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Defeated Rep. Mike Lawler says Jesus Christ would have lost his New York seat

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 3 outlets, all left-leaning.

3 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

HuffPost, The Daily Beast and The Independent report that Republican Rep. Mike Lawler lost his bid for New York’s 17th Congressional District to Democrat Cait Conley in Tuesday’s midterm elections. The Independent gives Conley 52.1 percent of the vote to Lawler’s 47.8 percent and says Lawler conceded on election night. Lawler told CNN’s Manu Raju that he “ran as good a campaign as he possibly could” but that “the bottom fell out.” Raju recalled that when he pressed Lawler, Lawler said “Jesus Christ could have run and would have lost.” The outlets report the remark as Lawler’s own explanation of his defeat, and say it drew comment from CNN anchor Anderson Cooper.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. Editors read every story. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. Mike Lawler lost his re-election bid in New York’s 17th Congressional District to Democrat Cait Conley in Tuesday’s midterm elections.

    One side only: the leftReported byFar Left2Left1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    HuffPost, The Daily Beast
    Left
    The Independent
  2. Lawler conceded on election night and congratulated Conley.

    One outletThe Independent· Left

  3. Lawler told CNN’s Manu Raju he “ran as good a campaign as he possibly could” but that “the bottom fell out.”

    One side only: the leftReported byFar Left1Left1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    HuffPost
    Left
    The Independent
  4. Lawler said, as Raju recalled, “Jesus Christ could have run and would have lost.”

    One side only: the leftReported byFar Left2Left1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    HuffPost, The Daily Beast
    Left
    The Independent
  5. The Independent reports Conley won 52.1 percent of the vote to Lawler’s 47.8 percent.

    One outletThe Independent· Left

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three outlets report that Lawler lost his seat to Democrat Cait Conley and quoted his remark that Jesus Christ would have lost, with the two Far Left outlets treating it as a mocking aside and the Left outlet reporting it as a claim.

  • the left

    3 outlets

    Far Left outlets HuffPost and Daily Beast headline the remark as a mockery, with the Daily Beast’s GOP Loser Compares Himself to Jesus, while the Left Independent attributes it as a claim.

    Loaded modifier“GOP Loser”A pejorative label for a politician in the outlet’s own voice that pre-judges him; the defeat can be stated neutrally.More neutral: Defeated RepublicanDisagree with this highlight? Loaded verb“Compares Himself to Jesus”Presents the remark as a self-comparison, which the quoted words do not state; neutral wording would report what he said.More neutral: Says Jesus Christ Would Have Lost His SeatDisagree with this highlight? to Explain Election Defeat
    The Daily BeastFar LeftAll left-leaning headlines
  • the center

    No coverage yet

    No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

  • the right

    No coverage yet

    No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left5

    disaster for the GOPrather extraordinary explanationGOP LoserCompares Himself to Jesus

  • Center

    Has not covered this story.

  • Right

    Has not covered this story.

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    disaster for the GOPMore neutral: a losing night for Republicans

    Characterizes the election result as a disaster in the outlet’s own voice; the vote totals state the result without it.

    …could have won re-election in his district after losing his seat in Tuesday’s disaster for the GOP in the midterms.

    Used byThe Independent (Left)

  • Sensational language

    rather extraordinary explanationMore neutral: explanation

    Editorial assessment of the remark in the outlet’s own voice that adds drama without adding facts.

    Mike Lawler has a rather extraordinary explanation for his election defeat: his congressional seat was so unwinnable that…

    Used byThe Daily Beast (Far Left)

  • Loaded modifier

    GOP LoserMore neutral: Defeated Republican

    A pejorative label for a politician in the outlet’s own voice that pre-judges him; the defeat can be stated neutrally.

    GOP Loser Compares Himself to Jesus to Explain Election Defeat

    Used byThe Daily Beast (Far Left)

  • Loaded verb

    Compares Himself to JesusMore neutral: Says Jesus Christ Would Have Lost His Seat

    Presents the remark as a self-comparison, which the quoted words do not state; neutral wording would report what he said.

    GOP Loser Compares Himself to Jesus to Explain Election Defeat

    Used byThe Daily Beast (Far Left)

Show 1 more phrasesShow fewer
  • Sensational language

    quite the gemMore neutral: a notable remark

    Calls the remark a gem in the outlet’s own voice, an evaluation rather than a neutral description of what was said.

    Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) delivering quite the gem.

    Used byHuffPost (Far Left)

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

3 outlets

Leads with

  • Lawler’s Jesus remark as a self-explanation
  • Scale of the Democratic midterm gains
  • Lawler’s loss in a district Harris carried
See the 3 headlines from the leftHide the headlines
  • HuffPostFar Left

    Defeated Republican Claims ‘Jesus Christ Could Have Run And Would Have Lost’ This Election

    “Wow …what a quote,” CNN’s Anderson Cooper said in response.

  • Loaded modifier“GOP Loser”A pejorative label for a politician in the outlet’s own voice that pre-judges him; the defeat can be stated neutrally.More neutral: Defeated RepublicanDisagree with this highlight? Loaded verb“Compares Himself to Jesus”Presents the remark as a self-comparison, which the quoted words do not state; neutral wording would report what he said.More neutral: Says Jesus Christ Would Have Lost His SeatDisagree with this highlight? to Explain Election Defeat

    Rep. Mike Lawler has a Sensational language“rather extraordinary explanation”Editorial assessment of the remark in the outlet’s own voice that adds drama without adding facts.More neutral: explanationDisagree with this highlight? for his election defeat: his congressional seat was so unwinnable that even Jesus Christ could not have saved it. …

  • Defeated Republican ‘claims not even Jesus could have won his midterms race’

    Rep. Mike Lawler loses New York’s 17th congressional district to Democrat Cait Conley and argues that not even the son of God could have held on to it

From the center

0 outlets

No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

From the right

0 outlets

No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

The stories you read build My Mix, a private picture of which sides cover the stories you choose, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    First to report

    The Independent, Nov 5, 10:43 AM EST

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The IndependentLeftNov 5, 10:43 AM EST
  2. The Daily BeastFar LeftNov 5, 1:08 PM EST
  3. HuffPostFar LeftNov 5, 2:49 PM EST

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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