Despite the Republican Party taking control of both houses of Congress as well winning additional governors mansions, ABC’s Good Morning America made sure to throw some cold water on the GOP victory. On Wednesday morning, co-host George Stephanopoulos and ABC News Political Analyst Matthew Dowd pushed the line that despite the GOP's midterm victory “the Republican brand is still very damaged.”
George Stephanopolous
By Scott Whitlock | September 20, 2014 | 12:30 PM EDT
ABC's Good Morning America uncritically promotes the liberal agenda, regardless of the facts. But it's not just political stories that excite the credulous hosts. On August 4, George Stephanopoulos eagerly announced, "A Southern California city on edge, because they fear a lion is on the loose? It's all over that video right there."
By Jeffrey Meyer | September 7, 2014 | 6:17 PM EDT
During an appearance on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Donna Brazile, former campaign manager for Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, admitted to not knowing what a caliphate was while trying to defend President Obama’s policy regarding the terrorist group ISIS.
Brazile argued that the battle with ISIS is “a medieval war that we're looking at to establish a caliphate” before conceding that she had to ask conservative commentator Bill Kristol “exactly what that [caliphate] meant.”
By Jack Coleman | July 15, 2014 | 6:58 PM EDT
That's right -- Cokie Roberts. Yes, the political commentator who has worked at taxpayer-funded National Public Radio since the Reagan era. It wasn't Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, though he was also a guest on ABC's "This Week" when Roberts said what could easily be heard coming from nearly any conservative pundit.
Roberts and company were discussing yet another round of hostilities between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza when Roberts suggested that a widespread perception of American weakness is partially to blame. (Video after the jump)
By Jeffrey Meyer | June 22, 2014 | 12:32 PM EDT
ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, co-host of Good Morning America and moderator of This Week, sat down with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor for an interview that aired on Sunday, June 22.
The interview, which was more of a glowing profile of Ms. Sotomayor, touched on a variety of subjects ranging from her recent encounter with Hillary Clinton to whether or not the justice still experienced sexism on the bench. Stephanopoulos wondered “You also write in your book about some of the sexism you faced even as a prosecutor. Any as a Supreme Court justice or does it go away?” [See video below.]
Stephanopoulos Lauds The Clintons on Kimmel Show; Says Hillary's Popularity Will 'Go Through the Roof' With Chelsea's Baby
By Laura Flint | May 20, 2014 | 3:52 PM EDT
George Stephanopoulos may no longer be a paid partisan activist, but he most certainly helps Democratic candidates and causes from his perch as an ostensibly objective journalist. Witness the interview the Good Morning America co-host had with Jimmy Kimmel on Monday’s edition of Kimmel’s eponymous late-night ABC program, which served to butter up former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, a likely 2016 presidential prospect.
Kimmel spent much of the interview peppering the This Week anchor with questions about his time working for President Clinton, including a question about the nation’s 42nd president “had ever brought” Stephanopoulos “to tears.” [See video below. For MP3 audio, click here]
By Randy Hall | May 13, 2014 | 9:07 PM EDT
Even though baseball season has finally arrived, the focus of last weekend's TV sports was the annual draft of college players to join teams in the National Football League. This year's selection was the first of its kind since Michael Sam, an open homosexual who “came out” in February, was among the hundreds of young men hoping to make the leap to professional sports.
After the African-American candidate joined the St. Louis Rams as the 249th pick, Sam's enthusiastic hug and kiss of Vito Cammisano -- his male partner -- became the focus of liberal comedian Stephen Colbert during Monday's version of The Colbert Report, when the host used a football theme by blowing a whistle and tossing a yellow penalty flag in the air for “Holding!” and “Unnecessary Tenderness!”
By Randy Hall | May 5, 2014 | 10:53 PM EDT
Former CBS investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson had some harsh words to share about the Obama administration and its supporters while she was a guest on Monday morning's Fox & Friends program.
After viewing some clips from Sunday's edition of ABC's This Week With George Stephanopoulos in which conservative pundit Laura Ingraham and Democratic analyst David Plouffe clashed over the death of four Americans in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, Attkisson said she believes that a concerted effort is taking place to divert investigations into that deadly attack, an effort that is being orchestrated by people close to the White House. [See video below.]
By Scott Whitlock | July 22, 2013 | 12:26 PM EDT
According to George Stephanopoulos, the late Helen Thomas, who passed away on Saturday, was a "passionate," "tenacious journalist who only got a "bit" "biased" at the end of her career. The former Democratic operative turned journalist reminisced over his interactions with her when he was White House Press secretary for Bill Clinton.
Appearing on Sunday's Good Morning America, Stephanopoulos remembered, "She was so tenacious, so passionate. She was such a trail blazer and mentor to a lot of women reporters in that White House briefing room as well and everybody could count on her to ask the tough questions." Regarding Thomas's venomous, anti-Israel rant in 2010, the host conceded, "...At the end of her career, she did, in some ways, let her biases loose a little bit, had to apologize for that later." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]
Morning Shows Hype Angelina Jolie's Mastectomies With Nearly 27 Minutes of Coverage; Just 56 Seconds for Gosnell Verdict
By Matthew Balan | May 14, 2013 | 6:23 PM EDT
ABC and NBC led their morning shows on Tuesday with nearly 10 minutes of "breaking news" coverage of Angelina Jolie's double mastectomy. This celebrity-driven story was apparently deemed more important than abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell being found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, as Good Morning America and Today devoted just 38 seconds to the Gosnell trial. (audio clips of Jolie coverage available here; video below the jump)
Altogether, the ABC and NBC morning newscasts aired 19 minutes and 3 seconds of coverage on Jolie. Tuesday's CBS This Morning waited 12 minutes to cover the Hollywood news item, but ultimately ended up setting aside 7 minutes and 49 seconds of air time to the surgeries, versus a 18 second news brief on Gosnell. The total Big Three coverage of Jolie on Tuesday morning, including CBS's reporting, added up to 26 minutes and 52 seconds, as opposed to 56 seconds on the Gosnell case.
By Matt Philbin | April 30, 2013 | 11:42 AM EDT
ABC is nothing if not clear about its priorities. For a month and a half, the network has steadfastly refused to cover the multiple murder trial of abortionist Kermit Gosnell, devoting 109 minutes to other trials, along with important revelations about the original names of fictional characters. But when a little-known journeyman basketball player announces he’s gay, ABC’s elite news squad swings into action, lavishing resources and broadcast time on the story.
On Monday Anchor Diane Sawyer led “World News” breathlessly talking of “an act of personal courage.” “Jason Collins,” Sawyer said, “a powerhouse player in the NBA, a veteran of the court, today told the world he is gay.” Video after the break.
ABC Shows Understated 'Debt Clock,' Uses Creative Rounding to Claim Projected FY 2013 Deficit As % of GDP Will Be 'Half' of 2009
By Tom Blumer | March 13, 2013 | 10:35 PM EDT In an interview with former Bill Clinton adviser George Stephanopoulos at ABC (transcript here), President Barack Obama claimed that “We don’t have an immediate crisis in terms of debt." Despite his claim, no one can know that for sure, but it's at least consistent with what he said during the 2012 presidential campaign ("we don't have to worry about it short term").
Obama's elaboration on the debt topic, however, was not consistent: "In fact, for the next ten years, it’s gonna be in a sustainable place." Ten years is long-term by any reasonable definition. His statement directoly contradicts what he said In October 2012: "... it is a problem long term and even medium term." Of course, ABC's subsequent coverage of that interview by Jonathan Karl didn't note the President's change of tune, and went further to assist Obama by presenting a misleading visual and by misstating the relative size of this year's officially projected deficit to that seen in fiscal 2009.