ABC and NYT Reporters Push Misinformation About Texas Shooting

November 7th, 2017 10:01 PM

Since Sunday's deadly mass shooting in Sutherland, Texas, the liberal media had been desperate to get the ball rolling on increased and ineffective gun control measures. They’ve become so frantic that they have taken to lying about the current federal gun laws on the books and what actually happened during the shooting. On Tuesday, ABC wanted “extreme vetting” for prospective gun buyers and New York Times reporter Yamiche Alcindor asserted that the shooter was not stopped by an armed citizen.

During ABC’s World News Tonight, sensationalist Anchor David Muir and Chief White House Correspondent Jon Karl were up in arms that President Trump wasn’t willing to use “extreme vetting” on people looking to buy a gun like he wanted for immigration.

Last week, after the deadly truck attack here in New York City, the President within hours calling for extreme vetting. He was asked today if extreme vetting on guns would have caught this guy,” announced Muir as he led into Karl’s report.

Traveling in Asia, the President was asked whether, in light of the Texas massacre, he would favor the kind of extreme vetting he wants for immigration for those who want to buy guns. The answer? A definitive no,” Karl lamented. The ridiculous question was posed to the President by NBC reporter Ali Vitali. But their hyperventilation about “extreme vetting” failed to take into account what actually happened regarding the vetting process the shooter went through.

After the shooting, it was reported that the shooter managed to buy his guns despite the fact he had what was effectively a felony in his past. The normal background check process through the Criminal Background Check System would have flagged the shooter, but the Air Force failed to notify the FBI to add his name to the database. And according to a CBS Evening News report from Tuesday, it’s a rampant problem in all branches of the armed forces.

When ABC’s report cut back to a live feed of Karl, Muir continued his fact-free declarations: “And Jon, when it comes to this suspect, despite that domestic violence conviction, that escaped from a mental facility, the President insisting that extreme vetting would not have worked?” And without missing a beat, Karl claimed “Yeah, David. You heard him say it.

Again, their skepticism did not take into account the facts of what happened. If he was properly added to the Criminal Background Check System, he would not have been able to buy any of his guns.

As for Alcindor, she appeared just over a hour earlier on MSNBC’s MTP Daily and tried to write history, stating the shooter’s rampage was not cut short because another citizen began shooting him. According to her twisted reality:

When I was watching President Trump today and he was making his argument that he was essentially stopped by someone with a gun, I kept thinking: “But he killed himself.” The shooter was not stopped -- there was not a big gunfight that this person came out. And I think there also needs to be a fact check about how this got stopped in the first place.

It’s not just Trump’s opinion. It had been reported that Stephen Willeford was the man who heard the shots, got his rifle, and rushed to the church. “Stephen Willeford is being hailed a hero for chasing down the man accused of opening fire at a Sutherland Springs, Texas, church, killing 26,” wrote ABC News. Perhaps she didn’t want the truth to be out there because Willeford was an instructor for the National Rifle Association, and that goes against the liberal narrative that they’re a terrorist organization.

Their blatant disregard for the truth with the goal of forwarding gun control was disgusting and a driver of why the media’s credibility with the public was in the toilet.

ABC's misinformation campaign was sponsored by Lyrica, Alka-Seltzer, and Metlife.

Transcripts below:

ABC
World News Tonight
November 7, 2017
6:37:07 PM Eastern

DAVID MUIR: President Trump, meanwhile, in South Korea, overseas, faced now with the worst mass shooting at a church here at home ever. Last week, after the deadly truck attack here in New York City, the President within hours calling for extreme vetting. He was asked today if extreme vetting on guns would have caught this guy. Here's ABC's Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl, traveling with the President.

[Cuts to video]

JON KARL: Traveling in Asia, the President was asked whether, in light of the Texas massacre, he would favor the kind of extreme vetting he wants for immigration for those who want to buy guns. The answer? A definitive no.

DONALD TRUMP: If you did what you're suggesting, there would have been no difference three days ago. And you might not have had that brave person who happened to have a gun or a rifle in his truck go out and shoot him and hit him and neutralize him.

KARL: The President insisted background checks could have made the church shooting worse.

(…)

[Cuts back to live]

MUIR: Jonathan Karl with us tonight from Seoul. And Jon, the President in Asia, of course, dealing with North Korea there, but also the mass shooting here at home. And Jon, when it comes to this suspect, despite that domestic violence conviction, that escaped from a mental facility, the President insisting that extreme vetting would not have worked?

KARL: Yeah, David. You heard him say it. But the bottom line is, there are bipartisan calls in Congress to strengthen the background check system, including John Cornyn, a prominent Republican in the Senate, saying he wants a new law strengthening the current background check system. David?

MUIR: Jonathan Karl reporting on the President's trip to Asia. Jon, our thanks to you.

...

MSNBC
MTP Daily
November 7, 2017
5:43:38 PM Eastern

(…)

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: When I was watching President Trump today and he was making his argument that he was essentially stopped by someone with a gun, I kept thinking: “But he killed himself.” The shooter was not stopped -- there was not a big gunfight that this person came out. And I think there also needs to be a fact check about how this got stopped in the first place.

CHUCK TODD: The narrative as you saw with Mike Huckabee and the President is a little bit off the rails.

(…)