On Friday, former White House press spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre is set to testify on Capitol Hill as the House Oversight Committee is in the “final stages” of its investigation into the mental decline of former President Joe Biden, which has called into question who was actually in charge in the Oval Office.
But if recent history is any guide, don’t expect Jean-Pierre’s appearance to garner much, if ANY broadcast network coverage.
MRC analysts looked at ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS evening, morning and Sunday roundtable news shows from June 18 (when the closed hearings began) to the morning of September 10 and found a total of 4 minutes, 2 seconds spent on the scandal.
NBC aired 3 minutes, 29 seconds on the hearings into Biden’s mental decline. PBS devoted just a scant 33 seconds to the hearings. ABC and CBS have yet to air a single second on them.
Jean-Pierre’s testimony comes on the heels of a September 6 blockbuster story by Axios reporting there were concerns even within the Biden administration about who was in charge of his autopen.
On September 8, Fox News relayed the concerns of President Donald Trump and House Oversight Chair James Comer:
“New records reveal President Biden’s own administration raised concerns about autopen use to grant thousands of pardons. This is a historic scandal with massive repercussions,” Comer told Fox News Digital in response to the Axios report. “As President Biden declined, his aides carried out executive actions without his approval, casting doubt on the legitimacy of thousands of pardons and other executive actions.” Comer added, “The House Oversight Committee is in the final stages of its investigation. There must be accountability for this scandal.”
President Donald Trump weighed in on Truth Social: “THE BIDEN AUTOPEN SCANDAL IS BIG, NOT AS BIG AS THE RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA HOAX, OR THE RIGGED 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, BUT, NEVERTHELESS, ONE OF THE BIGGEST, EVER!!!”
This “big scandal” remains too hot to touch for the broadcast networks. They are so beholden to the Democratic agenda that they have a hard time reporting on an issue involving even a former president.
On July 9, Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, pleaded the Fifth. This generated some coverage on NBC and PBS, but none on ABC and CBS.
Since then, several former Biden administration figures have been called to testify, which other news outlets have proven possible to cover. FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier, for instance, produced stories on the days testimony that came from several prominent former Biden White House advisers: Ron Klain (July 24), Steve Ricchetti (July 30) Mike Donilon (July 31), Bruce Reed (August 5) and Anita Dunn (August 7).
However, not one has generated any coverage on ABC, CBS, NBC, or PBS.
So don’t expect Jean-Pierre’s Friday appearance to end the current trend.
