ABC Chastises ‘Nasty’ McCain for ‘Vicious’ Attack on Boxer, Not So Upset by Slap at O’Donnell as ‘Nut Job’

October 18th, 2010 3:02 AM

“With just 16 days left, it is getting nasty out there,” ABC reporter David Kerley asserted Sunday night, scolding Republican Senator John McCain because on the campaign trail he “dropped senatorial decorum and viciously attacked a Democratic colleague.” On Saturday, in California, McCain said he’s “had the unpleasant experience of having to serve” with Senator Barbara Boxer.

Kerley, however, expressed less angst over McCain’s daughter, Meghan, insulting Christine O’Donnell as “a nut job.” Kerley simply noted how “the Senator's daughter also went on the attack, but she slammed a fellow Republican, Christine O'Donnell, a Tea Party favorite running for Senate in Delaware.”

From ABC’s World News for Sunday, October 17:

DAVID KERLEY: ...With just 16 days left, it is getting nasty out there. John McCain, campaigning for Carly Fiorina in California, dropped senatorial decorum and viciously attacked a Democratic colleague.

JOHN McCAIN, ON SATURDAY: Barbara Boxer is the most bitterly partisan, most anti-defense Senator in the United States Senate today. I know that because I've had the unpleasant experience of having to serve with her.

KERLEY: The Senator's daughter also went on the attack, but she slammed a fellow Republican, Christine O'Donnell, a Tea Party favorite running for Senate in Delaware.

MEGHAN McCAIN, ON ABC’S THIS WEEK: Christine O'Donnell is making a mockery of running for public office. I just know in my group of friends, it just turns people off because she’s seen as a nut job.

— Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.