Conservatives & Republicans

Scarborough: Haley Barbour Would 'Much Rather' Have Hillary Than Trump as President
By Mark Finkelstein | December 17, 2015 | 8:47 AM EST

A modern-day variation on "better red than dead" . . .  Joe Scarborough says that Haley Barbour and many Republican leaders would "much rather" have Hillary be president than to let Trump win and represent the GOP.

On today's Morning Joe, Scarborough said that if it looks like Trump will win the nomination, something Scarborough sees as very plausible, he envisions Mitt Romney or Michael Bloomberg jumping into the race as a third-party candidate. Not really with the goal of winning, but rather to "take a bullet," splitting the vote and denying Trump the White House.

Colbert Skewers Adelson as ‘Part-Time Kuato’; Meyers Jokes GOP Candidates Are ‘Radicalized by ISIS’
By Curtis Houck | December 17, 2015 | 3:02 AM EST

On Wednesday, the late-night comedy show hosts gave their thoughts on the previous evening’s Republican debate and, naturally, the jokes skewed to the left. Most prominent, Late Show host Stephen Colbert trashed conservative donor Sheldon Adelson as a “part-time Kuato” (a reference to the alien in the movie Total Recall) and Late Night host Seth Meyers joked that each of the nine major candidates “had definitely been radicalized by ISIS.”

On MSNBC, Ron Fournier Slams 'Disgusting' GOP Debate, Sees 'Dog Whistling'
By Brad Wilmouth | December 17, 2015 | 1:43 AM EST

Appearing as a guest in the final segment of Wednesday's MTP Daily on MSNBC, Ron Fournier of the National Journal slammed the previous night's GOP presidential debate as "disgusting" as he claimed to see "dog whistling" and "fearmongering" from the candidates.

Carl Bernstein Bemoans GOP for ‘Their Belliocosity,’ ‘Recklessness That Was Astonishing’ in Debate
By Curtis Houck | December 16, 2015 | 10:29 PM EST

Chiming in with his latest ramble against conservatives, CNN political commentator and former Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein took to the airwaves of Wednesday’s AC360 to denounce the GOP candidates for “their bellicosity” in Tuesday’s debate that featured “a recklessness that was astonishing.”

Left-Wing Pundits On GOP Presidential Debate: Winners Included Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton, and ISIS
By Tom Johnson | December 16, 2015 | 9:57 PM EST

Many of the lefty writers who analyzed Tuesday night’s Republican presidential debate at the Venetian suggested that had the event been promoted as if it were a Vegas show, the marquee might have read “Fright Night,” or perhaps “Be Afraid…Be Very Afraid,” given how much the candidates hyped the threat of jihadist terrorism.

FBN’s Lou Dobbs Spotlights MRCTV’s Joseph Being Snapped at by Chris Matthews
By NB Staff | December 16, 2015 | 9:21 PM EST

Near the end of his Fox Business Network (FBN) show on Wednesday night, host Lou Dobbs played and discussed with his panel video released on Tuesday that featured MRCTV’s Dan Joseph asking MSNBC’s Chris Matthews if he still has “the thrill” up his leg all these years later about President Barack Obama. Of course, as many readers now know, Matthews fired back by ignoring Joseph’s question and repeatedly telling him to “go to hell” and “leave me alone.”

MSNBC Guest: GOPers Want to 'Mass Murder Civilians' to Fight ISIS
By Brad Wilmouth | December 16, 2015 | 7:42 PM EST

Appearing as a guest on Wednesday's MSNBC Live, Linda Sarsour of the Arab-American Association of New York received no pushback from host Jose Diaz-Balart over her inflammatory assertion that some of the Republican presidential candidates "think they can mass murder civilians across the world" to defeat the ISIS threat.

She also absurdly claimed that the U.S. killed 650,000 civilians in Iraq, even though most estimates place the total number of Iraqis killed by the U.S. military much lower.

Networks Censor ABC Poll Finding 53 Percent Oppose Assault Weapons Ban
By Matthew Balan | December 16, 2015 | 6:00 PM EST

ABC's morning and evening newscasts, along with those of competitors CBS and NBC, have yet to cover on the latest Washington Post/ABC poll finding that 53 percent of Americans oppose a new assault weapons ban. This is the "first time in more than 20 years of ABC News/Washington Post polls, with the public expressing vast doubt that the authorities can prevent 'lone wolf' terrorist attacks and a substantial sense that armed citizens can help."

CNN's Cuomo Stumbles, Denies 'All Jihadis are Muslim'
By Matthew Balan | December 16, 2015 | 1:26 PM EST

CNN's Chris Cuomo made a gaffe regarding the religious faith of ISIS and other similar groups on Wednesday's New Day. When Senator Lindsey Graham accused Donald Trump of "playing into ISIL's hands," Cuomo replied, "Sixty percent of your party agrees with him. They think all jihadis are Muslim." Since jihad is a concept from the Islamic faith, a jihadi, by definition, would indeed be a Muslim waging a religious-based war for Islam.

NBC, CBS Eager for Brokered GOP Convention; Pushed Obama-Hillary ‘Dream Ticket’ in ‘08
By Kyle Drennen | December 16, 2015 | 12:13 PM EST

Interviewing Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus on Wednesday, the hosts of both NBC’s Today and CBS This Morning pushed the idea that the 2016 Republican field was so divided that there would have to be a brokered convention to pick the party’s nominee. In 2008, instead of discussing a possible brokered convention, all three morning shows excitedly promoted the idea of unifying Democrats around an Obama-Clinton “dream ticket.”

Morning Joe Gushes Over Graham for Ripping Republicans on Muslim Rhetoric
By Mark Finkelstein | December 16, 2015 | 8:42 AM EST

When tagging items at NewsBusters, one of our Media Bias sub-categories is "Sudden Respect." The notion is that to win the affection of the MSM, all a Republican or conservative needs to do is turn against members or positions of his party. A great illustration of the phenomenon comes from today's Morning Joe. During last night's undercard debate, Lindsey Graham repeatedly ripped fellow Republicans for their rhetoric on Muslims, at one point even apologizing to Muslims for Donald Trump's comments.

And that of course caused what Rush might call a GrahamGasm by the Morning Joe crew. Mike Barnicle called Graham "fantastic," Nicolle Wallace said "I adore Lindsey Graham." Most amazing was Mika Brzezinski, who beyond praising him as "incredible" actually declared, sounding like she was choking up, "I feel a connection with Lindsey Graham," causing Joe Scarborough to claim [we presume facetiously] that Mika said "where has he been all my life?" Not to be outdone, Joe called on President Obama to award Graham the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Barnicle summed up the panel's sentiment by saying "thank God for Lindsey Graham."

ABC’s Nightline Blasts ‘Bloody’ GOP Debate; Touts Lib Comedians, Chides Christie for Bus Stop Remark
By Curtis Houck | December 16, 2015 | 3:16 AM EST

The early Wednesday morning edition of ABC’s Nightline provided the first look at the network reaction to Tuesday night’s Republican presidential debate and featured correspondent David Wright ripping it as a “bloody” affair with help from liberal comedians and scolding Chris Christie for remarks about Los Angeles mothers placing their children on school buses only to have classes canceled due to a terror threat.