Cindy McCain

View Hosts Mock Gwyneth Paltrow Comparing Internet Comments to War
By Jackie Seal | June 3, 2014 | 1:30 PM EDT

On the Monday, June 2 edition of The View, in a rare moment, the notably liberal hosts took to blasting liberal actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Charlize Theron for the ludicrous, offensive comments they each made recently which seemed to minimize the real trials and hardships of military veterans and rape victims respectively.

Theron lamented that when someone like herself starts reading negative comments about herself online “you start feeling raped.” while Paltrow compared negative online comments to suffering through combat, because in war “you go through this bloody, dehumanizing thing.” The ladies of The View were not amused and spent some time warning Paltrow, specifically, of comparing her posh life as an actress to the rigors of battle.

Piers Morgan Says Todd Akin Controversy Supports Narrative That GOP Is 'Anti-Women'
By Matt Hadro | August 30, 2012 | 7:50 PM EDT

Piers Morgan said on Thursday that the Todd Akin controversy supports "the argument that the Republican Party is anti-women," playing into the Democratic playbook.

"I suppose the problem is what it does is it lends again succor to the argument that the Republican Party is anti-women," he stated after bringing up Akin's remarks in an interview with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his wife Cindy.

ABC, NBC Relay Cindy McCain’s Support for Gays in Military
By Brad Wilmouth | November 14, 2010 | 3:32 AM EST

 On Friday evening, ABC’s World News and the NBC Nightly News both informed viewers that Cindy McCain - wife of Senator John McCain - supports repealing the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy on gays in the military. NBC’s Chuck Todd merely mentioned her disagreement with her husband on the issue while noting that Senator McCain "is the guy holding up" any change in the law.

But ABC went further in showing a clip of Cindy McCain from a Web ad asserting that homosexuals in America are treated "like second-class citizens." Anchor Diane Sawyer introduced the clip: "And someone we haven’t heard from in a while, Cindy McCain, wife of Senator John McCain, speaking out, disagreeing with her husband who opposes a repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. She condemned the government policy that prevents gays from serving openly in the military."

Then came a clip of Cindy McCain: "Our government treats the LGBT community like second-class citizens."

Karl Rove Calls Out Stupid Journalists Who Believed the Worst About Him
By Geoffrey Dickens | March 8, 2010 | 11:53 AM EST

In part one of his exclusive interview with Karl Rove NBC's Matt Lauer, on Monday's Today, plucked out a page from the former White House adviser's new memoir where Rove went after journalists that called his tactics "'fear-based" that played on a stupid electorate, to which Lauer questioned, isn't that "somewhat true?"

During the interview Lauer also threw out some of the most salacious charges about Rove being behind a racist smear campaign against John and Cindy McCain during the 2000 South Carolina primary something he denied but Lauer pushed: "While Rove denies any involvement in any smears, some prominent Republicans point the finger directly at him. Here's what Roy Fletcher, McCain's deputy campaign manager said of the South Carolina smear. Quote, 'This whole thing, it was orchestrated by Rove.' Cindy McCain, of that same incident...the smear involved possibly that this was an illegitimate black child." [audio available here]

After Rove blamed a Bob Jones University professor for the allegation, Lauer brought up two more Rove critics who painted Rove as the villain including Cindy McCain who said she would "Stab" Rove "in the front" and a former George W. Bush speechwriter who claimed "He was what all the liberals said he was, the villain...a clumsy one at that....less a Voldermort than a Boris Badenov chasing Rocky and Bullwinkle."

The following is the relevant exchange as it was aired on the March 8 Today:

Where was Mention of Obamas' Personal Chef During Campaign?
By Lynn Davidson | January 30, 2009 | 5:57 PM EST
Michelle may bring home the bacon, but she sure doesn't fry it up in a pan.

During last year's presidential campaign, the media worked overtime to portray John and Cindy McCain as wealthy private jet junkies with more homes than they can remember, while showcasing Barack and Michelle Obama as just another middle class family with two working parents, one car and freshly paid off student loans. In 2008, a media frenzy whirled around Mrs. McCain's income and the $170,000 she paid household staff in 2006.

On the other hand, Mrs. Obama was defined as an average mom who juggled work and home with extraordinary skill. According to the media, she arranged sleepovers, scoured Target for the perfect wardrobe and served healthy organic dinners. Just like us common folk, right? Well, almost. Those healthy organic dinners were cooked by the Obamas' personal chef, Sam Kass.

Funny how the media didn't mention that on the campaign trail, particularly in all of those syrupy, hagiographic interviews where Michelle discussed her family life, such as this October 17, 2008 CBS "Early Show" segment where she danced around answering reporter Maggie Rodriguez when she asked, “Who cooks at home?” (emphasis mine):

NYT: Everyone Loves Michelle Obama; 'Proud' Gaffe Just Needs Context
By Clay Waters | October 28, 2008 | 1:49 PM EDT

New York Times reporter Patrick Healy profiled Michelle Obama in Akron, Ohio, speaking and making calls to undecided voters, in Tuesday's "New to Campaigning, but No Longer a Novice." The sycophantic Healy is quick to put Michelle Obama's "proud of America" gaffe in context and suggest it's a discredited charge.

And the photo caption over a picture of three adoring fans in Akron listening to her speak reads like a "dinner theatre" review from a local free paper:

In a raucous rally at a school gym in Akron, the would-be first lady had the audience laughing and cheering throughout.

Healy, whose reporting seems to be getting more slanted as the campaign wears on, showed Michelle Obama far more respect than his colleague Jodi Kantor showed John McCain's wife Cindy.

Obama Fan Roland Martin’s Column on CNN.com Rips GOP ‘Old Bag of Tricks’
By Matthew Balan | October 22, 2008 | 5:47 PM EDT

Roland Martin, CNN Contributor | NewsBusters.orgCNN contributor Roland Martin’s Wednesday column on CNN.com bluntly accused Republicans of exhibiting "fear and desperation" in their criticism of Barack Obama: "McCain's campaign is no longer about issues. He and his supporters want to bring up anything and everything to derail Obama, and nothing is sticking, so they just keep returning to their old bag of tricks." This "bag" apparently includes bringing up issues like Obama’s 20-year relationship with left-wing firebrand Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the socialist labeling of the Democratic presidential candidate, and his associations with terrorist Bill Ayers and ACORN.

Martin first labeled McCain an "old fighter," but not as a compliment: "Watching Sen. John McCain and top Republicans swing wildly in their attempts to slam Sen. Barack Obama, with less than two weeks ago to go before Election Day, is like watching an old fighter -- clearly out of gas, his legs turned to rubber, and all he can do is grab, hold, punch behind the back, just anything to try to win." He then used his "old bag of tricks" line.

CMPA's Lichter Finds the Obvious: Media Overwhelmingly Positive on Obama
By Justin McCarthy | October 20, 2008 | 1:55 PM EDT

It is no surprise that Barack Obama receives much better treatment in the media than John McCain, but the non-partisan Center for Media and Public Affairs actually conducted a study that concluded just that. The Center’s evaluation found that since both candidates were formally nominated "Senator Obama on the network evening news shows have been 65% positive, compared to only 36% positive about John McCain."

While the networks ignored the study, the October 20 edition of "Fox and Friends" interviewed CMPA’s founder Robert Lichter. Lichter noted that Obama fits the media’s template of a "fresh face," "some sort of special dimensions," and "charismatic quality." He did note that the media eventually sours on such candidates, but curiously have not done so for Senator Obama.

MRC/NB's Motley on FNC to Discuss NYT Hit Job on Cindy McCain
By NB Staff | October 20, 2008 | 11:00 AM EDT

The Media Research Center's Director of Communications and NewsBusters.org Contributing Editor Seton Motley appeared on the Fox News Channel's Fox News Live yesterday to discuss another New York Times hit job on the McCains, this one on wife Cindy.

Included in the Times outrages was co-author Jodi Kantor contacting friends of the McCains's youngest daughter Bridgette via Facebook email "trying to get a sense of what she is like as a mother."

Motley decries the Times sleazy, sub-tabloid tactics, points out their total fealty to Michelle Obama in a June profile and delineates the proper bounds to be observed in what is and is not fair game for the media regarding the spouses and families of candidates.

Cindy McCain's Attorney Sends Complaint Letter to NYT's Keller
By Noel Sheppard | October 18, 2008 | 8:53 PM EDT

Before the New York Times published Saturday's 2500-word, front-page hit piece about Cindy McCain, an attorney representing the wife of the Arizona senator sent a letter to executive editor Bill Keller appealing to his "sense of fairness, balance and decency" to not run "another story about her."

In the correspondence, which has been posted in full by Time magazine's Mark Halperin (h/t NBer Bob Mc), attorney John Dowd chastised Keller for: not employing his "investigative assets looking into Michelle Obama;" not trying to "find Barack Obama's drug dealer that he wrote about in his book, Dreams of My Father," and; not interviewing Obama's "poor relatives in Kenya and determin[ing] why Barack Obama has not rescued them. Thus, there is a terrific lack of balance here."

FoxNews.com is reporting further anger over this Times article being expressed by the McCain campaign (emphasis added, picture courtesy AP):

WaPo Tries to Claim Cindy McCain Unethical for Erection of Cell Phone Tower
By Warner Todd Huston | October 16, 2008 | 4:49 AM EDT

Apparently the Washington Post thinks it has an ethics violation to hold against Cindy McCain, wife of GOP presidential candidate John McCain. The Post is trying to claim that Cindy McCain somehow illicitly got a portable cell tower delivered to her remote Arizona ranch so that their phones would work there. The truth is, however, the Secret Service ordered up the portable cell tower, not Cindy McCain.

Even the words the Post uses to report the story prove somewhat weasely because, as the Post can't find any actual wrong doing, the story relies on vague ways of implying wrongdoing without actually saying it. In the end, there doesn't seem to be much there, there, but I suppose the Post had to justify the money it spent by publishing this non-story anyway.

CBS’s Smith: McCain Uses ‘Biggest Gun’ to ‘Attack Obama’s Character’
By Kyle Drennen | October 9, 2008 | 1:51 PM EDT

Cindy McCain, CBS At the top of Thursday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith declared: "The McCain campaign sharpens its attacks on Barack Obama using one of its biggest guns." The "big gun" Smith was referring to was Cindy McCain, who criticized Obama on Wednesday for voting against Iraq troop funding. Smith followed by claiming: "But Obama strikes back with his own secret weapon," referencing Michelle Obama on CNN’s Larry King Live on Wednesday commenting that: "The folks out there right now are scared...They don't care about the sort of back and forth between the candidates."

Smith introduced the later segment by proclaiming: "With less than a month to go before election day, the campaign, especially McCain campaign, has turning -- has been turning up its attack on Barack Obama's character." In the report that followed, correspondent Jeff Glor described how: "John McCain's wife Cindy is usually camera shy but with polls showing the McCain campaign in rough waters it's all hands on deck. For the first time on the stump, Cindy McCain targeted Barack Obama...It's another escalation in the attacks of recent days as the McCain campaign questions Obama's commitment to country and his contacts." On Tuesday, Glor downplayed one of Obama’s "contacts," referring to domestic terrorist Bill Ayers as merely a: "once radical anti-war advocate."