of straight news regardless of the ratings, he says howard: yeah, that s great. with the next statement, how he feels about the former president who is now a presidential candidate. will he apply the fair and balanced? i don t know. that affects what the anchors and reporters will feel. howard: there is myth, i think, that the media got trump elected in 2016 by covering all his rallies. he had to beat 16 candidates, so so if msnbc doesn t cover his announcement, does it not cover the convention vex? does it mute his slide during the de side during the debates? they didn t air his announcement, and then they spent 23 hours the denouncing him. it s already started. he s already doing what he did so well, and i don t think it s going to be something that any network can avoid. howard: right. but i think there is a