Hoda Kotb
When it comes to the so-called mainstream media, it’s a case of Kanye West vs. Kanye West. The Networks on Thursday and Friday mocked the “bizarre,” “surreal” rapper for appearing at the White House with Donald Trump. But these outlets gushed over the “thoughtful” entertainer when he derided then-President George W. Bush as a racist.
During extensive pre-hearing coverage on Thursday’s Today show, co-host Hoda Kotb was already wondering if Senate Republicans would abandon Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh: “Is there a point in here where some Republicans just say, ‘You know what? This is a little too muddy. Why don’t we just go ahead and put Brett Kavanaugh over here and go with our next person in line’?”
On Thursday, NBC’s Today show invited on former CIA Director and anti-Trump activist John Brennan to react to an anonymous New York Times op/ed from a supposed administration official personally attacking the President. Predictably, the NBC News analyst praised the unknown author of the hit piece as a “courageous” individual trying to “prevent disasters.”
This morning, the big three networks downplayed President Trump’s influence on some big state primary elections happening tonight and instead hoped for a massive “blue wave” to sweep across the nation. ABC’s coverage was the most biased, with correspondent Jonathan Karl gushing that the competition in one state was a “major sign of trouble for Republicans” and a “sure sign” that Democrats had the upper hand.
On Monday, the liberal media breathed a collective sigh of relief over 85-year-old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s announcement over the weekend that she plans to stay on the high court for at least another five years. The coverage demonstrated how even the thought of Donald Trump naming the liberal justice’s replacement strikes terror into the hearts of reporters.
On Friday, the network morning shows devoted much of their coverage of President Trump’s visit to Britain on protesters “denouncing and mocking” him. Hosts and correspondents seemed to delight in the president receiving a “not-so-royal welcome” and being taunted by a giant balloon flying over the British capital “depicting Mr. Trump as an angry baby.”
On Thursday, all three network morning shows promoted the conspiracy theory that the arrest of porn star Stormy Daniels at an Ohio strip club for misdemeanor sex offences was a “politically motivated” “sting operation” designed to embarrass the adult film actress, who accused President Trump of having an affair with her in 2006. The NBC, ABC, and CBS broadcasts all touted such claims from Daniels’ media hound attorney Michael Avenatti.
On Wednesday, network morning show coverage of President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh dropped off significantly, with combined air time of less than two minutes. However, the ABC, NBC, and CBS broadcasts still managed to use that brief amount of reporting to tout Democrats “launching all-out war” against the federal judge.
Just one day after NBC News Political Analyst Steve Schmidt took to MSNBC to trash the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold President Trump’s travel ban as the “fulfillment of Osama Bin Laden’s vision” of America, the ex-Republican strategist had the audacity to show up on NBC’s Today show Wednesday to denounce the “politics of incitement.”
On the Thursday morning broadcasts, both ABC and NBC gave full reports on illegal immigrant children being separated from their families and detained at a holding center in Texas. Both networks gave sympathetic spin blaming the Trump administration's immigration policy for separating families, but NBC's take was so over-the-top that it compared the kids to animals locked up in cages and the detention center as worse than a prison.
On Tuesday, NBC’s Today show was the only network morning show to interview Colorado baker Jack Phillips, the Christian business owner at the center of Monday’s Supreme Court ruling in favor of his refusal to create a wedding cake for a gay couple, in violation of his religious convictions. While the broadcast deserves credit for giving Phillips and his attorney a platform to discuss the case, the hosts used the opportunity to interrogate their guests with slanted questions.
After news broke Thursday afternoon that the FBI Inspector General was recommending the Justice Department file criminal charges against the Bureau’s fired deputy director, Andrew McCabe, NBC Nightly News completely ignored the major development. On Friday, NBC’s Today show wasn’t much better, only managing nine seconds of coverage to the story, just a single sentence.