As I’m sure many are aware, President Trump is once again in the news. (But hey, when was the last time CNN ran a headline not about the Commander in Chief?) This time, President Trump allegedly called Haiti, El Salvador and several African nations “shithole countries” while attending a private meeting with lawmakers to discuss immigration.

This story was first reported by The Washington Post last Thursday, using unnamed sources who were “briefed on the meeting.” Since The Washington Post’s story, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, who actually was present at the meeting, has claimed that the President used “hate-filled, vile and racist” language.

The validity of the Post’s allegation has since become rather muddled. President Trump has denied the allegations via his Twitter, stating that while his language in the meeting was tough, he did not make the statement that the Post’s unnamed sources claimed he made. Senators who were present along with Sen. Durbin have publicly defended the President. Republican Sens. Tom Cotton and David Perdue have issued a joint statement:

“We do not recall the President saying these comments specifically but what he did call out was the imbalance in our current immigration system, which does not protect American workers and our national interest.”

This entire debacle seems like an entire non-issue and a blunder on the media’s part. As I mentioned above, the sources used by The Washington Post are unnamed and were not actually present at the President’s meeting. The Post has used an unnamed, secondhand source to whip up a national news story. Why any reporter would trust a person(s) to give an exact quote that they did not actually witness is beyond me.

The objectivity of the Mainstream Media (MSM) is a major aspect of reporting that should be addressed. Anyone who’s paid attention to the MSM and it’s reporting for the last two years knows that the media has not been the biggest fan of President Trump and his administration, an intense tenacity that was noticeably absent during former President Obama’s eight years. Media sources such as CNN and The Huffington Post ran stories that purposefully mislead viewers by either omitting key facts or by lying outright.

This non-issue of whether or not the President called several third world nations “shithole countries” is a bag of hot air until news sites can produce any concrete evidence of the quote being legitimate. Until then, asserting that President Trump is some sort of bigot or racist, as media newscasters such as Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo have since done, is disingenuous and irresponsible.

If it turns out that President Trump did, in fact, call these states shitholes, I’ll condemn the language myself. To the MSM’s talking heads who have made audacious and assuming judgments on the President’s personal beliefs and mindset, I say shame on them. As journalists, they should know better and get their personal biases out of the broadcasting room. To everyone else, I say don’t fuss over an alleged quote that has no legitimacy to it.