ABC on Sunday aggressively pushed liberal talking points, hyping Barack Obama's call for Mitt Romney to release more tax documents. Over a span of just three minutes and 32 seconds, the anchor and reporters of World News played nine clips of people lobbying Mitt Romney to "show the American people" what's going on. Only one person, the candidate, appeared in a snippet to argue for the other side.
David Kerley played a montage of Democratic operatives Stephanie Cutter, Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod. They berated Romney: "Show us. Show the American people....[Romney] can clear this up. Just make it public...We don't know all the loopholes he might have taken advantage of." Analyst Rick Klein gloated, "Mitt Romney's work at Bain was supposed to be his biggest strength. And the Obama campaign has made it into, perhaps, his biggest weakness." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]
David Kerley
On ABC's World News on Saturday, host David Muir played a clip of an ad from the far left group MoveOn.org attacking Republicans on the issues of abortion and contraception, and asked correspondent David Kerley for his take on the ad.
Without noting that President Obama raised the issue of contraception by requiring some religious institutions to pay for contraceptives for their employees, or that ABC's very own George Stephanopoulos had bizarrely raised the issue even earlier in a Republican presidential debate, persisting to get an answer from Mitt Romney, Kerley blamed Republicans for "talking about contraception" as he asserted that the GOP had handed Democrats a "gift."
After playing the ad, host Muir wondered:
Good Morning America's David Kerley on Saturday parroted Democratic talking points, mocking Mitt Romney for "embarrassing missteps." Kerley openly wondered how the campaign could get things "so wrong."
The ABC correspondent played up the location of a Romney speech, Friday, and harped on the Republican for saying he had a "couple" Cadillacs. Kerley complained, "So, what were they thinking?...For what was billed as a big speech, how did they get it so wrong? " He continued, "Romney in a cavernous football stadium, just 30 yards of chairs, some of them empty and the entire stands completely empty."
On Sunday, both morning and evening newscasts on ABC and NBC touted the Des Moines Register's endorsement of Mitt Romney as a boost for his campaign for President, in spite of the paper's left-wing tilt in a state where the Republican Party is predominantly conservative. While they did at least note the paper's liberal slant, both networks still played up the liberal endorsement.
On Sunday's World News on ABC, correspondent David Kerley filed a report highlighting anti-Newt Gingrich comments from a number of Republicans who used to serve in the House of Representatives with the former Speaker, and, although at least half the members cited as criticizing Gingrich have a history of being moderate Republicans, Kerley did not inform his viewers of this aspect of their political history which may affect their negative view of him.
After beginning the piece by asserting that Gingrich is "now frightening some of his own party," Kerley used a clip of centrist New York Representative Peter King:
On Saturday's Good Morning America on ABC, a few hours before Herman Cain's announcement that he would drop out of the presidential race, as anchor Bianna Goldryga and correspondent David Kerley speculated about what Cain would do, Kerley mocked Cain as Kerley referred to the GOP candidate's tendency to call himself the "CEO of self," and wondered if he would "fire himself":
Good Morning America's David Kerley on Sunday ran down the attempts of various Republican candidates to become the "anti-Romney" choice, decrying the "disastrous" debate performance of Rick Perry and mocking Michele Bachmann's "historical flubs."
Speaking of efforts by Iowa conservatives to solidify behind one candidate, Kerley dismissed, "But each of them have their weaknesses. Newt Gingrich, the baggage of his lifestyle and work with government agencies. Michele Bachmann, who has made serious historical flubs. Rick Perry, with his disastrous debate performances." All of these candidates may have flaws, but this is the same program that hyped the Clinton/Obama battle in '08 as one of a "hot factor" vs. "fluid poetry."
While morning and evening newscasts from all three broadcast networks in the last few days have focused on anti-Mormon sentiment within the Republican Party that may hinder Mitt Romney's bid for the presidency, FNC's Special Report with Bret Baier on Monday noted that self-identified Republican voters are substantially more willing to accept a Mormon President compared to Democrats.
FNC correspondent Carl Cameron observed that Democrats are "least tolerant" compared to Republicans and independents as he recounted the findings of a Quinnipiac poll:
The ABC and NBC morning and evening newscasts on Sunday gave attention to President Obama's attack on the Republican presidential candidates for not scolding a couple of audience members who booed a gay solder asking a question at a recent debate. Monday's "Special Report with Bret Baier" on FNC noted that Obama has his own history of standing by without condemning inappropriate comments at public events.
Good Morning America's David Kerley on Saturday offered up a one-sided, biased take on a prayer event led by Texas Governor Rick Perry over the weekend. The ABC graphic for the segment chided, "Prayer Controversy: Is Rick Perry Going Too Far?"
The piece featured four clips from those hostile from the event and none in support. Yet, Kerley still attempted to speak for the faithful: "Even some mainstream Christians are concerned about the event, which is being paid for by the American Family Association, which has been called anti-gay, a cultural warrior."
On both Good Morning America and World News, two different ABC correspondents filed separate reports recounting that some Christians oppose Texas Governor Rick Perry’s prayer rally from the weekend, but, in both reports, clips of left-wing figures like the Reverend Barry Lynn of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and Drew Courtney of People for the American Way were shown, instead of showing any more mainstream Christians as examples of dissent.
The ABC and NBC morning and evening newscasts on Sunday gave attention to President Obama's attack on the Republican presidential candidates for not scolding a couple of audience members who booed a gay solder who asked a question about gays in the military at a recent debate. Monday's Special Report with Bret Baier on FNC noted that Obama has his own history of standing by without condemning inappropriate comments at public events.ABC correspondent David Kerley filed full reports devoted to the story on both Good Morning America and World News Sunday, while NBC's Mike Viqueira mentioned Obama's line of attack within reports that dealt with other political issues on Today and the NBC Nightly News.
On Sunday’s World News, ABC correspondent David Kerley mocked the current field of GOP presidential candidates as making comedians "happy" as he recounted that polls show many Republicans are not satisfied with the choices available so far. After informing viewers of the disappointment for Republicans that Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels had chosen not to run, Kerley continued: "Recent polls show that nearly half of Republican voters are not happy with their potential candidates. But comedians are."
Then came a clip of late night talk show host David Letterman: "The Republicans are really scrambling out there, really backs to the wall looking for a guy to lose to Obama."
Kerley then moved on to revelations about Republican candidate Newt Gingrich spending $500,000 on jewelry and comedian Stephen Colbert’s response: