In an attempt to make the Republican presidential race appear chaotic, on Friday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry turned to White House correspondent Chuck Todd and declared: "Even the word 'tumultuous' seems inadequate to describe what has happened to the GOP race in the last 24 hours." The on-screen headline screamed: "Campaign Craziness." Todd saw only problems for the Republican candidates: "Mitt Romney still has an inability to win over conservatives and what does the party establishment do if Gingrich indeed does win South Carolina.... Do they try to rally around Romney one more time? Or do they try to... continue reading
ABC trotted out the "best of" Newt Gingrich slams on Thursday, finally revealing the results of an exhaustive Brian Ross interview with Marianne Gingrich, the former Speaker's ex-wife. Ross boasted that his scoop could be seen as a "January surprise" to harm Gingrich. Recycling old attacks, Ross eagerly prompted the ex-Mrs. Gingrich: " You know his secrets. You know his skeletons ." [MP3 audio here. ] How bereft of new information was the segment? According to reports that broke on Wednesday, Ross sat down with Marianne Gingrich for two hours . In the eight minute segment, ABC only used two... continue reading
Having apparently run out of actual news to cover on Friday, the cast of NBC's Today gushed over President Obama singing a line from the song "Let's Stay Together" during a fundraiser at the Apollo Theater. After a clip played of the musical moment, weatherman Al Roker proclaimed: "He could be on The Voice ." News anchor Natalie Morales excitedly added: "Sign him up." [ Listen to the audio ] Co-host Matt Lauer agreed, declaring Obama was "really very good." The sycophantic group went even further when fellow co-host Ann Curry touted: "...our editors actually did...a little mash-up between a... continue reading
On Thursday's Starting Point, CNN's Soledad O'Brien insinuated that candidate Newt Gingrich speaks with a "racial coding" on the campaign trail. She also gave credibility to former President Jimmy Carter saying Gingrich has a "subtlety of racism" about him, asking her panel if the quote was a "bombshell." O'Brien could also have questioned Carter's remark as a smear coming from a Democrat. Instead she seemed to argue in favor of his side. 'Is there racial coding in what Newt Gingrich has said in not only in these debates, but also even in some of the campaign stops?' she asked her... continue reading
Charlie Rose ripped a new liberal line of attack on Mitt Romney right out of the New York Times on Thursday's CBS This Morning, as he interviewed top Romney backer Chris Christie. Rose played up that Romney "seems to be dancing around the idea of what his wealth is. This is the New York Times today: 'Romney riches are being seen as new hurdle; complex web of assets is difficult to assess.' " Midway through the segment, the anchor held up the copy of left-leaning publication and read the headline for the front page, above-the-fold article by Nicholas Confessore, David... continue reading
All three networks, the New York Times and NPR on Wednesday obsessed over the revelation that Mitt Romney's tax bracket is in the 15 percent range. Good Morning America 's Jon Karl cited the liberal Tax Policy Center and wondered, "How did Romney get away with paying so little?" Karl made no mention of the fact that, according to the Internal Revenue Service, 97 percent of filers paid less than 15 percent . On the same day's CBS This Morning , reporter Jan Crawford spun, "He [Romney] revealed that he pays a relatively low rate on his investment income. That's... continue reading
On Wednesday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer pushed New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to agree that President Obama's effort to pit economic classes against one another is just a matter of fairness: "Talk to me about that word 'envy.' Because I asked Governor Romney about this last week as well....why is it envy as opposed to unfairness?" As Lauer mentioned, he did ask Mitt Romney an almost identical question on the January 11 broadcast: "Do you suggest that anyone who questions the policies and practices of Wall Street and financial institutions, anyone who has questions about the distribution of wealth... continue reading
In a Wednesday night interview, CNN's Piers Morgan affirmed former President Jimmy Carter's criticism of many Americans for "self-indulgence and consumption" in his infamous 1979 "Malaise Speech." "I mean, you were right then and you would be right to say that today, wouldn't you?" Morgan told Carter. He also blamed the recent financial meltdown on the public's failure to listen to voices like Carter's. "So, you know, the grassroots were there, which you picked up on, but nobody listened?" he asked Carter about the fallout from his address. He even asked Carter if he would want Obama to give a... continue reading
Over the two hours of Thursday's Good Morning America , there was not one mention of the Obama administration's decision to reject the Keystone oil pipeline, costing at least 20,000 jobs. Yet, Jake Tapper and ABC found time to promote both the administration's plan to create a "small world full of tourists who want to spend their money" and Disney World, parent company of ABC. The segment, which featured clips of Beauty and the Beast and It's a Small World , included Robin Roberts gushing, " But, now, a big announcement about jobs from President Obama today." (She wasn't referring... continue reading
On Thursday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry accused Newt Gingrich of playing up racial tensions to get votes in the South Carolina GOP primary: "...you've been increasingly stepping up your characterization of President Obama as a "food stamp president," interestingly, in the lead-up now to South Carolina....Are you intentionally playing the race card to win votes?" Gingrich dismissed the accusation and condemned those promoting it: "You know, modern liberals are just, I think frankly, totally off the deep end....their only answer is to yell racism and hide." Curry quoted a New York Times editorial as evidence of Gingrich's supposedly racially... continue reading