Scott Whitlock
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Saikat Chakrabarti is the controversial, hard-left chief of staff to the equally liberal Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He is also the guy who recently compared moderate Democrats to segregationists of the past. Yet, the Washington Post is in love with what this activist could mean. In a 2900 word Post Magazine profile, Chakrabarti is hailed as “AOC’s chief of change” and “the movement chief of staff.”
The journalists at CBS on Friday once again plotted strategy with a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. Talking to Senator Amy Klobuchar, co-host Anthony Mason worried that ObamaCare might be overturned. (Back in federal court again, it faced a skeptical reaction this week from judges.)
CBS This Morning on Thursday scored an exclusive interview with Tom Steyer, a newly announced Democratic presidential candidate, yet never once managed to refer to him as progressive or liberal. Instead, he is simply a “billionaire activist” who also is leading an expensive campaign to impeach Donald Trump.
Another book going after Republicans and conservatives is getting fawning coverage on CBS. This time, it’s American Carnage by Tim Alberta. The author appeared on CBS This Morning, Thursday, and co-host Tony Dokoupil wanted to know when congressional Republicans will finally stand up to the “nativism and racism” coming from the President. The co-hosts also touted Alberta’s deriding Mike Pence as “pitifully subjugated.”
A stunned MSNBC host on Wednesday offered an apology after Women’s World Cup player Megan Rapinoe dropped the F-bomb during a championship parade in New York City. A few minutes later, host Andrea Mitchell praised the “eloquence” of the soccer star. During the celebration, captain Rapinoe cheered, “This group is incredible. We took so much on our shoulders to be here today, to celebrate with you today. And we did it with a smile. So, do the same for us. Please, I ask you. New York City, you're the motherfucking best!”
ABC finally broke its silence, finally mentioning Bill Clinton’s connection to registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a man now accused of new charges of sex trafficking. But the combined mentions on Monday night and Tuesday morning only amounted to 38 seconds. In comparison, the total amount of Epstein coverage since Sunday has been 21 minutes and 3 seconds.
The journalists on CBS This Morning, Monday, reacted to far-left Tom Steyer’s possible presidential bid by wondering if it was an act of “charity” on his part. Also, co-host Anthony Mason blurted out that he “went to school” with the man now known for his drive to impeach Donald Trump. Co-host Tony Dokoupil oddly speculated, “He’s pledged half of his wealth to charity. I wonder if he counts this running for president thing as charity?” Mason revealed, “I went to school with him.” Co-host Gayle King marveled, “That’s incredible.”
Who better to interview Michelle Obama than CBS’s Gayle King? After all, the CBS This Morning host is a Democratic donor (including thousands to Barack Obama. She’s a close friend of the Obamas and even vacationed with the couple in 2017. So on Saturday, it shouldn't be surprising that the powerful journalist agreed that Barack Obama was scandal-free.
Americans are celebrating the nation’s birthday today at Fourth of July events all over the country. But media outlets throughout the years have used Independence Day to bash the country. From the now disgraced Matt Lauer on the Today show, to CNN, to Time magazine, the Fourth has been a time not of patriotic celebration, but of shame.
CBS This Morning co-host (and Democratic donor) Gayle King on Wednesday tossed softballs to 2020 Democratic contender Julian Castro. King tied illegal border crossing in general to the tragic photos of two migrants who died will attempting to enter the U.S. After insisting, “I don’t know where to begin,” King declared, “You hear words like ticking time bomb. It's almost seems like we're criminalizing desperation here. What would you do? What do you think should be done right now?”
According to New York Times opinion contributor Michael Eric Dyson, the Revolutionary War-era flag at the heart of a controversy with Nike is just like a “swastika” or burning a cross. MSNBC featured Dyson the day before the Fourth of July to slime the Betsy Ross flag as a symbol of hate. Talking to host Hallie Jackson, Dyson excoriated the flag and offered outrageous comparisons: “Symbols matter too. Why don't we wear a swastika for July Fourth?... It makes a difference."
The Washington Post on Tuesday made it pretty clear: The paper isn’t a big fan of conservative Alabama. Writer Karen Heller penned a 2500 word essay citing all the people embarrassed by the state. The story somehow connected Alabama’s horrific examples of lynching with the newly-passed pro-life legislation.
Once again, only ABC bothered covering the latest details on the potentially shady financial dealings of Joe Biden’s youngest son, Hunter. CBS and NBC on Monday night and Tuesday morning skipped the implications for the Democratic front-runner and the embarrassing details about the younger Biden’s activities.
CNN devoted an hour on Sunday night to a documentary exploring the rise of white supremacists in America and around the world. Unsurprisingly, the network tied Donald Trump to these bigots, blaming the “white supremacist hero” for “jumping on” the bandwagon of hatred. As video of Trump appeared on screen, the journalist blamed, “And it’s spreading across the world.... A fire fed by politics.”
Though journalists love stories of young people supporting gun control, they have little interest in pro-Second Amendment kids. They also aren’t fans of hyping youngsters who demonstrate self defense. Case in point: Earlier this month, 11-year-old Braydon Smith defended himself and his house when an intruder broke into his North Carolina home. Smith used a machete to protect himself.
It turns out that liberal debate moderator Chuck Todd is even annoying fellow leftist Stephen Colbert. The Late Show host, as well as guest Chris Christie, mercilessly mocked Todd for his pomposity. Colbert kept making fun of Todd throughout his opening monologue during the live show: “Half way through, there was a personnel switch with Rachel Maddow playing the part of Lester Holt and Chuck Todd playing the part of a guy who really likes the sound of his own voice.”
he NBC moderators on Thursday spent the second night of Democratic debates ignoring some of the gaffes, shocking comments and startling positions of the 2020 contenders. Most significantly, moderators Chuck Todd, Rachel Maddow, Savannah Guthrie and Jose Diaz-Balart failed to ask Joe Biden about his revelation that the Vice President OPPOSED Barack Obama’s decision to execute the raid that killed terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.
Wow. In pre-debate coverage on Thursday, Chris Matthews called for someone to ask Bernie Sanders about his love for socialism, saying that the other Democrats are “afraid” to raise the issue. Matthews underlined the fact that Sanders is serious about his hard-left views: “I've looked at the old tapes of his interview with Phil Donahue where he really does defend the notion of socialism, not just a welfare state like in Scandinavia, but real socialism.”
NBC's Seth Meyers offered his usual Democratic hack spin on Tuesday night, praising the 2020 Democratic debaters as “sane” and, weirdly, Elizabeth Warren as like a southern matriarch? Though he had some gentle ribbing about the Dems on the stage, he gushed, “And no matter what you think of the Democrats, this is why it was refreshing to see sane human beings speaking in coherent sentences about actual policies on national television for a change.”
The NBC and MSNBC hosts for the very first 2020 Democratic presidential debate on Wednesday catered to the party’s far-left base, offering questions about just how to take guns away from Americans, the need for aggressive action on climate change and repeated questions about how the nominee would fight the looming threat of Mitch McConnell.