At roughly nine o’clock Eastern Time Fox News Channel’s Ed Henry broke in with breaking news from the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. At the forum, CIA Director Mike Pompeo took to the stage slammed The New York Times for putting the life of an officer at risk. “We had a publication, you work for Bret, that published the name of an undercover officer at the Central Intelligence Agency. I find that unconscionable,” he angrily declared to the applause of the audience.
Early Tuesday morning, the Trump administration issued new sanctions against well over a dozen Iranian citizens and organizations in retaliation for the county’s recent destabilizing and hostile actions in the region. CBS Evening News was the only network news outlet to report the new sanctions to their viewers. But in addition, they struck a skeptical tone on the administration’s claims against Iran as White House and Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent Margaret Brennan sat down to chat with Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Javad Zarif.
The Trump administration took swift action against two high ranking officials at the Manchester VA Medical Center in New Hampshire on Sunday. The firings came one day after The Boston Globe published a scathing expose on the atrocious conditions present at the VA hospital. But despite the horrendous conditions and the Trump administration’s decisive action, the Big Three Networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) ignored everything.
For a media wallowing in the toxic political culture, one would think Friday’s bill signing of a massive overhaul at the scandal-ridden Department of Veterans Affairs (V.A.) would provide a chance to show that Washington has accomplished something. Alas, it was not to be as ABC and NBC refused to directly cover this bipartisan achievement for the Trump administration.
High in the sky over the Baltic Sea on Tuesday, a United States Air Force spy plane was subjected to extremely dangerous maneuvers by a Russian fighter pilot. According to reports, at one point the Russian jet was roughly five feet away from the wing tip of the U.S. plane. The provocative encounter was reported by both ABC and NBC during their evening news broadcasts later that evening. But on CBS Evening News, not a word was spoken about the incident.
After President Obama commuted the 35-year-sentence of Bradley Manning, (who now identifies as “Chelsea Manning,”) this past January, the now freed, disgraced former army private has plenty of time to speak with the media and give “her” side of the story. Nightline anchor JuJu Chang previewed her full interview with Manning on this morning’s Good Morning America, which portrayed Manning as a “complex” and “heroic” figure instead of a traitor.
MSNBC’s faulty political historian, Katy Tur filled in for Chuck Todd during MTP Daily on Monday, where she dedicated a significant portion of the show railing against President Trump and claiming he was untrustworthy. “I'm in the chair for @MeetThePress Daily. Tonight we're focusing on trust. Do Americans have it for Trump? Does Trump have it for his NSC,” she announced in a tweet before the show.
In the wake of the London Bridge terrorist attack, President Trump sent off some questionable political tweets where he called for a travel ban and criticized the mayor of London. The tweets were very much a part of the media coverage on Sunday, and it came with heavy condemnation. But during the 12 p.m. hour on MSNBC, anchor Thomas Roberts actually suggested Trump’s tweets were designed to trigger a terrorist to attack civilians in the United States. And he did it, not once but twice.
Late Saturday night, London fell victim to yet another terrorist attack using a motor vehicle to mow down pedestrians. As details were first coming out, Drudge Report put out a tweet which read: “Fear of new terror attack after van ‘mows down 20 people’ on London Bride…” Soon after, President Trump retweeted the message. The retweeting didn’t sit well with NBC Nightly News, who noted on their own account that “Pres. Trump has used Twitter to share news report on London incident. We aren’t relaying president’s retweet, as the info in unconfirmed.”
The season 3 premiere episodes of NBC’s comedy The Carmichael Show, “Yes Means Yes,” and “Support our Troops,” aired Wednesday night and presented a refreshing change from the liberal agenda driven TV shows we’re used to. The show managed to discuss numerous issues, including rape, Iraq, the troops, and slavery, in a comical yet meaningful way. First things first, both episodes have to attack President Trump, apparently obligatory for entertainment TV nowadays. Although the show has been pretty even handed in the past, the premier episodes took multiple shots at the President.
Memorial Day media coverage didn't seem to have many lowlights this year. One glaring exception: Vox.com's decision to publish Alex Ward's hit piece going after the U.S. Marine Corps and its alleged culture of "toxic masculinity" on the one day set aside every year to honor all military men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice.