ABC on Thursday morning highlighted more of Robin Roberts’ fawning interview with Hillary Clinton. On the issue of Benghazi and the revelation that the White House had a direct hand in creating false talking points about the 2012 terrorist attack, Roberts could only manage this lame effort: “Benghazi. The new investigation. Are you satisfied with the answers and are you content with what you know what [sic] happened?” [MP3 audio here .] That was it. No follow-up. No interrogation about Clinton’s handling of the incident that left four Americans dead, including a U.S. ambassador. Instead, Roberts moved right on to... continue reading
During a report on Thursday's NBC Today about Monic Lewinsky's article in Vanity Fair magazine , correspondent Peter Alexander touted liberal spin that the former Bill Clinton mistress speaking out would actually help Hillary Clinton's political prospects: "Clinton watcher Ruth Marcus argues Lewinsky has done Hillary a big favor." A soundbite followed of the Washington Post columnist proclaiming: "Now if there's a Hillary Clinton campaign for president in 2016, we can move on from the Lewinsky scandal of yore." In a discussion segment that followed Alexander's report, co-host Matt Lauer wondered to MSNBC host Alex Wagner: "How does this article,... continue reading
Politico's Darren Goode surprisingly highlighted the skepticism of many on-air meteorologists in a Monday item about President Obama's interviews with "some of television's most popular celebrities — weather forecasters — to ratchet up the volume on the administration's latest scientific assessment of climate change." Goode pointed out that " not all broadcast meteorologists have been conducive to the climate science message ." The writer cited Weather Channel founder John Coleman, who labeled global warming " the greatest scam in history " back in 2007 . He also outlined the reason for many of the weather personalities' skepticism: One explanation...which more... continue reading
Chuck Todd, NBC's political director, chief White House correspondent and host of MSNBC's The Daily Rundown appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe on Wednesday, May 7 to pour cold water on the new Benghazi select committee. Todd appeared on Morning Joe during two separate segments Wednesday morning to suggest that the Benghazi special committee “has a whiff of politics to it. To some people more than a whiff.” Speaking to co-host Joe Scarborough during the 6:00 a.m.. hour, Todd criticized the GOP over the committee: “I don’t understand why the Republicans didn't say to Nancy Pelosi, she said she wants an... continue reading
During her 12 p.m. ET hour MSNBC show on Tuesday, host Andrea Mitchell teed up Environmental Protection Agency administrator Gina McCarthy to promote a new White House report on climate change and push President Obama's left-wing environmentalist agenda: "Let's imagine for a moment that there's a baby being born right now....What future does this child face if nothing is done? What is the water level? What is going to happen to our coasts? What will – temperature changes?" [ Listen to the audio ] McCarthy replied: "We know the dangers of climate change. We see rising sea levels, we see... continue reading
After enthusiastically promoting an upcoming White House climate change report on Tuesday, all three network morning shows on Wednesday happily touted interviews with President Obama on the subject and continued to hype the "dire" and "alarming" findings. Meanwhile, critics were dismissed as an anti-science minority. [ Listen to the audio ] At the top of NBC's Today , co-host Matt Lauer proclaimed: "Millions coping with the first record-breaking heat wave of the season, while the White House issues a dire warning about the nation's climate change." In the report that followed, weatherman Al Roker dutifully parroted White House talking points:... continue reading
After a big promotional push by ABC and NBC, Democratic House candidate Clay Aiken leads his primary opponent by 372 votes out of 28,000 cast on Tuesday. According to Good Morning America on Wednesday, the " American Idol congressional candidate" may pull out a razor thin victory. Co-host Lara Spencer enthused, "Clay Aiken in the public eye for almost a decade, making headlines for his songs, his personal life and now a run at the United States Congress." [MP3 audio here .] Spencer stated the obvious, noting, "He was considered by many the underdog. [Primary opponent Keith] Crisco outspent him... continue reading
On Monday May 5, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that government meetings can include an opening prayer without violating the United States Constitution and NPR did its best to spin the ruling as severely troubling for religious minorities. On Monday’s All Things Considered program, reporter Carrie Johnson asked : “ The question before the Supreme Court, whether Greece did enough to respect that diversity or whether the town crossed a line by embracing Christianity and essentially oppressing religious minorities.” [Click here to listen to the full story.] Johnson introduced her piece by hyping plaintiff Susan Galloway’s complaints:... continue reading
The broadcast networks all took a climate change study released by the White House and ran with it on Tuesday evening, advancing the administration's narrative by hyping the threats of climate change while barely quoting any critics. ABC's coverage was so soft that correspondent Ginger Zee bragged like a groupie that President Obama asked a question of her: "And then something interesting happened, Diane. The President actually asked me a question. He wanted to know which storm was the worst that I had ever covered." [Video below the break. Audio here .] Zee teed up Obama to defend his climate... continue reading
Tuesday's CBS Evening News ran a mushy feature on Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren's liberal plan to let Americans refinance their student loans by hiking taxes on the wealthy. Anchor Scott Pelley touted: "Today, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced a bill that would for the first time, allow Americans to refinance student loans directly with the federal government at lower interest rates. Anthony Mason tells us debt on U.S. student loans has become an albatross for millions." Nowhere did CBS explain that Warren would pay for the refinancing through tax hikes. What also went unreported is that Warren's bill is a... continue reading