During his latest phone-in interview Tuesday morning, Donald Trump appeared on NBC’s Today where co-host Savannah Guthrie attempted to convince Trump that former President Bill Clinton’s extramarital affairs (and specifically what occurred with Monica Lewinsky) were merely “alleged” and thus might not be fair to bring up in a campaign involving Hillary Clinton.
Today
ABC Skips WashPost Smear on Cruz Girls; CBS, NBC Excuse It as a ‘Feud,’ Part of ‘Increased Scrutiny’
By Curtis Houck | December 23, 2015 | 12:31 PM EST The morning after Washington Post cartoonist Ann Telnaes published (then unpublished) an illustration depicting Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz’s daughters as toy monkeys, calling them “fair game” since they appeared in a campaign ad, ABC’s Good Morning America ignored the story completely while CBS This Morning and NBC’s Today excused it as merely a “feud” and part of “increased scrutiny” for Cruz as he ascends in the polls.
By Kyle Drennen | December 22, 2015 | 1:38 PM EST
On Tuesday, NBC’s Today devoted two full reports to President Obama appearing on Jerry Seinfeld’s web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. The first report came late in the 7 a.m. ET hour, with co-host Carson Daly proclaiming: “President Obama and Jerry Seinfeld take a little spin on the South Lawn in a 1963 Corvette before they sit down for a candid conversation about life in the White House....[which] focuses more on the ‘lighter side of the presidency’...an opportunity to ‘pull back the curtain.’”
By Scott Whitlock | December 17, 2015 | 11:41 AM EST
All three network morning shows on Thursday covered the breaking news that Defense Secretary Ash Carter used private e-mails for government work. But only ABC deemed it an “embarrassment” for Barack Obama himself. Good Morning America’s Mary Bruce asserted, “This is no question this is an embarrassment for the White House and will likely draw attacks from Republicans who say the administration isn't doing enough to safeguard sensitive information.”
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."
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.”
By Kyle Drennen | December 15, 2015 | 11:50 AM EST
After covering the upcoming Republican presidential debate on Tuesday, NBC Today co-host Matt Lauer promoted Hillary Clinton preparing to attack her GOP rivals: “Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton is planning a preemptive strike against the barrage of criticism that she's expecting from her Republican rivals on that stage tonight. So today she’ll make her case on how she’d take on the ISIS threat.”
By Kyle Drennen | December 10, 2015 | 3:19 PM EST
On Thursday, NBC’s Today seized on a cabdriver in Toronto attacking the car of an Uber driver as a chance to attack the entrepreneurial car service, with co-host Savannah Guthrie proclaiming: “A cabbie confronts an Uber driver and gets dragged 60 feet down the street, as the battle between the car service app and traditional taxis gets ugly.”
By Kyle Drennen | December 10, 2015 | 11:55 AM EST
While both NBC’s Today and ABC’s Good Morning America found the time on Thursday to devote minute-long segments to First Lady Michelle Obama rapping about kids going to college, neither morning show bothered to mention President Obama’s strategy or lack thereof to combat radical Islamic terrorism in the wake of the San Bernardino attacks.
By Geoffrey Dickens | December 10, 2015 | 9:30 AM EST
An MRC analysis of interviews from January 1 to December 4 finds the broadcast networks have pounded the candidates with a blizzard of hostile and left-wing questions.
By Kyle Drennen | December 9, 2015 | 11:36 AM EST
On Wednesday, all three network morning shows eagerly seized on the latest Donald Trump controversy to boost Hillary Clinton’s 2016 chances. On NBC’s Today, correspondent Peter Alexander proclaimed: “For the Grand Old Party, an urgent dilemma, fail to stand up to Trump and risk long-term damage to the party or confront Trump and risk his running as an independent....A Trump third-party bid would likely gift wrap the White House for Hillary Clinton.”
By Kyle Drennen | December 7, 2015 | 1:30 PM EST
Moments before President Obama’s Sunday night address to the nation about the San Bernardino terrorist attack, NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt hoped the speech might be “a defining moment for his presidency.” By Monday morning, reaction from hosts and analysts on the Today show made it clear the presidential remarks were not impressive.