Jack Houghton:
Well, joining me now is the Institute of Public Affairs Chief Economist and former Washington correspondent for The Australian newspaper, Adam Creighton.
Welcome to the show, Adam.
Adam Creighton:
Thanks very much for having me.
Jack Houghton:
Now, very awkward moment for Donald Trump. He in his mind is going to hate that slip up. But the way that the media ran with it, segmented it. They knew at that point that there was an explanation. They knew that what he meant was something different, but do we expect any different from the American media?
Adam Creighton:
No, look, we certainly don’t. And obviously that would’ve been clarified immediately by his many hundreds of advisors. The president, of course, has enormous staff, much greater than the prime minister here. And so it would’ve gone out to all the media networks there that this is what the president actually meant. And yet as you point out, they’ve run all these silly stories that are actually lies actually. I mean, I noticed one of the journalists accused the president of lying, which was a strange verb to use, but they are actually lying, of course, because they know that’s not what he meant.
So extremely bad so called reporting. Of course, it’s just propaganda, really. It’s not reporting.
Jack Houghton:
Well said. Well, now let’s take a look at Donald Trump’s short-lived interview with NBC.
Kristen Welker:
… Todd Blanche.
Donald Trump:
Listen to me. Listen to me.
Kristen Welker:
Let’s talk about Todd Blanche.
Donald Trump:
It’s tremendous evidence. There’s nothing but evidence.
Kristen Welker:
It’s nothing presented in the court of law.
Donald Trump:
The election was rigged. It was a dirty election.
Kristen Welker:
Mr. President-
Donald Trump:
And it’s happening again right now in California.
Kristen Welker:
You’ve never presented evidence.
Donald Trump:
It’s happening right-
Kristen Welker:
That the 2020 election was rigged-
Donald Trump:
… now in California. Right now, look at what’s happening in California.
Kristen Welker:
Where’s the evidence to that?
Donald Trump:
It’s four days.
Kristen Welker:
The Republicans are doing well in California.
Donald Trump:
In California …
Jack Houghton:
And the moment was quickly mocked by The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart.
Jon Stewart:
But this is where Kristen Welker nearly undoes all of the good work she did with one of the worst pleas in the history of journalism.
Kristen Welker:
Mr. President, let’s … Please. I travelled all the way to Wisconsin.
Jon Stewart:
“You can’t leave, sir. I was in business class. Business. Mr. President, please Wisconsin. Wheel of Fortune is on an hour earlier here.”
Jack Houghton:
Adam, let’s bring you back in. Really interesting interview. Obviously there was the bit of the meltdown that happened with Trump, but you love to see Jon Stewart take a swing at the left and the entitlement of the journalists to complain that the President of the United States should stay there because she was the one that travelled to meet him.
Adam Creighton:
No, it was fantastic. And it’s worth dwelling on Jon Stewart. You’re quite right. Because unlike the two Jimmys and Stephen Colbert, who I think have all moved on, I mean, he takes a swipe at both sides, which is what good comedians should do. And that’s why he still graces American TVs. He’s extremely popular.
I mean, I can recall during COVID also. I mean, he was out there saying the whole time that of course the virus came from a lab and the left hated him for that, but he’s been proved right on that, I would say. Most of the US agencies think that now. And it’s great that he’s poking fun at the NBC. It was a hilarious comment and I’m sure the Fallons, the Kimmels, and the Colberts would not have done the same.
Jack Houghton:
Yeah, he’s brilliant. Well, let’s talk about JD Vance because we talk about The View on this programme a lot. It’s a very funny show where they say some of the most insane things that you will ever hear from a left wing presenter.
But JD Vance is actually going onto The View. He’s never done that before. This is normally a conservative-free zone. What do you make of this? Is this an attempt by The View to appear to be more balanced or do you think it’s a decision more from JD Vance to reach a different audience and maybe soften his image with those viewers?
Adam Creighton:
Yeah, look, it’s probably more of the latter. I mean, obviously The View asked him. Although we don’t know. It’s quite possible the Vice President’s office wanted him on the programme and then The View are happy to have him for the reasons you just said, they want to appear more balanced.
I think it’s great that he’s going on. I mean, he’s a great speaker. He’s very good at argument and so I’m sure he’s going to be able to beat, thrash the three or four very left-wing ladies who will be on there. And I don’t doubt that they probably think they’re going to win, but I think they’re going to be sorely disappointed.
He’s a great intellect, JD Vance. I think he’s on there to talk about his new book or some book he’s written or some book he likes, but there’ve only been, I think, two conservative guests on the show in the last 12 months or so, whereas all the others have been liberal.
So it certainly is unusual and I don’t know whether the audience of The View will be very happy with the outcome because as I say, I do expect that JD Vance will thrash them in debate.
Jack Houghton:
I can tell you I’m definitely happy because we’re going to get a lot of content out of this. And we’ll be watching it very closely and we’ll be the real winners. It doesn’t matter who wins out of them. It’ll be the show that wins for the content.
Adam Creighton:
Certainly.
Jack Houghton:
Adam Creighton, thank you so much for your insights as always.
This transcript with Adam Creighton talking on The Media Show – Sky News Australia from 12 June 2026 has been edited for clarity.
