NBC Joins Network-Wide Pile-on Hyping ‘Struggling’ Trump, GOP Ahead of Midterms

After having curiously sat out the pile-on this week by ABC and CBS on their top morning and evening shows against the Republicans and President Trump to paint a blue tsunami as inevitable, NBC finally arrived on Friday’s Today and followed the same script, down to a curious omission of anything about Democrat candidates, policy views, or polls.

The left was nowhere to be found, including in the tease from co-host Craig Melvin:

One month and counting. The race to midterms entering a home stretch. President Trump launching a major campaign trail blitz in the final weeks…but facing growing frustrations from voters on both sides of the aisle over the Iran war’s impact on prices. Where things stand with just 32 days to go.

Melvin later cued up far-left correspondent Yamiche Alcindor (formerly of The New York Times and PBS), reiterating that Trump was “hitting the campaign trail in the home stretch, determined to drive more Republican voters to the polls, but he’s facing some challenges from the economy to record-low approval ratings as well.”

Alcindor said Trump’s “month of intense midterm campaigning” will aim to “mobilize Republicans who might be less motivated to vote in the midterms because he is not on the ballot.”

On that, at least she didn’t go the way of ABC and CBS in acting as though a President going to deep red (or blue) states ahead of the midterms was a new phenomenon.

She said Trump’s stops in Oklahoma and Texas included the President “defending his handling of the economy” and “warning Republicans of the consequences of not voting.”

Then came the pivot to trouncing the GOP with wholly negative news. Alcindor went further with fear-mongering about Trump siccing the U.S. military on voters (click “expand”):

ALCINDOR: The GOP facing an uphill battle with the President’s approval rating record lows and gas and diesel prices continuing to spike amid the war in Iran. A new poll finding that only 17 percent of U.S. adults approve of the President’s handling of the cost of living.

TRUMP: Everyone thinks that the prices are high because of me, but they’re not.

ALCINDOR: Still, White House officials say the President is planning to hold 36 events in 30 days in 17 states. In a new interview, President Trump telling Time magazine, of the GOP’s chances: “I think we’ll do okay if I campaign.” The President also questioned about the possibility of the Insurrection Act around the midterms, saying: “I could use it.” It would let the President use the U.S. military to police American civilians. The President also blowing up at reporters, telling the outlet: “You have not asked me one blank positive question,” venting about his press coverage, saying: “It’s just bad story after bad story.

Alcindor closed by doubling down on Trump being a President “struggling” to muster better poll numbers, thus framing her claim that “White House officials insist deploying him the best way for Republicans to hold on to power” was a folly.

ABC’s morning show – the deranged, Trump-hating Good Morning America – surprisingly let the midterms go on Friday, instead opting for a sympathetic interview with the man accused in the now-dismissed Justice Department case about the tears in the Reflecting Pool.

CBS Mornings, though, was still on the beat.

Here was featured co-host Vladimir Duthiers:

President Trump goes back on the road today trying to shore up Republican support ahead of the midterm elections. In Texas and Oklahoma yesterday, he urged Americans to turn up and vote for the GOP, and here’s the thing, though: There are growing signs that many of them will not support the Republican Party because of anger over rising prices and ongoing war with Iran.

Senior White House and political correspondent Ed O’Keefe remained on the case for the second day in a row, saying Trump “campaign[ed] in two usually red states” and “touted his record even as a new poll shows Americans are deeply frustrated with his handling of the economy and rising gas prices.”

At stops in the Lone Star State and Sooner State, O’Keefe said Trump “argu[ed]Democrats should be blamed for high prices,” but quickly discounted that, citing “a new poll find[ing] just 26 percent of Americans approve of the President’s handling of the economy.”

O’Keefe doubled down on his “struggling” label from Thursday, continuing to say nothing about the state of any Democrat or the party writ large (click “expand”):

O’KEEFE: Those weak economic poll numbers and flagging [sic] Republican enthusiasm has the President traveling to red areas in Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Ohio, and Nebraska. [TO TRUMP] Why does Republican states if you’re so confident your party’s going to do all right?

TRUMP: Well, I won all of them by a lot, and I’m going there just to make sure.

O’KEEFE: He argues it’s a messaging problem. [TO TRUMP] Do you think everyone else in the Republican Party is doing enough?

TRUMP: Well, I think the press isn’t covering us fairly. [SCREEN WIPE] I give us an A+ on the government, on economics, on everything.

Before ending with a rundown of Trump’s schedule through Monday, O’Keefe took an implicit jab at that last comment from Trump by citing this from Vice President JD Vance to our friends at Real America’s Voice: “You have a few tone-deaf Republicans who say, shut up if you’re pissed off about a $22 burrito. Well, my response to those people is, no, listen to people who are upset with the state of the economy.”

To see the relevant transcripts from October 2, click here (for CBS) and here (for NBC).