Jason Chaffetz Chastises Media for Focusing on Ryan Lochte Scandal, While Ignoring Hillary Clinton Emails

Posted on: August 23, 2016, 11:44h. 

Last updated on: August 23, 2016, 12:47h.

US Rep.  and House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) is angry with a lot of things when it comes to policies and procedures. The primary advocate for the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA), the anti-online gaming measure, Chaffetz doesn’t think Americans should be permitted to gamble from the comforts of their own homes.

And on a separate note, he also thinks the so-called mainstream media is a total farce.

Jason Chaffetz Ryan Lochte Hillary Clinton
Congressman Jason Chaffetz of Utah believes the media has given more scrutiny to Olympian Ryan Lochte’s disgrace in Rio than to Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi and private email server scandals, and he’s calling them on it. (Image: Lynn DeBruin/Associated Press)

The nonstop coverage of American swimmer and gold medalist Ryan Lochte’s debauched night out in Rio de Janeiro, while ignoring the ever-growing Hillary Clinton email scandal on some media sources, has Chaffetz ticked off.

As most of America knows by now, the 12-time Olympian claimed that men posing as police officers robbed him and three others at gunpoint in the wee hours of a Brazil morning after the group had been out drinking excessively during the Summer Olympic Games.

As the saga unfolded, Lochte finally admitted to fabricating the affair and has lost several major sponsors as a result of both his actions and subsequent lies about them.

The media has grilled Lochte and put the 32-year-old through the post-scandal ringer. Chaffetz says the hypocrisy, compared to the same news outlets covering Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s ongoing scandals, is astonishing.

“Ryan Lochte, his goal in life is to swim to the other end of the pool and they say maybe he was lying to the police on a drunken night,” Chaffetz told Fox News this week.

“[The media] put him on the national shows, but when Hillary Clinton lies about whether or not she was taking live sniper fire [alluding to her 1996 story that she landed in Bosnia to a barrage of bullets] or Benghazi or the e-mail scandal, everybody says that’s not a big deal.”

“There is such a double standard here,” Chaffetz concluded.

Media Gets Its Way

Chaffetz is one of the more spicey zing artists in Congress. After the FBI recommended to the Department of Justice (DOJ) that charges not be brought against Clinton for using an unsecured email server during her time as secretary of state, Chaffetz snarked to FBI Director James Comey, “She’s not the head of fish and wildlife!”

Whether some news or cable outlets are actively working to make Clinton the next president is, of course, controversial and certainly up for debate, but by all available current data, it’s working for the former first lady.

Prediction betting has quickly gained respect in American politics for being a useful tool in forecasting election outcomes. Unlike traditional polling data, prediction betting determines odds based on where people are putting their money.

Gambling on elections is illegal in the US, of course. But the prediction market, dubbed the “stock market for politics,” sells shares of candidates, caps spending limits, is deemed educational, and consequently, is largely considered legal.

At PredictIt.com, a share of Clinton winning the presidency is selling for 74 cents, while Republican candidate Donald Trump is at just 28 cents.

Betting Across the Pond

In the UK, betting on elections isn’t just legal, it’s almost a national pastime. And if the books are right overseas, it’s a foregone conclusion that Clinton will become the 45th President of the United States.

A $100 wager on Clinton at Betfair will net the bettor just $31. The same bet on Trump would provide a $410 reward, should the billionaire win. Over at bookmaker Paddy Power, the odds aren’t quite as extreme, but the operator still has Clinton at 2/9 versus Trump’s 3/1.

No fan of Clinton’s, Chaffetz is naturally in Trump’s corner, albeit reluctantly.

“It wasn’t my first choice, but my No. 1 goal is to not allow Hillary Clinton to become the next president of the United States,” Chaffetz said when he endorsed Trump.