The Legacy Media took turns taking potshots at the One Big, Beautiful Bill in their network evening newscasts. This is in stark contrast to how large Biden-era legislation was covered and serves to remind us that if it weren’t for double standards, there’d be none at all.
The most egregious of these is the most Biden-sycophantic network of all, ABC, with framing that might as well have come out of a Democrat comms shop:
DAVID MUIR: Now, to Capitol Hill tonight. Senate Republicans trying to push through President Trump's massive tax cut benefiting wealthy Americans, and the president's cuts affecting health coverage for more than 11 million Americans. Food stamps and college aid affected, as well. Tonight, some critics in his own party defying the president, refusing to support it. One senator saying he won't run again. And Elon Musk again warning against this bill now, now threatening Republicans who vote for it. Mary Bruce at The White House tonight.
MARY BRUCE: Tonight, Senate Republicans scrambling to push through the massive tax cuts and spending bill at the heart of President Trump's agenda.
JOHN THUNE: Let's vote. This is good for America. This is good for the American people. It's good for working families.
BRUCE: The bill includes roughly $4 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy, along with new funding for immigration enforcement. And fulfills some campaign pledges, like no taxes on tips and overtime. It also guts Biden-era clean energy initiatives and slashes Medicaid- something Trump promised he would not do.
That is some hellacious framing. Twice within 42 seconds you hear anchor David Muir and Chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce say, with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, “tax cuts for the wealthy.” Never mind that the bill actually extends the Trump tax cuts of 2017. The report focused on taxes, Medicaid, and Sen. Thom Tillis’ 2026 retirement announcement.
Over at CBS, the focus was instead on a single family who may or may not suffer as a result of potential budget cuts to Medicaid. And look, it turns out that the family is from North Carolina, just like the departing Thom Tillis. What are the odds?
Of the three, NBC provided the cleanest report: the focus instead was on Elon Musk and the opposition he is bringing to bear, with interviews of GOP senators. To NBC’s credit, there were little to no hysterics regarding the effects of a budget notification that hasn’t happened yet.
Contrast this with how the legacies covered passage of Joe Biden’s massive “American Rescue Act.”
Each of the big three broadcast networks kicked off their Wednesday evening newscasts by trumpeting the Democratic-controlled House for passing the COVID relief bill, in spite of Republican opposition to the wasteful pork spending. But instead of admitting to viewers the fact that the bill contained billions for non-relief and non-recovery efforts, ABC’s World News Tonight and the CBS Evening News chose to lash out at congressional Republicans by suggesting relief provisions were “infuriating” them.
You hear no such a mention of Democrats “infuriated” over the extension of the 2017 tax cuts, which greatly benefitted the middle class. Instead, David Muir and Mary Bruce co-opted their talking points and huffed about tax cuts for the wealthy. Contrast today’s faux concern over the budget with the gleeful abandon of such pieties in service of the Biden Regime.
Speaking of debt and deficits, coverage of the deceptively-named “Inflation Reduction Act” was no better. As was noted at the time:
…the three evening broadcast network news shows on Monday gushed over the passage of the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” which they labeled as “blockbuster” and “historic.”
There was lots of gushing and swooning, with ABC cheering passage of the IRA as the win the Democrats needed ahead of the midterm.
Contrast all of that with the seething you see today, and you quickly come to realize there is no real reason for such wildly divergent coverage except that it’s (D)ifferent.
Click “expand” to view transcripts of the aforementioned reports as aired on their respective networks on Monday, June 30th, 2025:
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT
6/30/25
6:37 PM
DAVID MUIR: Now, to Capitol Hill tonight. Senate Republicans trying to push through President Trump's massive tax cut benefiting wealthy Americans, and the president's cuts affecting health coverage for more than 11 million Americans. Food stamps and college aid affected, as well. Tonight, some critics in his own party defying the president, refusing to support it. One senator saying he won't run again. And Elon Musk again warning against this bill now, now threatening Republicans who vote for it. Mary Bruce at The White House tonight.
MARY BRUCE: Tonight, Senate Republicans scrambling to push through the massive tax cuts and spending bill at the heart of President Trump's agenda.
JOHN THUNE: Let's vote. This is good for America. This is good for the American people. It's good for working families.
BRUCE: The bill includes roughly $4 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy, along with new funding for immigration enforcement. And fulfills some campaign pledges, like no taxes on tips and overtime. It also guts Biden-era clean energy initiatives and slashes Medicaid- something Trump promised he would not do. A new estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicts some 11.8 million Americans would lose their health coverage over the next decade.
RON WYDEN: It's the biggest Medicaid cut in history, and represents the largest transfer of wealth in history. It is caviar over kids, hedge funds over health care.
BRUCE: Trump insists the Medicaid cuts only target waste, fraud, and abuse, but a member of his own party, Republican senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, says the president doesn't understand his own bill.
THOM TILLIS: So, what do I tell 663,000 people in two years or three years, when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding's not there anymore, guys? (UNINT) ...advising the president are not telling him that the effect of this bill is to break a promise.
BRUCE: Trump furious with Tillis, threatening to primary him. But Tillis refusing to cave. Instead, announcing he won't run for re-election. Saying “leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species.” Other Republicans alarmed by the bill's price tag, which by one estimate would add at least $3.3 trillion to the debt over the next ten years. Tonight, at the 11th hour, Elon Musk swooping in again. Declaring every congressmember who votes yes should “hang their head in shame”, threatening “they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.” And Republicans in the Senate want to vote on this bill tonight. Reminder, they can only afford to lose three Republicans and still pass this and right now, more than that remain undecided. And even if this bill ultimately passes the Senate, it then goes back to the House, where Speaker Johnson has that razor thin majority, and already some Republicans are opposing the changes made in the Senate, David.
MUIR: Mary Bruce, tracking this into the night at The White House there. Mary, thank you.
CBS EVENING NEWS
6/30/25
6:38 PM
JOHN DICKERSON: The U.S. Senate spent the day negotiating the Republican Party's domestic policy bill, which will affect nearly every part of American life. The centerpiece would extend the tax cuts passed in 2017 and as you see here, those tax cuts represent most of the price tag. To help pay for those cuts and spending on immigration and defense, the bill would make deep reductions in federal programs. The largest one? Medicaid- the joint federal-state program that provides health insurance for 70 million low-income Americans. The proposed Medicaid cuts fall into two main categories. Eligible recipients who have no children or children over 14 would be required to either work, volunteer, or study 80 hours a month to get benefits. And the second part, the biggest savings, would come from cutting a portion of federal money the states get to pay for Medicaid. Republicans claim states have been getting more money than they need to cover patients but, as Skyler Henry reports, as cuts go through, states will have to do more with less, trimming or limited in programs they rely on.
SKYLER HENRY: Each hop is no small feat for a 6-year-old Kennedy Beaver. Her mom Marilyn says she has been in therapy sessions like this at least two times a week. Kennedy was diagnosed with Noonan Syndrome, it’s a genetic condition that stunts development.
MARILYN BEAVER: For her- short stature, poor growth, low muscle tone. With that, we became eligible for something called the Cap/C waiver through Medicaid.
HENRY: North Carolina's Cap/C program pays for most of the treatments and medications for children through age 20 who have significant medical needs. If they didn't have Cap/C, the Beavers say they would be paying more than $4,000 a month even with help from their private insurance.
BEAVER: This is our medication that without the Medicaid coverage it would be $3200 a month because our primary insurance has denied us.
HENRY: With Republicans in Congress proposing major cuts to Medicaid funding in the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, states like North Carolina could see more than 600,000 people lose their coverage.
JAY LUDLUM: The cuts being proposed at the federal level at some point affect the entire program.
HENRY: Jay Ludlum is with North Carolina's Medicaid, overseeing more than 3 million people that receive benefits. State officials told us if federal funding falls short, the Cap/C program could be on the chopping block.
LUDLUM: When you take $700 billion out of Medicaid nationally, there's no way to really do that without people losing coverage.
HENRY: If you had an opportunity to speak with the lawmakers, what would you tell them?
BEAVER: So if you want to fix it let's fix it, but it's not in cutting services- it's in fixing a health care system so that everybody in the country can get a level of care that meets their needs.
HENRY: The Beavers fear that if the proposals on Capitol Hill were to become law, then they may have to go back to rationing Kennedy’s treatments altogether.
DICKERSON: Skyler Henry. Thank you.
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
6/30/25
6:40 PM
TOM LLAMAS: Now to the battle over President Trump's so-called Big Beautiful Bill. Elon Musk once again slamming it. Ryan Nobles is tracking all the developments for us from The Hill and Ryan, Democrats are also pulling out all the stops tonight to try and delay it.
RYAN NOBLES: That’s right, Tom. Democrats are offering up a series of amendments to try to slow this process down. But ultimately, it will be up to Republicans to try to come up with the votes to move this bill closer to President Trump’s desk.
Tonight, Senate Republicans dashing to deliver President Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill to his desk by July 4th.
JOHN HUSTED: This is the most momentous legislation of my lifetime. This is going to be the largest tax cut for Americans in our history.
NOBLES: But Democrats looking to delay it with a so-called vote-a-rama on amendments likely to be voted down.
NOBLES: How do you feel about the process so far?
JOHN FETTERMAN: Well, there's going to be a lot of amendments and ultimately I'm going to vote no.
NOBLES: And now, new criticism from a familiar foe. Elon Musk, who previously apologized for unleashing personal insults against President Trump, tonight slamming the “Porky Pig” party for insane spending. And threatening anyone will lose their primary next year if they support it. The White House says Musk is opposing the bill because it takes away electric vehicle tax credits that help his company Tesla.
DONALD TRUMP: I haven’t spoken to him much but I think Elon is a wonderful guy and (VIDEO SWIPE) the electric vehicle mandate- EV mandate is a tough thing for him.
NOBLES: The bill delivers on many of President Trump's campaign promises, including extending the Trump tax cuts and giving billions of dollars for border security, as well as eliminating the tax on tips and overtime. But it also makes changes to Medicaid, including imposing work requirements to get benefits. North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis opposing it.
THOM THILLIS: So, what do I tell 663,000 people in two years or three years, when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid…
NOBLES: President Trump said he would support a primary challenge for Tillis, who then abruptly announced he would not run for re-election. The president called that great news. Do you think there's going to be a lot of changes to the bill over the course of this vote-a-rama?
HUSTED: I don't. I think that there are some improvements and some clarifications that will need to be made. (VIDEO SWIPE) It's the best product that you can produce with the votes you can get.
NOBLES: Most Republicans believe that once Trump makes it clear he wants it done, the votes will come fast.
Is President Trump able to close the deal?
JOHN HOEVEN: Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, he’s the closer.
LLAMAS: OK, let's pick up right there, Ryan. Could this last-minute criticism from Elon Musk you mentioned there in the report derail this bill?
NOBLES: Tom, it's unlikely that it will sway any votes in the Senate. But this identical bill needs to pass the House, and there are a number of skeptical Republicans where Elon Musk could have an impact. Ultimately, though, GOP leaders believe that this bill will ultimately pass. Tom.
LLAMAS: Ryan Nobles with that relentless back and forth. Ryan, we thank you.
