On Tuesday's American Morning, co-host Kiran Chetry reported that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) is "prone to misstatements" and posed this question to her: "Did you mean to make false statements intentionally or were you just misspeaking?" "PolitiFact.com, which is a Pulitzer Price winning fact-checking web site examined 26 statements that you made and they found only one to be fully true and 18 to be false," Chetry told Bachmann. "Several of them relating to your criticism of President Obama. Did you mean to make false statements intentionally or were you just misspeaking?" [Video below.] The same network was far more... continue reading
NPR's Nina Totenberg strangely cast doubt on the liberal credentials of Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor on Saturday's Early Show on CBS, claiming that " they're not nearly as liberal as justices were ... thirty years ago ." Totenberg also hinted that the other members of the Court were right-wing radicals: "Compared to the much more conservative members of the Court , they are liberal." Anchor Russ Mitchell brought on the journalist for her take of the most recent term of the Supreme Court. Near the end of the interview, Mitchell noted how "this was the first... continue reading
ABC and CBS have both recently wielded PolitiFact as a club to bash Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), yet in the 29 months since President Barack Obama took office – despite 49 "false" ratings in Obama's PolitiFact file – the three broadcast networks have cited the fact-checking website only once to challenge the Democratic commander-in-chief. ABC host George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday's Good Morning America used PolitiFact as an excuse to badger Bachmann about her past statements, while CBS host Bob Schieffer on Sunday's Face the Nation pressed the Republican presidential candidate to answer to a spate of PolitiFact judgments against her... continue reading
Monday's official announcement by Republican Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann that she is running for the GOP nomination for President could spawn a whole new round of frenzied attacks by the liberal media on the Tea Party favorite. A review of the MRC's archives shows a particular disdain for Bachmann coming from the likes of MSNBC host Chris Matthews, who once accused her of being a "zombie," even going as far to ask her on live Election Night coverage if she "hypnotized?" Not to be outdone, Matthews's former colleague Keith Olbermann claimed Bachmann's rise to Tea Party prominence was because she... continue reading
Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos, host of the same program that provided Barack Obama with a 15 minute platform to talk about the importance of fathers, badgered Michele Bachmann on Tuesday with combative questions and forced the Congresswoman to respond to charges of constantly making "false statements." Stephanopoulos, a former Democratic operative and Bill Clinton staffer, tried to make trouble for Bachmann and possible rival Sarah Palin. He baited, "Do you think Sarah Palin is trying to rain on your parade by coming to Iowa today?" The ABC anchor wielded the journalism website Politifact as a club, lecturing, " But,... continue reading
In an interview with Congresswoman Michele Bachmann on Tuesday's Today, co-host Matt Lauer highlighted concerns about the Minnesota Republican's chances in the presidential race: "Amy Kremer, who's a leader of the Tea Party movement, said.. .that you will be – and this is her word, not mine – quote, 'Palinized' in this campaign. Do you understand the verb, and what would your definition of it be?" While Bachmann attempted to discuss her record, Lauer remained focused on the remark: "I'm not trying to interrupt, but I'm asking you specifically about what this leader of the Tea Party is worried about,... continue reading
All three broadcast network evening newscasts awarded full stories Monday night to Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign announcement, with ABC and NBC unable to resist pouncing on Chris Wallace's 'are you a flake?' question to frame their stories. ABC's Jonathan Karl highlighted how she's 'been accused of being loose with the facts, saying, for example, that the President's last trip to India was costing taxpayers $200 million a day. That's why Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace says he asked her' the 'flake' question. On NBC, Kelly O'Donnell also played the Wallace clip before focusing on how Bachmann 'has been embarrassed... continue reading
Continuing his push to "modernize the Constitution for the 21st century" by talking about "a few revisions," CNN's Fareed Zakaria hosted legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin for a liberal gripe session on his Sunday show Fareed Zakaria GPS. Both criticized the current Electoral College and state representation in the Senate, and also slammed the "grammatical mess" that is the Second Amendment. One of the "kinks" of the American Constitution, Zakaria complained, is that "the Second Amendment is a grammatical mess, whatever you may think of the right to bear arms." This is liberal code for the amendment needs to be "updated"... continue reading
After playing a clip of Michele Bachmann longing for a return to the "Founders' vision of a constitutionally conservative government," MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Monday assumed the Republican presidential candidate meant "slavery." The Hardball anchor offered bizarre analogies, questioning former RNC Chair Michael Steele on Bachmann's 2012 campaign: "What is this, Michael? The Protestant Reformation? That somehow we're going back to the purity of the original Christian church?" Immediately jumping to the worst interpretation, Matthews continued, " We're going back to the original perfection of slaveholders and how perfect they were and government is the enemy. She speaks pure Tea... continue reading
The network morning shows on Monday hyped the "extra spectacular" gay pride parades in the wake of New York's newly passed same sex marriage legislation. Both ABC and NBC highlighted the "hero's welcome" Governor Andrew Cuomo received after signing the bill. At the same time, they ignored dissenters. On Monday's Today, news anchor Natalie Morales touted, "Gay pride parades around the country turned into victory laps..." and added, " Gay and lesbian couples spoke about finally realizing their decades-long dream of walking down the aisle ." Reporter Mara Schiavocampo openly opined, " This year's parade isn't just a celebration of... continue reading