Michael Avenatti, #Resistance lawyer-turned-alleged domestic abuser and convicted felon, has no one more than the media to thank for his five minutes of fame.
After Avenatti represented porn star Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against President Trump, the lawyer continued his stint as an anti-Trump grifter by spreading far-from-credible accusations against now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
All of this was enough for Democrats to take Avenatti seriously when he announced an interest in running for president, giving him hour after hour of glowing cable news coverage. But after Avenatti was found guilty on Friday of trying to extort Nike, his friends in the media are apologizing for giving him their support, sort of.
Sam Stein, politics editor at the Daily Beast and an MSNBC contributor, admitted he had given Avenatti too much legitimacy. In 2018, Stein reported that Avenatti was serious about the presidency.
“This idea that this is a superficial thing is ludicrous,” Avenatti said at the time. “It is so ridiculous. I don’t need to engage in a superficial exploration of a potential run. Why would I need to do that? I don’t need any more notoriety. Why would I be wanting to take my time and energy traveling the country to raise money for Democrats if this was superficial?”
Now, Stein says he gave Avenatti too much of a platform.
I admit it. I gave Avenatti far more credibility than he deserved. I need to do better and will strive to do so. No point in trying to pretend otherwise.
— Sam Stein (@samstein) February 16, 2020
Now, how about Brian Stelter, who on his CNN show Reliable Sources frequently hosted Avenatti or speculated about his political potential?
“I think President Obama also had a lot of TV star power and that helped him pre-Trump,” Stelter said to Avenatti on air last year. “But Trump is more evidence of this. And looking ahead to 2020, one reason I’m taking you seriously as a contender is because of your presence on cable news.”
After Avenatti was indicted for fraud and extortion last March, Stelter issued an unapologetic explanation for his erstwhile praise of the lawyer.
“My thesis back then, which still holds, is that all future US presidents will be television stars of some sort,” he wrote. “TV star power will be a prerequisite for the presidency. [That’s why] I told Avenatti ‘one reason I’m taking you seriously as a contender is because of your presence on cable news.’
“Obviously, I’m not taking him seriously anymore, but I own that comment.”
More recently, in another shallow attempt to gloss over the way he helped elevate Avenatti to undeserved media stardom, Stelter asked Daily Beast reporter Lachlan Markay to absolve him of his guilt.
“The swamp is not just about Trump figures,” Stelter said on his show Sunday morning. “Avenatti has just been convicted on three counts for alleged extortion, other crimes. I’ve been getting some grief from Sean Hannity this weekend … for once suggesting that I thought Avenatti could be a serious candidate for president. So give me a media critique. Was that stupid on my part? What do you make of how Avenatti was covered by CNN and MSNBC?”
.@brianstelter asked @lachlan if it was stupid on Stelter’s part to suggest Michael Avenatti could be a serious presidential candidate: pic.twitter.com/xePDmspPLe
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) February 16, 2020
Markay, instead of putting any blame on the media, put it all on Trump.
“I think one of the weird and in many cases distressing things that Trump has done is basically to Trumpify his opposition as well,” Markay said, adding that Avenatti had similar media appeal to Trump.
“He was actually making news,” Stelter jumped in. “The Stormy Daniels case was significant news about the president.”
It was. But Avenatti’s part in it? That was just a chance for Democrats to prop up a new hero, one who many of them still can’t admit was a disappointment that they helped create.
