George Stephanopoulos

ABC Parrots Obama: Government Shutdown Would Cripple 'Weak' GOP for a 'Generation'
By Scott Whitlock | August 19, 2013 | 12:41 PM EDT

Former Democratic operative turned journalist George Stephanopoulos on Sunday parroted Barack Obama's talking points, insisting that a shutdown of the government would wound a "weak" Republican Party for a "generation." On Good Morning America, Stephanopoulos touted the President for "cutting his vacation short" due to unrest in Egypt.

After allowing that Obama has "little leverage" over House Republicans, he narrated that the White House believes "the Republican Party is in an even weaker position, that if they shut down the government, say, over their calls to defund Obamacare, they will relegate themselves to minority status for a generation." Playing the role of administration cheerleader, the journalist pointed out that Obama has a big autumn coming up, "which is why he cut his vacation short. He only went eight days this year instead of the normal two weeks." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

Carly Fiorina: Only Canada, China, North Korea and U.S. Allow Abortions After 20 Weeks
By Noel Sheppard | August 18, 2013 | 1:03 PM EDT

In recent months, the liberal media have depicted Texas’s decision to ban non-medically necessitated abortions after 20 weeks as extreme as well as additional evidence of a Republican “war on women.”

On ABC’s This Week Sunday, former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina refuted this claim pointing out that only four countries in the world allow abortions that late – Canada, China, North Korea, and the United States (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Rand Paul: Stephanopoulos Might Have Helped Obama Manufacture the Republican War on Women
By Noel Sheppard | August 8, 2013 | 12:42 AM EDT

Last year NewsBusters repeatedly made the case that members of the press – in particular ABC’s George Stephanopoulos – aided and abetted President Obama’s claim that the Republicans were engaging in a so-called War on Women.

In a radio interview with Geraldo Rivera Wednesday, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said this might have been the case (video follows with transcript and commentary):

ABC Features James Carville for Weiner Lecture, NBC Frets Over 'Damage' to Hillary
By Scott Whitlock | August 1, 2013 | 12:38 PM EDT

ABC and NBC on Thursday continued to fret over the implications the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal will have on Hillary Clinton. Today's Matt Lauer worried, "By association, does this do damage to Hillary Clinton?" Over on Good Morning America, George Stephanopoulos, a former Clinton campaign operative, pointed out that Weiner refused to leave the race "even as another supporter of Bill and Hillary Clinton come forward, urging him to drop out."

Who was the "supporter" that Stephanopoulos mentioned? The host's friend and fellow Clinton aide, James Carville. In a clip, Carville lectured, "If I were working [the Weiner] campaign, would I probably say, 'look, I just can't take this anymore and resign?' Yes." [See video below. MP3 audio here.] The fact that Stephanopoulos and Carville defended Clinton through multiple sex scandals went unmentioned.

Stephanopoulos and Crowley Skip IRS Scandal with Lew, Gregory Cues Up Talking Points; Only Wallace Pursues
By Brent Baker | July 28, 2013 | 3:11 PM EDT

Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew, who oversees the IRS, made the rounds of four Sunday morning TV talk shows (all but CBS’s Face the Nation) to promote President Obama’s latest “pivot” to the economy, but ABC’s George Stephanopoulos and CNN’s Candy Crowley failed to take advantage of the opportunity to press him on the IRS scandal.

NBC’s David Gregory squeezed a question in at the very end of their session, but then didn’t follow up on Lew’s insistence “there’s no evidence of any political involvement.” Gregory: “Mr. Secretary, I’ll leave it there. Thank you as always.”

Will: If Weiner and Filner Were Republicans Media Would Tie Them to GOP War on Women
By Noel Sheppard | July 28, 2013 | 2:18 PM EDT

George Will made an observation on ABC's This Week Sunday that shouldn't have evoked laughter from his fellow panelists and host.

"If these two people, [Mayor Bob] Filner in San Diego and [Anthony] Weiner here, were Republicans, this would be a part of a lot of somber sociology in the media about the Republican war on women" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

George Will Schools Katrina Vanden Heuvel and Steve Rattner on Detroit's Collapse
By Noel Sheppard | July 28, 2013 | 1:12 PM EDT

ABC This Week viewers on Sunday were treated to a classic socio-economic debate between liberals and a lone conservative.

With the issue at hand being Detroit's announced bankruptcy and whether the federal government should bail it out, the liberal view was championed by the Nation's Katrina Vanden Heuvel and MSNBC's Steve Rattner. On the right was George Will who clearly won the scrum despite being tag-teamed (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Peggy Noonan: Obama Got To Point Where People Stopped Listening To Him Faster Than Most Presidents
By Noel Sheppard | July 28, 2013 | 12:06 PM EDT

"I think every president in the intense media environment we have now, certainly every two-term president, gets to a point where the American people stop listening, stop leaning forward hungrily for information. I think this president got there earlier than most presidents. And I think he's in that time now."

So said the Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan on ABC's This Week Sunday.

Smiley on Zimmerman Verdict: Evidence of Contempt This Nation Shows for Black Men
By Noel Sheppard | July 14, 2013 | 2:21 PM EDT

As NewsBusters has been reporting, the liberal media are out in force Sunday expressing their disgust with the George Zimmerman verdict.

On ABC's This Week, PBS's Tavis Smiley had the nerve to say, "I think this for many Americans, George, just another piece of evidence of the incontrovertible contempt that this nation often shows and displays for black men" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Networks Still Boosting Wendy Davis' 'Epic' Pro-Abortion Filibuster Almost A Week Later
By Matthew Balan | July 1, 2013 | 5:40 PM EDT

The Big Three networks still can't get enough of Texas State Senator Wendy Davis, nearly a week after her extended filibuster against pro-life legislation on June 25, 2013. All three brought on Davis during their Sunday morning talk programs, and continued hyping the supportive response on social media that Davis received in response to her "epic eleven-hour filibuster", as NBC' s Janet Shamlian sympathetically labeled it on Monday's Today.

ABC's Jeff Zeleny conducted a beyond softball interview of the liberal politician on This Week, and was awed when the liberal politician showed off the pink running shoes that she wore during the filibuster [audio available here; video below the jump]. Bob Schieffer touted Davis' "wonderful biography" on Face the Nation, and added that "few outside Texas knew of her until last week when she became an overnight sensation." NBC and CBS each devoted another full report to Davis on their Monday morning newscasts.

Hyperbolic Terry Moran on ABC: 'Right Now, There Is No Voting Rights Act Operative' in U.S.
By Scott Whitlock | June 25, 2013 | 11:41 AM EDT

During live coverage, minutes after the Supreme Court struck down a key portion of the 1965 Voting Rights Act on Tuesday, a hyperbolic Terry Moran on ABC inaccurately spun the whole law as being invalidated. It was left to former Democratic operative turned journalist George Stephanopoulos to correct his colleague.

Moran insisted, "Right now there is no voting rights act operative in the United States." Actually, the Court struck down section four of act, saying that the formula for which state and federal localities decide pre-clearance for their voting laws must be rewritten. Trying to clarify Moran's remarks, Stephanopoulos summarized, "They did not strike down the heart of the act, section five of the Voting Rights Act. And they didn't find the entire law unconstitutional." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

ABC: George Stephanopoulos Is a Towering Giant, But Also an Everyman Who Will Borrow Milk
By Scott Whitlock | June 22, 2013 | 1:14 PM EDT

In a continuing attempt to humanize George Stephanopoulos, ABC is now running lighthearted new promos for the host of This Week. In the spots, the former Democratic campaign operative barges into the kitchen of a couple to ask, "You guys got any milk?"

The admiring woman coos, "It's George Stephanopoulos. He's also on Sunday mornings." In another commercial, a second woman praises, "George on Sunday mornings. Now, that's good." One odd moment in the ad has Stephanopoulos, who is five foot, six inches tall, towering over a refrigerator by a good five inches. (Just how short is that fridge? See picture below.)