At the conclusion of President Barack Obama’s 2015 State of the Union speech, CBS News chief Washington correspondent and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer offered plenty of praise for the President’s address by proclaiming it as “the best speech he’s made in awhile” with “soaring rhetoric” and being “uplifting at the end.” In the moments right after the speech, Schieffer declared that the President’s seventh State of the Union was “the best speech he’s made in a while” and diagnosed him as being “more relaxed and at ease than I can recall in a long time.” Schieffer found time... continue reading
Following President Obama’s State of the Union address, NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell fawned over the President’s liberal economic proposals of tax increases as “so politically in tune with” most Americans. “[T]he economic message, also, is so politically in tune with where the broad specter of the American people are,” Mitchell proclaimed. In addition, she observed that Obama “laying out themes” that happen to be “equidistant between the Elizabeth Warren and Hillary Clinton branches of the Democratic Party, and I think that he's setting up a legacy campaign.” It’s safe to say that, if the shoe were... continue reading
While previewing President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night, NBC Nightly News had on Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd, who told viewers that the President will set out to “do a little victory lap about the state of the economy” and opined how Obama “got the post-election honeymoon, not the Republicans” thanks to his moves on illegal immigration and Cuba. Following the move of fellow networks ABC and CBS, Todd touted the positive numbers for Obama in the latest NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll after having largely ignored the negative ones in the lead up... continue reading
Without laughing, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday’s World News Tonight advanced the White House hope that Barack Obama will be seen as Ronald Reagan was in 1987, as a President who rescued the economy and was rewarded by voters. Opining on the President’s political mission in his State of the Union speech, Stephanopoulos said the goal was for Obama to convince the public that the economic “recovery is sustainable.... and it’s because of the work that he did over the last six years.” When the public credited Reagan for the boom in the 1980s, Stephanopoulos reminded, “he was able to... continue reading
On Tuesday's NBC Today , co-host Matt Lauer actually grilled White House chief of staff Denis McDonough on President Obama's tax hike proposal: "During the President's last press conference of 2014, he was asked how he might be able to work with the new incoming Republican-controlled Congress and he said, quote, 'The tax area is one area where we can get things done.' And now he's proposing a middle class tax cut paid for with a tax hike on the wealthiest Americans that just about everyone says cannot pass this congress. So why is he going this route?" As McDonough... continue reading
All three network morning shows on Tuesday spun American Sniper as controversial and possibly as a movie that "glorifies killing." ABC, CBS and NBC played up attacks by Michael Moore, but they ignored the most incendiary part of the liberal filmmaker's comments. Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos opened the show by hyping, "Taking fire. American Sniper , the record setting blockbuster burning up the box office, feeling the heat from Hollywood heavyweights who say it glorifies killing." Co-host Robin Roberts chastised, "Some are asking if the record-setting movie glorifies a hero or a killer." Neither host pointed out that... continue reading
On Tuesday, ABC’s Good Morning America previewed President Obama’s 7th State of the Union address and the network did its best to play up President Obama’s recent unilateral actions aimed at normalizing American relations with Cuba. During a brief report that sounded more like a White House press release, ABC’s Jim Avila insisted that “tonight at the State of the Union President Obama will tell Congress that he has done all he can do to normalize relations with Cuba.” The ABC reporter continued to play up Obama’s Cuba proposal and insisted that the president believes “the time is right to... continue reading
Ed Schultz on Monday bashed American Sniper as "disturbing" and contributing to the culture of "normalizing Islamophobia." The MSNBC anchor warned that the late Chris Kyle was "far more complicated than the hero portrayed in [Clint] Eastwood's movie." Schultz jeered: "To Kyle, if they weren't Americans, they were the enemy. Unfortunately, some of those feelings have spread into our culture." The Ed Show host lectured, "The public reaction to the movie American Sniper also highlights some of the most disturbing consequences of this war, the normalization of Islamophobia..." Schultz concluded, "I was disturbed by the movie. I sat there in... continue reading
At the top of NBC's Meet the Pres s on Sunday, moderator Chuck Todd wondered if a Republican rising star could overcome a major obstacle that has occurred "year after year" for the GOP: "Can Iowa's Joni Ernst avoid becoming the latest victim of the curse of the State of the Union response?" Todd wrapped up the show with an entire segment promoting the supposed curse: "It sounds like...a ticket to political stardom, until you realize that in recent years giving the response has been more trouble than it's worth." He proclaimed: "In fact, it's been a lot like the... continue reading
Ahead of President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, the networks offered previews of his speech during their Monday evening newscasts with ABC and NBC working particularly hard to paint a rosy picture for Obama with rising poll numbers and having “redefined” the “model of how to sell the State of the Union.” ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir began hyping the President’s upcoming speech by following their morning counterpart in promoting the latest ABC News/ Washington Post poll that shows Obama’s approval rating at 50 percent and suggesting they are due to lower gas prices and... continue reading