NBC continued hitting the Christie scandal on Thursday evening while the CBS and ABC evening newscasts have not reported it since Tuesday. The NBC Nightly News has already given the story a good chunk more coverage than the other network evening news shows, and while it devoted a short segment to the bridge scandal it didn't even have time to report the Senate passing a massive $1.1 trillion spending bill that would avert a government shutdown – something both CBS and ABC reported on Thursday night. "In New Jersey, there's late word tonight of a widening investigation of the George... continue reading
NBC News special anchor Maria Shriver played both roles of journalist and activist on Tuesday's Nightly News , as she promoted her own report on closing the gender "wage gap" while touting President Obama's support for her cause. "NBC's Maria Shriver was invited to the White House to present her report to President Obama late today," reported anchor Brian Williams, unconcerned about the conflict of interest of a reporter going to the White House to drum up support for her own work. [Video below the break. Audio here .] Shriver gave Obama free publicity as being "sympathetic" to working single... continue reading
On Thursday and Friday, NBC's Today provided viewers with gushing over-the-top coverage of First Lady Michelle Obama turning fifty, with White House correspondent Kristen Welker excitedly declaring in a Thursday report: "For days they've been gearing up for a big bash here at the White House. Guests were told to wear comfortable shoes and to be prepared to move around a lot, an indication there will be no shortage of dancing here. You can also bet there will be a long list of celebrities to pull off a party fit for a first lady." [ Listen to the audio ]... continue reading
For seven straight days, Chris Matthews and his Hardball guests have hyperbolically compared Chris Christie's bridge scandal in New Jersey to the constitutional crisis that ended Richard Nixon's presidency. On every single program since January 8, Matthews and guests have linked last fall's traffic jam to Watergate. On Thursday, GOP strategist John Feehery reminded, "They're completely different...There were high crimes and misdemeanor with President Nixon." The MSNBC journalist responded, "Wait, a break-in was worse than this?" [MP3 audio here .] On January 8, the day the scandal erupted, Matthews immediately jumped to the comparison, muttering, "Nixonian. It's so Nixonian." On... continue reading
On Thursday's All In show on MSNBC, host Chris Hayes charged that Senator David Vitter has found "another way to screw poor people" as he complained that the Louisiana Republican has proposed a photo ID requirement for food stamp recipients. Hayes brought up Vitter briefly after fretting that new voting rights legislation would not address voter ID requirements and would not ensare as many states for scrutiny as the original Voting Rights Act. Before a commercial break Hayes plugged: "Coming up, Republican Senator David Vitter comes up with another way to screw poor people who don't have photo IDs. That... continue reading
On Wednesday's PoliticsNation , MSNBC host Al Sharpton seemed to accuse Republicans of deliberately causing economic problems as "part of the plan" to attack President Obama during the midterm elections. Sharpton: "Republicans are the ones tanking the economy, and maybe that's part of the plan. The Hill reports the GOP plans to use the economy as a midterm weapon. That's right. They're exploiting the bad problems they caused." MSNBC contributor Joy Reid later accused Republicans of having "abject hatred" for President Obama. Reid: "Because with their own base the only things they really do care about and that really unite... continue reading
ABC, CBS, and NBC's Thursday morning newscasts all punted on covering President Obama's Wednesday night meeting with Senate Democrats, where he called on them to reject new sanctions on Iran. These same programs, along with the networks' evening newscasts, also failed to mention the President by name in their reporting on the Senate Intelligence Committee's "scathing" new report on the 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya. By contrast, Thursday's New Day on CNN devoted 40 seconds of air time to the chief executive's plea to his former colleagues in the Senate. John Berman gave two news... continue reading
Chris Matthews, always eager for hyperbolic predictions of Republican doom, on Wednesday insisted that Chris Christie's bridge scandal in New Jersey is pretty much like Richard Nixon's Watergate. Comparing a severe traffic jam to a scandal that paralyzed the United States government and brought down a President, Matthews suggested, " Well, this is not yet a Watergate, but the more we learn about Chris Christie, the more he does look like Richard Nixon. " [MP3 audio here .] To make the comparison simple, Matthews played a clip of the New Jersey Republican claiming he wasn't "a bully" and then showed... continue reading
While NBC, ABC, and CBS all covered the new Senate Intelligence Committee report blaming the Obama administration for security failures leading up to the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack, none of the coverage on Wednesday's evening newscasts or Thursday's morning shows mentioned President Obama by name. At the top of Wednesday's NBC Nightly News , anchor Brian Williams announced: "...a scathing report just issued by the Senate Intelligence Committee. It says the deaths could have been prevented by better security, better communication....And the State Department, they say, gets most of the blame." CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley declared: "A critical... continue reading
Appearing on Wednesday's MSNBC Daily Rundown , NBC special correspondent Tom Brokaw warned his media colleagues about their excessive coverage of the Chris Christie bridge controversy: "I do think, across the country, however, when they're looking at long-term unemployment, and they're looking at the uncertainty of the ObamaCare, they're saying, 'You've got to move on, guys.'" [ Listen to the audio ] Brokaw continued: "You can only close those lanes for so long if you're in the national media. I do wonder if this had happened in Nevada, whether it would have gotten much attention." Perhaps Brokaw was referring to... continue reading