Anthony Mason
At 3:00 a.m. CT on Tuesday, someone opened fire at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in San Antonio Texas. Despite both FBI and ICE officials describing the attack as “targeted” and fueled by “political rhetoric,” on Wednesday, over 24 hours after the shooting, NBC and ABC have yet to report the story while CBS This Morning only provided seconds of air time.
On Tuesday, CBS This Morning was in awe of radical climate change activist Greta Thunberg, hailing the 16-year-old from Sweden as “the voice of the planet” and touting her plan to sail across the Atlantic to attend a United Nations climate summit in New York. The report particularly applauded Thunberg for scolding the United States and President Trump for not doing enough to stop global warming.
On Monday, CBS This Morning brought on left-wing American University professor Ibram Kendi to lecture viewers on the “metastatic racism” plaguing the nation, particularly in the wake of the mass shooting in El Paso. During the discussion, co-host Gayle King observed that “most people think black people can’t be racist.”
CBS This Morning on Tuesday scored an exclusive interview with the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. So, of course, co-host Anthony Mason used the opportunity to push Kevin McAleenan on Donald Trump’s culpability for this weekend’s mass killings. Mason demanded, “Some of the Hispanic members of the community in El Paso have suggested that the President's rhetoric has contributed to the situation.
After repeatedly offering a blase attitude about the idea of eliminating private health insurance and adopting a Medicare for all plan, CBS on Thursday actually managed some tough questions to Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Actually pushing the socialist on the desire for eliminating private health care, co-host Anthony Mason demanded, “A CBS News poll found that nearly two-thirds of Democrats think a national health care plan will work better if it competes with private insurance. Doesn't that suggest you're trying to sell something that Democratic voters do not want?”
A CNN headline on Monday explained, “Trump denies racist tweets were racist.” One could argue that CBS This Morning on Tuesday denied that Democratic Congresswoman’s Ilhan Omar’s anti-Semitic outbursts are anti-Semitic. The show’s hosts interviewed Ibram X. Kendi, who is the Anti-racist Research and Policy Center Director at American University. Discussing Donald Trump’s offensive tweets about four minority Congresswoman, Gayle King gently brought up Omar, a woman who slimed Israel as “evil”: “People have said she’s made some anti-Semitic and divisive things. Should she be criticized? Do you see the comparison between her remarks and what the President said as the same?” Kendi replied, “I do not.”
The journalists at CBS on Friday once again plotted strategy with a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. Talking to Senator Amy Klobuchar, co-host Anthony Mason worried that ObamaCare might be overturned. (Back in federal court again, it faced a skeptical reaction this week from judges.)
The journalists on CBS This Morning, Monday, reacted to far-left Tom Steyer’s possible presidential bid by wondering if it was an act of “charity” on his part. Also, co-host Anthony Mason blurted out that he “went to school” with the man now known for his drive to impeach Donald Trump. Co-host Tony Dokoupil oddly speculated, “He’s pledged half of his wealth to charity. I wonder if he counts this running for president thing as charity?” Mason revealed, “I went to school with him.” Co-host Gayle King marveled, “That’s incredible.”
With Planned Parenthood back in court trying to prevent the state of Missouri from revoking its abortion license, the crew of CBS This Morning went to bat for the abortion provider on Thursday, highlighting their defiance of a state regulation requiring a second pelvic exam 72 hours before an abortion and uncritically repeating President Leana Wen's talking points.
CBS This Morning journalists on Friday warned of a “scary time for a lot of people” as several states are “one closure away from having zero [abortion] clinics.” Reporter Anna Werner also hinted that states such as Georgia would regret their pro-life legislation: “But some states with so-called heartbeat bans are seeing the cost of passing those laws.”
Actor Bryan Cranston joined Friday’s CBS This Morning to promote his leading role as the Howard Beale in the legendary movie-turned-play Network and offered some astute, unbiased observations about the need to take in a variety of news sources, recognizing that news producers make judgment calls (often using their own biases) on “what’s news,” and the industry’s commercialization.
The networks have suddenly discovered Congressman Justin Amash. After mostly ignoring him for the last two years, NBC ABC and CBS hyped the Republican this weekend after the libertarian called for Donald Trump’s impeachment. On NBC’s Today, reporter Kristen Welker identified the Freedom Caucus as “far right.” She touted, “The President is under fire from a member of his own party, Michigan’s Republican Congressman Justin Amash, a member of the far-right Freedom Caucus and a frequent critic of the President.” How many Democratic caucuses get branded “far-left?”