Across the dial the network evening network newscasts, using the same talking points, pumped the Senate-White House border deal, and knocked Republicans opposing the deal. And in so doing, they left out some pretty important details.
For a representative sample of how the coverage went, here’s how ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir introduced Mary Bruce’s report:
DAVID MUIR: And we're going to turn now to the U.S. border with Mexico. For months, Republicans have been pushing President Biden, arguing, if you want funding for Ukraine and Israel, the U.S. must act at the U.S. border. Now, a bipartisan group of senators, Democrats and Republicans, say they're close to a deal, for the first time in many years. President Biden says he'll support it. But now Republicans, led by Donald Trump, say they don't want a deal after all.
That’s basically the template. Border deal has been negotiated by Nice Grandpa and Less Bad Republicans, Bad Orange Man says deal bad, Bad Republicans say deal bad. Also, Bad Republicans want to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. As simplistic as it sounds, that’s how the reporting went. The only major variance being that NBC opened with Mayorkas’ impeachment while everyone else closed with that. But a few key details were left out.
The networks have purposefully left out the fact that House Republicans have passed a bill of their own which they’ve established as a precondition for the appropriation of any monies to Ukraine- H.R. 2. Of course, this is intentional inasmuch as it allows the media to falsely cast House Republicans, led by Speaker Mike Johnson, as a bunch of do-nothings obstructing the Senate compromise. But the record reflects that the bill has been sitting in the Senate for over 8 months now.
Another thing omitted by the networks is the fact that the president does not need legislation in order to begin to fix the crisis along the border. At a bare minimum, he can just reverse the swath of executive orders he signed upon taking office. To mention this is verboten, of course, because it clearly places the blame for the border disaster squarely on the feet of Joe Biden. To admit he already has the authorities to fix the border is to admit he broke the border on those same authorities.
Here’s the AEI’s own Matthew Continetti, making the case for existing authorities on Fox News’ Special Report with Brett Baier. Remember Obama’s “pen and phone” schtick?
.@continetti: "Progressive presidents always say they have a pen and a phone to impose liberal policies. Why doesn't Biden find the pen and the phone to correct the problem at the southern border?" pic.twitter.com/ctH3jiJ5eh
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) January 30, 2024
As the border crisis gets worse, so, too will the media’s overwhelming instinct to firefight for the Biden administration.
To view ABC’s transcript click HERE
To view CBS’s transcript click HERE
To view NBC’s transcript click HERE
