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Obama jokes about Trump’s White House renovations at Ohio campaign event

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 3 outlets, mostly right-leaning (67%).

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

The Hill, the Western Journal and the New York Post report that former President Barack Obama mocked President Donald Trump’s renovations of the White House at a Saturday campaign event in Cleveland, Ohio. The Hill says Obama was campaigning for Democratic candidates Amy Acton and Sherrod Brown. The Western Journal and the New York Post quote Obama as saying Trump seemed very focused on home renovations and should be on HGTV, and that the White House looked like Saddam Hussein had opened a Cheesecake Factory. The New York Post reports that GOP communications figure Matt Whitlock responded that the criticism was rich coming from the designer of Obama’s presidential center in Chicago, which critics have mocked as a wizard prison.

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

What happened

Key points

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

  1. Barack Obama mocked Trump’s White House renovations at a campaign rally in Cleveland, Ohio, on Saturday.

    Reported byCenter1Right1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Center
    The Hill
    Right
    New York Post
    Far Right
    The Western Journal

  2. Obama said the White House looked like Saddam Hussein had opened a Cheesecake Factory, and that it was gold everywhere.

    Reported byCenter1Right1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Center
    The Hill
    Right
    New York Post
    Far Right
    The Western Journal

  3. Obama said Trump seemed very focused on home renovations and should be on HGTV.

    One side only: the rightReported byRight1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Right
    New York Post
    Far Right
    The Western Journal

  4. Matt Whitlock, a GOP communications figure, responded that Obama should not criticize White House decor, given the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.

    One outletNew York Post· Right

What is contested

Where accounts differ

Points the coverage does not agree on, and who says what.

  • Obama’s criticism of Trump’s White House renovations is hypocritical, given the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.

    The New York Post reports that GOP communications figure Matt Whitlock made this argument. The Hill reports no response to the remark. The Western Journal calls the remark a controversial joke.

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three outlets report Obama mocked Trump’s White House renovations at a Cleveland rally. The Hill reports the remark itself, while both right-side outlets frame it as a controversy, the New York Post stressing conservative pushback.

  • the left

    No coverage yet

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

  • the center

    1 outlet

    The Hill’s headline quotes Obama’s joke directly and gives no comment on it, presenting the remark as the news.

    Obama on Trump White House: ‘Like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory’
    The HillCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    2 outlets

    Right-side headlines call Obama’s joke a controversy or turn it back on him; the far-right Western Journal sets it up as a controversy, while the New York Post points to Obama’s own presidential center.

    Obama’s ‘Saddam Hussein’s Cheesecake Factory’ jab at Trump comes back to bite him: ‘Guy built himself a Sensational language“wizard prison”A mocking nickname for a building that adds ridicule beyond the facts of the story.More neutral: Obama Presidential Center in ChicagoThese are Matt Whitlock’s words. The outlet is reporting them.Disagree with this highlight?’
    New York PostRightAll right-leaning headlines

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.

  • Left

    Has not covered this story.

  • Center0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Right6

    erupted in a fitdesperate to score victoriestrotted outvague and unspecified breach of propriety

In the outlets’ own words

  • Loaded verb

    erupted in a fitMore neutral: criticized

    Describes Obama’s remarks as an outburst, which adds an emotional judgement the reported joke does not show.

    A president for whom everything turned to rust erupted in a fit on Saturday at one who turns everything into gold.

    Used byThe Western Journal (Far Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    desperate to score victoriesMore neutral: campaigning for victories

    Ascribes a motive to Democrats that the coverage does not document.

    Democrats desperate to score victories in Ohio trotted out

    Used byThe Western Journal (Far Right)

  • Loaded verb

    trotted outMore neutral: campaigned with

    Implies Obama was displayed as a prop rather than campaigning for candidates.

    Democrats desperate to score victories in Ohio trotted out

    Used byThe Western Journal (Far Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    vague and unspecified breach of proprietyMore neutral: joked about the renovations

    Dismisses the remark as an unclear wrong, a characterization of Obama’s comments rather than a report of them.

    …comments, Obama said that President Donald Trump had committed some vague and unspecified breach of propriety by improving the White House grounds.

    Used byThe Western Journal (Far Right)

Show 2 more phrasesShow fewer

  • Vague attribution

    critics quickly pointed outMore neutral: a Republican communications figure responded

    Attributes the rebuttal to unnamed critics in the excerpt, without naming who made it.

    …bling, comparing it to a Cheesecake Factory run by Saddam Hussein — but critics quickly pointed out that this was all very rich coming from the guy behind the “Death Star”…

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Loaded verb

    unleashed the decor dissMore neutral: made a remark about

    Frames a routine remark as an attack, which adds drama to what Obama said.

    Obama unleashed the decor diss Saturday while campaigning for Democrats in Ohio, accusing Trump of spending…

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

Words quoted from someone else (1)Hide the quoted words

Loaded words that outlets reported someone else saying. They show what was said, not how the outlet chose to say it.

  • Sensational language

    Quoted

    wizard prisonMore neutral: Obama Presidential Center in Chicago

    A mocking nickname for a building that adds ridicule beyond the facts of the story.

    …Cheesecake Factory’ jab at Trump comes back to bite him: ‘Guy built himself a wizard prison’

    Quoted byNew York Post (Right)

    These are Matt Whitlock’s words. The outlets are reporting them.

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

0 outlets

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

From the center

1 outlet

Leads with

  • Obama’s Saddam Hussein joke
  • Trump’s White House renovations
  • Ohio campaign for Democrats
See the headline from the centerHide the headlines
  • The HillCenter

    Obama on Trump White House: ‘Like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory’

    Former President Barack Obama poked fun at President Trump's various Washington, D.C.-area renovation projects during a campaign stop in Cleveland, Ohio, where he was stumping for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton and Senate candidate Sherrod Brown. …

    Read at The Hill (opens in a new tab)

From the right

2 outlets

Leads with

  • Controversy over Obama’s joke
  • Obama’s own Chicago presidential center
  • Conservative pushback
  • Trump’s White House renovations
See the 2 headlines from the rightHide the headlines
  • New York PostRight

    Obama’s ‘Saddam Hussein’s Cheesecake Factory’ jab at Trump comes back to bite him: ‘Guy built himself a Sensational language“wizard prison”A mocking nickname for a building that adds ridicule beyond the facts of the story.More neutral: Obama Presidential Center in ChicagoThese are Matt Whitlock’s words. The outlet is reporting them.Disagree with this highlight?’

    "The guy who designed this wizard prison for himself has thoughts on aesthetics?"

    Read at New York Post (opens in a new tab)
  • The Western JournalFar Right

    Obama Compares Trump to Saddam Hussein in Controversial Campaign Rally Joke

    A president for whom everything turned to rust Loaded verb“erupted in a fit”Describes Obama’s remarks as an outburst, which adds an emotional judgement the reported joke does not show.More neutral: criticizedDisagree with this highlight? on Saturday at one who turns everything into gold. Democrats Loaded modifier“desperate to score victories”Ascribes a motive to Democrats that the coverage does not document.More neutral: campaigning for victoriesDisagree with this highlight? in Ohio Loaded verb“trotted out”Implies Obama was displayed as a prop rather than campaigning for candidates.More neutral: campaigned withDisagree with this highlight?

    Read at The Western Journal (opens in a new tab)

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, 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

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Center

    First to report

    The Hill, Oct 24, 8:05 PM EDT

  • Right

    12 hr 40 min later

    Its first report, Oct 25, 8:45 AM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The HillCenterOct 24, 8:05 PM EDT
  2. The Western JournalFar RightOct 25, 8:45 AM EDT
  3. New York PostRightOct 25, 10:00 AM EDT

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

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