Media Research Center Founder and President Brent Bozell made his latest Fox News Channel appearance early Wednesday/late Tuesday on Fox News @ Night and slammed the liberal broadcast networks ABC, CBS, and NBC for refusing “to pin any blame on the donkey when it comes to” inflation “under Joe Biden,” adding this pro-Biden bias has been the case “since the moment he arrived on the scene in his basement.”
After a series of clips from CNN and MSNBC touting Tuesday’s inflation report, host Trace Gallagher noted the “Consumer Price Index showed a 6.4 percent year-over-year increase for January confirming what many of us already knew: inflation, still causing real financial pain for Americans.”
Gallagher then brought up our study, which he said found “networks are shielding President Biden from blame for high inflation” over the time period of “May of 2022, to January of 2023, some of the worst months for inflation.”
Before breaking down the numbers, Bozell stated that our study confirmed what many Americans have known, which is “our news media...simply do not want to pin any blame on the donkey when it comes to looking at, at the economy, the economic numbers under Joe Biden.”
“In the last nine months, there have been 542 minutes devoted to the number one issue that Americans believe in today, which is inflation. That 542 minutes is, on average, one hour a month by the three networks combined,” he explained, adding that in 84 percent of those 542 minutes, “they’ve made no reference whatsoever to Joe Biden, or the Biden administration policies.”
Bozell added a third data point to the equation: “The remaining minutes in the 16 percent, over half of it actually praised Joe Biden for his — for his efforts to end inflation.”
Put it all together, Bozell explained, and that left “only 16 minutes and 15 seconds devoted to any criticism of Joe Biden or his administration for the policies that are brought on this raging inflation.”
Gallagher closed the segment by asking whether there’s any “excuses” or “reasoning for this,” but Bozell pointed out it’s quite clear: “No. They’re beyond shameless, Trace. They’re beyond shameless. This is happening on issue after issue after issue. They give this man a pass on everything and they’ve done it since the moment he arrived on the scene in his basement.”
To see the relevant FNC transcript from February 15, click “expand.”
FNC’s Fox News @ Night with Trace Gallagher
February 15, 2023
12:24 a.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Inflation Obfuscation; MRC: Media Shields Biden from Blame for High Inflation]
CHRISTINE ROMANS [on CNN This Morning, 02/14/23]: These numbers show, I think, the Fed still has work to do to slow the economy, to get inflation under control, going in the right direction.
DON LEMON [on CNN This Morning, 02/14/23]: I like that you see you’re cautiously optimistic. Because remember, we had this whole discussion about talking ourselves into a recession.
ROMANS [on CNN This Morning, 02/14/23]: Exactly.
LEMON [on CNN This Morning, 02/14/23]: We don’t want to do that.
JOE SCARBOROUGH [on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, 02/14/23]: This is just an economy that can’t be tamped down. It is a hot economy.
GALLAGHER: The new release of a key economic indicator, the Consumer Price Index showed a 6.4 percent year-over-year increase for January confirming what many of us already knew: inflation, still causing real financial pain for Americans. But now, a leading conservative media watchdog is out with a new study that shows networks are shielding President Biden from blame for high inflation. And for the record, this study looked at news coverage from May of 2022, to January of 2023, some of the worst months for inflation. Let’s bring in Media Research Center President Brent Bozell. Brent, great to have you on here. By and large, Americans say the economy is really awful, but a lot of time President Biden seems to get a pass on inflation, and now, we of course know why. What did you find, Brent?
BRENT BOZELL: Well, here, here are the numbers, and they’re going to tell the story about our news media that simply do not want to pin any blame on the donkey when it comes to looking at, at the economy, the economic numbers under Joe Biden. In the last nine months, there have been 542 minutes devoted to the number one issue that Americans believe in today, which is inflation. That 542 minutes is, on average, one hour a month by the three networks combined. But it gets even better, just as — just in that paltry coverage of — of one hour a month by the networks, 84 percent of the time that they have spent on inflation, they’ve made no reference whatsoever to Joe Biden, or the Biden administration policies. It gets even better than that. The remaining minutes in the 16 percent, over half of it actually praised Joe Biden for his — for his efforts to end inflation. Bottom line, Trace, nine months of coverage of Joe Biden’s policies and inflation put in three networks, only 16 minutes and 15 seconds devoted to any criticism of Joe Biden or his administration for the policies that are brought on this raging inflation.
GALLAGHER: Yeah, and I’m a little low on time, Brent but — but did they give any excuses? Do you call these media outlets on it? And did they give you any kind of reasoning for this?
BOZELL: No. They’re beyond shameless, Trace. They’re beyond shameless. This is happening on issue after issue after issue. They give this man a pass on everything and they’ve done it since the moment he arrived on the scene in his basement.
GALLAGHER: Yeah. Brent Bozell, great to see you as always. Thank you. Great information.
BOZELL: Thank you, Trace.
