The data just doesn’t bear it out, at least according to a new Pew Research Center study that analyzed the “tone and volume of candidate coverage during the 2012 primary seasons from January 2 – April 15”.

In the 15 weeks in which Pew conducted its analysis, President Obama’s negative coverage outweighed his positive coverage in every single one of them — the only candidate Pew studied where that was true.

“While a sitting president may have access to the ‘bully pulpit’ that does not mean he has control of the media narrative, particularly during the other party’s primary season,” concluded Pew’s Tom Rosenstiel in a memo detailing the findings.