Conservatives are complaining about media bias, as is their wont, especially when Republicans are losing. They are correct that Kamala Harris has enjoyed fairly positive coverage to date. But their conviction that the media are employing a “double standard” is actually backward. It is Donald Trump who is being held to a lower standard than Harris.

The main indictment of the mainstream media (conservatives always pretend “the media” excludes the large share of Republican-controlled outlets like Fox News) is that Harris has been allowed to skate by without specifying her policy platform. That is true, so far. Reporters are probably extending the fair assumption that any new candidate will take a bit of time to settle on a platform. If Harris avoids any substantive commitments by September and the media aren’t making a big issue out of it, I’d be surprised.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump very much is skating by without serious policy commitments. He floated the idea of repealing Obamacare, then backed away, and is continuing to vaguely promise to make health care better for everybody without anybody paying for it. He has made positive noises about cutting retirement programs without specifying how. He is secretlypromising huge tax cuts to wealthy donors, while saying he would “be okay” with setting the corporate tax rate just one point lower.

-J0nathan Chait