highly skeptical of the New York charges against Trump and believes in the investigation into his handling of classified documents

S

is probably much more problematic

articulately expressed

how much of the country took in the story as it unfolded on the

E

branch

C

East.

This is not the white Bronco OJ Simpson journey, Turley said. People look at these cars and see completely different things. Half of this country considers it a president who must answer for alleged crimes. The other half tends to see this as an indictment of the criminal justice system, that this is the weaponry of our justice system and that this will only deepen the divide

and progress regarding

… for many of us.

Fox News kept its fiery conservative commentators away from the latest coverage,

holding their fire until the network’s view comes out in prime time.

The network

featured Washington anchors John Roberts, Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum and a team of legal experts who were joined by Bill Barr, the former attorney general in the Trump administration. While there

were what

criticism

S

of the case, the panel was clearly struck by the seriousness of the occasion.

“There is no

underestimate

the significance of what he went through,” MacCallum said. “Someone who has been president of the United States of America has just been fingerprinted and booked and processed to go to a courtroom to be charged.”

Confronted with

the seriousness of the scene, including

a puffy-eyed Trump silently walking past reporters in the courthouse, Baier refuted claims previously made by some Fox News commentators that the political fortunes for Trump, a candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination, would be boosted by the controversial indictment in New York.

“This is a surreal moment and one that is probably politically beneficial in the short term to fuel his base, but in the long run many people wonder how much this will benefit him,” Baier said.

Trump’s trusted defenders who had stayed behind at Fox News were there for him when the network began its opinion programming.

“You’re endangering Donald Trump’s life,” said Jesse Watters, co-host of “The Five.” “You trap him and advertise to the whole world, the former president of the United States, the Republican nominee for president, will be at this location, at this time, at this date. And you have towers, and you have windows.”

Newsmax, the conservative network that has been a staunch supporter of Trump, toned down the rhetoric during the indictment using

more

political agnostic anchor Greta Van Susteren for legal analysis.

But

Newsmax commentators later took aim

S

providing

the notoriety of a winning bingo card

phrases

That

usually use their guests to talk about the case against Trump (“Soros-backed prosecutor”, “political revenge”, “armament”, “discredited witnesses”).

Host in the late afternoon

Chris Saltedo

immediately went to work calling Trump’s arrest “a complete bastardization of the rule of law” and saying it evoked the old Soviet Union.

The San Diego-based OAN Network, the most outspoken of the right-wing outlets, spent little time covering it

the

story at all, putting a live video feed of the courthouse in the corner of the screen as it dealt with other issues, and

It

did not provide real-time analysis.

the

relatively common

the subdued tone of the coverage may also be due to the lack of unrest among those gathered outside to protest for and against Trump

by

the courthouse.

The actions of the conservative networks have been closely watched

have all been accused of

presenting false information about voter fraud in the 2020 election, spreading allegations of Trump and his legal team.

Fox News, Newsmax and OAN are all defendants in defamation suits filed by voting machine and software companies Dominion and Smartmatic.

They have denied wrongdoing.

The most bizarre

television

Second Tuesday was provided by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), the election-denying Trump acolyte who spent all 10 minutes addressing a largely hostile crowd before being whisked away in a vehicle.

Greene then went into a screed in which she compared Trump’s arrest to that of famous persecuted figures.

“Trump joins some of the most incredible people in history,” Greene said.

Nelson Mandela was arrested and was in prison. Jesus was arrested and killed by the Roman government…

“I just can’t believe it’s happening, but I will always support him. He hasn’t done anything wrong.”

Greene was heard

to give

the comments on the Right Side Broadcasting Network, an outlet that features disgraced former Trump adviser Steve Bannon as one of its hosts. Fox News did not comment on her comments, and MSNBC presented them through a correspondent without any video.

While the right wing continues to unrelentingly support Trump, some viewers on the left have little patience if they see a hint of sympathy for the former president.

Van Jones, the CNN commentator who worked with the Trump White House on criminal justice reform, said the former president looked like a “grandpa having a really bad day.”

“I can tell you, after spending time with defendants, this is one of the worst moments in a person’s life,” he said.

Jones soon heard about it on social media.

“This isn’t grandpa getting arrested at Walmart for stealing Geritol

a klanpa is this ok to use? [someone]

who paid hush money for his illegal affairs and whose decades of criminal behavior has finally caught up with him.”

Be fking for real Van Jones!”

wrote Reecie Colbert in a tweet.

But the expression of isolation on the face of the former president was also noticed by other journalists.

Where are the other Senate and House members?”

said asked

Robert Costa, Washington correspondent for CBS News. “There is an unwillingness for so many of them to come into the arena at a time of trouble with Trump. They will send a tweet and make a statement

,

but they don’t want to get too close to a volatile situation.