Thursday all three networks reported on President Trump telling reporters Wednesday that the whistleblower is not only a registered Democrat, but actually worked for one of his 2020 rivals. Trump was referencing a report that came out Tuesday and that ABC and CBS had effectively ignored until they were forced to address it on Thursday’s morning shows. While they all touted the whistleblower’s lawyers denials, CBS was the only network to concede that their own reporting corroborated the President's claims. ABC, on the other hand, flatly denied this information, claiming this was just a “smear campaign” from Trump.
On ABC’s Good Morning America, anchor George Stephanopoulos and co-anchor/White House correspondent Cecilia Vega were eager to ensure their viewers that this new report was false, despite even their liberal peers corroborating the story. Clinton-lackey Stephanopoulos opened by touting a new Fox News poll which allegedly shows a slight majority supporting impeachment: “ [B]ack home in the wake of President Trump's extraordinary refusal to cooperate in any way with the impeachment investigation, a new poll from Fox News shows 51% of Americans support removing Trump from office.”
Vega began her report complaining about the “relentless attacks” from President Trump against the whistleblower, before immediately touting his lawyer’s denials:
This morning, lawyers for the whistle-blower say the anonymous government employee has spent an entire career working nonpartisan jobs in the executive branch and they say, quote, our client has never worked for or advised a political candidate, campaign or party. The whistle-blower only coming into contact with presidential candidates in their roles as elected officials, candidates from both parties.
Acting as if she’s part of the whistleblower’s defense team, Vega adamantly denied any truth to this report:
“The forceful defense comes after President Trump launched a smear campaign claiming the whistleblower worked for one of his democratic rivals,” she said, playing a video of Trump telling reporters, the whistleblower worked for one of his 2020 rivals.
Vega continued the shameless, biased reporting by continuing to air the lawyer’s grievances against Trump with absolutely no push back, even declaring, “To date virtually every substantive allegation has been confirmed by other sources, for that reason the identity of the whistleblower is irrelevant.”
NBC’s Today report was much shorter and less hacky, but still obfuscated on this report’s accuracy.
Co-anchor Peter Alexander only spent a few seconds on this development, saying President Trump was once again, “lashing out again at the whistle-blower.” After playing the video clip of Trump speaking to reporters yesterday, Alexander immediately touted, “But lawyers for the whistle-blower dispute that, tweeting. ‘Our client has never worked for, or advised a political candidate, campaign or party,'" before quickly moving on.
CBS on the other hand actual did their own investigating to determine if this allegation was true.
Correspondent Weijia Jiang admitted briefly that it was accurate:
Well, right now we are talking about this memo because President Trump continues to call it a scam, pointing to the whistle-blower being a registered Democrat. CBS News has learned that the person was a -- has a prior working relationship with a current Democratic presidential contender. But lawyers say their client has never worked for or advised a political party or a campaign, and say the real issue here is the president's conduct and not the whistle-blower's resume.
Help fight back against the media's impeachment crusade.
To see relevant portions of this morning’s reports, click ‘expand’ below:
ABC’s Good Morning America
10/10/2019
7:12:22-7:14:05 am EST
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: That's the view from Ukraine and back home in the wake of President Trump's extraordinary refusal to cooperate in any way with the impeachment investigation, a new poll from Fox News shows 51% of Americans support removing Trump from office.”Former vice prident Joe Biden has now come out in support of conviction for the first time and the President and his allies are firing back at Biden and the whistle-blower Cecilia Vega tracking it all from White House. Good morning, Cecilia.
VEGA: George, good morning to you. The President firing back and this morning so is that whistle-blower as you said in the face of those relentless attacks from President Trump and his allies. The whtlblower's lawyers until now had been reluctant to reveal any information about their client identity. Not anymore.
This morning, lawyers for the whistle-blower say the anonymous government employee has spent an entire career working nonpartisan jobs in the executive branch and they say, quote, ‘our client has never worked for or advised a political candidate, campaign or party.’ The whistle-blower only coming into contact with presidential candidates in their roles as elected officials, candidates from both parties.
VEGA: The forceful defense comes after President Trump launched a smear campaign claiming the whistleblower worked for one of his democratic rivals.
TRUMP: It turns out the whistle-blower is democrat, strong Democrat and is working with one of my opponents as a Democrat that I might end up running against. The whole thing is a scam.
VEGA: The whistle-blower's lawyer saying the whistle-blower is not the story. To date virtually every substantive allegation has been confirmed by other sources. For that reason the identity of the whistle-blower is irrelevant. One of those rivals, former Vice President Joe Biden, for the first time said the President should be impeached….
NBC’s Today
10/10/2019
7:10:13-7:10:39 AM EST
PETER ALEXANDER: The president also lashing out again at the whistle-blower.
TRUMP: Turns out the whistle-blower is a Democrat, a strong Democrat, and is working with one of my opponents as a Democrat that I might end up running against. The whole thing is a scam. It's a fix.
ALEXANDER: But lawyers for the whistle-blower dispute that, tweeting. ‘Our client has never worked for, or advised a political candidate, campaign or party.’
CBS This Morning
10/10/2019
7:09:14-7:10:11 AM EST
ANTHONY MASON: CBS news has obtained the full contents of the whistle-blower memo at the center of the house impeachment inquiry. And a Fox News poll released yesterday shows 51% of registered voters believe President Trump should be impeached and removed from office. That's an increase of 9% in the past three months. Weijia Jiang is at the White House. Weijia what more do we know about the whistle-blower?
WEIJIA JIANG: Well, right now we are talking about this memo because President Trump continues to call it a scam, pointing to the whistle-blower being a registered Democrat. CBS News has learned that the person was a -- has a prior working relationship with a current Democratic presidential contender. But lawyers say their client has never worked for or advised a political party or a campaign, and say the real issue here is the president's conduct and not the whistle-blower's resume...
