Appearing on PBS's Charlie Rose Tuesday night following President Obama's State of the Union address, Bloomberg View columnist Al Hunt praised it as "one of the best speeches of his presidency" and "remarkably effective," before admitting: "I don't think he's going to get much done....This is not a cycle where you get much done. He may get a little stuff on trade and infrastructure." Rose interjected: "So then the point is to reassert the debate." Hunt replied: "The debate is going to take place over the next two years leading up to the presidential election and I think he set... continue reading
Talking to a Cuban woman in Havana, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams despaired over what an influx of American tourists would mean to the wonders of the communist “revolution” with its 50-plus year-old cars: “When Americans are here and planes and hotels and the cars are 2015 cars and not 1958 cars, what happens to the revolution?” The 26-year-old woman, whom Williams described as having “a biology degree but works as a freelance producer here” – meaning she helps the regime guide foreign press – assured Williams: “I think now we’re having new revolution. Americans coming to Cuba is... continue reading
NBC News senior White House correspondent Chris Jansing did her best to provide some White House spin during Wednesday’s NBC Nightly News , hailing President Obama as “an energized, combative President” whose policies made for a “carefully choreographed, populist message with the details generally panned by Republicans.” Also within her report, Jansing found time to chide House Speaker John Boehner for “an unprecedented breach in protocol” in inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before Congress without White House consultation. In the midst of the nearly endless Cuba coverage , anchor Brian Williams introduced Jansing’s report on President Obama’s... continue reading
In conjunction with the U.S. diplomatic delegation arriving in Cuba on Wednesday for talks with the Communist regime, ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir and NBC Nightly News went out of their way to all but again ignore the brutal past of the Castro government and instead stage unapologetic promotions of the country that lies 93 miles to America’s south. All told, NBC Nightly New s spent a whopping nine minutes and 19 seconds of its airtime to Cuba over the course of three teases and segments each. For ABC, with three teases and segments of its own (plus... continue reading
On Tuesday night, NBC News anchor Brian Williams charged that “a lot people hope” a reality check by Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd was wrong in asserting that most of President Obama's initiatives proposed during his State of the Union address won’t become law. “Some people hope you’re right, a lot of people hope you’re wrong,” interjected Williams following Todd’s brief outlook on whether topics covered by Obama such as paid sick leave and trade authorizations will pass the Republican-controlled Congress. Todd’s thoughts came after being prompted to provide one final piece of analysis before going to a commercial... continue reading
Joe Biden appeared on all three morning shows, Wednesday, to tout the President's call for new taxes. ABC and CBS both quizzed the Vice President on the process of getting new laws passed, but didn't offer much analysis on the tax hikes. Instead, CBS This Morning co-host Gayle King found time to wonder about the NFL playoffs. King wondered, "What do you make of Deflategate, that 11 of the 12 balls allegedly that the Patriots used in that championship game were underinflated. What do you think of that, soft balls?" (According to Biden, as a former football player, he likes... continue reading
In a softball interview with Joe Biden on Wednesday's NBC Today , co-host Matt Lauer fretted over there being "more tension than normal" during Tuesday's State of the Union address with Republicans in control of Congress and slammed GOP reaction to a line in the speech: "...the President was talking about having arguments that are worthy of the body and the country, and then he said, 'I've run my last campaign,' and there was a smattering of applause, maybe even laughter from some Republicans and the President shot back. Did you see that as a moment of disrespect? Was it... continue reading
On Tuesday night, President Obama gave his sixth State of the Union address, and on Wednesday morning, ABC and CBS did their best to boost his speech and tout his liberal agenda to their audiences. During their respective broadcasts, ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today made sure to play up Obama’s “renewed swagger” by giving an “aggressive speech” to Congress and America. ABC’s Jonathan Karl, ABC News Chief White House Correspondent, went so far as to declare Obama “seemed so confident you would have thought he had just won another election.” GMA co-host George Stephanopoulos began ABC’s coverage of... continue reading
While NBC News was up to its usual business in praising and defending President Obama both before and after his State of the Union speech, chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel emerged as a rare voice that instead took to the liberal network’s airwaves to condemn the President’s rhetoric on foreign policy as both unrealistic and, in many cases, simply not true. After being asked by anchor Brian Williams for his thoughts, Engel began dissecting the President’s perceived world outlook: “Well, it sounded like the President was outlining a world that he wishes we were all living in but which is... continue reading
During NBC’s coverage of President Obama’s seventh State of the Union speech, anchor Brian Williams remarked how there’s been “change in tone and tenor and ambiance” inside the House chamber from over the past few years and chose to link it to Republican Congressman Joe Wilson (S.C.) telling the President “you lie” during a 2009 speech before a joint session of Congress. After saying how “some now believe the State of the Union is an opportunity for call and response,” Williams suggested an origin for the change in mood at this annual event: “It may have started this – this... continue reading