On Saturday's Melissa Harris-Perry show, MSNBC host Harris-Perry trashed Virginia Lieutenant Governor candidate E.W. Jackson as she took exception with some of his "pretty disgusting" conservative views, and ended up proclaiming that the thought of the African-American Republican winning in November "just makes me feel icky all over. Ewww." The MSNBC host framed the segment as if she had written a letter to Jackson. She began on a juvenile note as she made fun of the "E.W." portion of his name, pronouncing it, "ewww," reciting: It's me, Melissa. Can I call you, "Ewww"? Because I've heard what you've had to... continue reading
On Friday's All In show on MSNBC, host Chris Hayes recounted the recent activities of several Republican political figures which he regarded as examples of GOP members "being jackasses," and coined the Hayes-ism "jackassery" as he used some variation of the word "jackass" 11 times during the segment. After teasing the show, the MSNBC host immediately got to attacking Republicans: But we begin tonight with a special segment dedicated to Republicans being jackasses. We spent a lot of time this week focused on breaking national news in the President's big security speech yesterday, but a lot happened in politics this... continue reading
Initially, the networks covered Anthony Weiner's entry into the New York City mayoral race as the " comeback kid " fighting for a "second chance." However, over the last several days, top state Democrats have recoiled at the campaign of the scandal-scarred congressman. Governor Andrew Cuomo mocked, "shame on us ," should Weiner win. Senator Chuck Schumer refused to talk about the race. After these comments surfaced, ABC's World News on Saturday offered a much tougher critique on Weiner. Reporter Marci Gonzalez grilled the politician, wondering, " Why should [the people] trust you? You've lied to them before." Pushing for... continue reading
Leading off a report on Tuesday's NBC Today about President Obama's trip to survey recovery efforts along New Jersey's shoreline after Hurricane Sandy, White House correspondent Peter Alexander proclaimed: "[The President's here] really to see the improvements to this area, and also to refocus the conversation away from some recent headlines. Focusing on what he wants to focus on: government at its best, bipartisanship, and efforts to improve the economy." [ Listen to the audio ] Meanwhile, on CBS This Morning , correspondent Major Garrett almost identically announced: "President Obama is eager to look at federally-financed repairs on the Jersey... continue reading
Not a syllable Friday or Saturday night on ABC, CBS or NBC about any of the several Obama scandals, but on Saturday night ABC’s World News trumpeted President Obama’s role as “consoler-in-chief.” With “Consoler-in-Chief” on screen, anchor David Muir announced: “President Obama will be in Moore, Oklahoma tomorrow. ABC’s Reena Ninan already there tonight as the President prepares to fill the role he so often has in the last few months.” Ninan played the part of Jay Carney as she conveyed as news some official Obama-friendy spin: “David that’s right. A White House official tells me that the President feels... continue reading
“Liberal media bias is an old complaint,” the Wall Street Journal ’s James Taranto noted in his “Best of the Web Today” column this past Monday on responses to the Obama scandals, before warning: “The Obama presidency has given it a new and dangerous form. Never has the prevailing bias of the media been so closely aligned with the ideological aims and political interests of the party in power.” He recognized “the American media remain free and independent, or you would not be reading this column,” but zinged, “to a large extent they have functioned for the past few years... continue reading
Appearing as a guest on Thursday's PoliticsNation on MSNBC, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank mocked South Carolina Republican Governor Nikki Haley as someone who has "reached out to a minority" in the form of white supremacists since they are a "minority," as he reacted to accusations that a member of her reelection committee is a white supremacist. Milbank: Well, Reverend (Sharpton), a patty on the back to you for putting all these disparate threads together because I think it is significant, and, now, let's give Governor Haley some credit. She has reached out to a minority because white supremacists are... continue reading
News broke on Thursday that Attorney General Eric Holder approved the Justice Department's seizure of a Fox News reporter's private e-mails. CNN took until almost 5 p.m. ET Friday to report this development, although the network found time to cover Brad Pitt's "face blindness" in that time span. Host Jake Tapper had ripped into the Obama administration on Wednesday for its investigation of Rosen, but on Thursday NBCNews.com reported that Holder personally approved the search warrant, labeling Rosen a "possible co-conspirator" against the Espionage Act. Tapper finally reported the news on Friday at 4:41 p.m. ET. Enlarging the controversy even... continue reading
Friday's Good Morning America spent a scant 16 seconds on the newest development in the IRS scandal, the suspension of agency official Lois Lerner who oversaw the division responsible for processing tax-exempt status requests. Lerner headed the division while the IRS gave extra scrutiny to Tea Party groups applying for tax-exempt status. As an earlier BiasAlert reported , Thursday's World News completely ignored Lerner's move. The MRC's Brent Bozell had predicted that the media would "move on" from the IRS scandal, which explains ABC's paucity of coverage on Thursday and Friday. Good Morning America instead spent more time asking why... continue reading
Touting the Boy Scouts' "landmark" and "historic" decision to allow openly-gay members, CBS, ABC, and NBC gave supporters of the decision three times as many quotes as their opponents got on Friday morning's news stories. The networks gave 10 soundbites to supporters of the new Scouts policy and only three to its opponents. Supporters included President Obama, gay scout Pascal Tessier, and former den leader Jennifer Tyrell. Calling it a "major milestone," NBC's Craig Melvin didn't even acknowledge the opposition to the policy at first, pointing only to its supporters and those who believe it didn't go far enough: "Just... continue reading