Bozell, Hannity Tackle How Media Have Been Carrying Water for Obama on Spending, Budget

April 15th, 2011 11:46 AM

Aside from ABC's Jake Tapper, where were the denunciations from the media of President Obama's uncivil, hyper-partisan speech on the budget the other day at George Washington University (GWU)?

That's a question that NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell asked on last night's "Media Mash" segment on Fox News Channel's "Hannity."

It was a speech that the president invited Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to sit in on, and "then savaged him."

"The Republicans seriously thought" the April 13 speech was "going to be a serious policy proposal" on the budget, but instead Obama "broadsided everyone with this amazing display of demagoguery," Bozell noted. "Kudos to Jake Tapper of ABC who pointed out that it was the same Barack Obama who gave a speech before the Republicans last year saying that people better not do this kind of exact language that he used yesterday."

"This was something that the media needed to denounce for what it was, which was dishonest [and uncivil]," the Media Research Center founder added.

Bozell and Fox News host Sean Hannity also discussed MSNBC's Chris Matthews hyperbolically saying the Ryan budget plan would "kill half the people that watch [Hardball]."

"This is what we're up against," Bozell observed. "There are no proposals on the Left to do anything about this, it's just that Republicans are now trying to kill people."

Also discussed was how on the April 6 NBC "Today" show host Matt Lauer fed leftist talking points to interview subject liberal Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.):


MATT LAUER, from April 6 "Today": And when you look at some of the things the Tea Party and others on the far right are asking for: no funding for Planned Parenthood, no funding for climate control, public broadcasting, does it seem to you, Senator, that this is less about a fiscal debate or an economic policy debate and they're making an ideological stand here?

 

Sen. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-N.Y.) from April 6 "Today": That's exactly right, Matt, you've hit the nail on the head.

 

SEAN HANNITY: Matt, you gave my talking points right back to me. Thank you for being such a hard-hitting reporter!

 

BRENT BOZELL: Two points on this, Sean. Number one, we now know where the antenna is of Matt Lauer. Anyone who is opposed to federal funding of abortion, which is the overwhelming public, is far right according to Matt Lauer.

 

Number two, he could have confronted Chuck Schumer on the fact that it was disclosed, he was caught, that he's getting all these talking points from the Democrats where they're telling him to distort and exaggerate everything.

 

He didn't confront him on any of that, instead, he did the exaggerating for Chuck Schumer so that Schumer's response was, "you're exactly right." In other words, "you just did my dirty work for me." And they call it news!