Networks Swoon Over President’s Fake Interview to Push ObamaCare
On Tuesday, all three network morning shows dutifully touted a fake interview President Obama conducted with comedian Zach Galifianakis designed to help the commander-in-chief hock ObamaCare to young people. On NBC’s Today, social media co-host Carson Daly gushed: "It’s over six minutes long…all of it is really, really funny….You know, the First Lady’s been everywhere showing her comedy chops and it’s been great. But boy, the President, he is amazing in this. So check that out this morning if you have time." Later in the show’s 9 a.m. ET hour, weatherman Al Roker praised Obama’s comedic genius: "It’s about the delivery and the President shows he’s got the comedy chops." Co-host Tamron Hall declared: "Yes, yes. Which he shows at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner every year." Co-host Willie Geist explained: "It was part of a – this concerted effort to promote the Affordable Care Act. Because they get into that and the President’s allowed to explain it."
Networks Continue Touting White House’s Plug for ObamaCare, Ignore Enrollment Shortfall
On Tuesday evening, the networks continued relaying the White House’s plea to young voters to sign up for ObamaCare, touting President Obama’s mock interview with comedian Zach Galifianakis where Obama plugged for his own health care law. ABC’s Diane Sawyer called it a "bold move" and both CBS and NBC hailed the interview as a success. CBS’s Scott Pelley said, "it worked. The video became the number one reason people visited HealthCare.gov today." The networks ignored, however, the bad news of the day for the law, that enrollment numbers for young people are still far below what is needed. FNC’s Bret Baier led Tuesday’s Special Report with the poor numbers ABC and NBC skipped.
Nets Uncritically Hype Dem ‘All-Nighter’ on Climate Change, Mocked Cruz’s ‘Long-Winded’ Protest
ABC, CBS and NBC on Tuesday morning uncritically hyped an extended effort by Senate Democrats as an "all-night marathon" to raise awareness on climate change. Yet, these same networks mocked a similar effort by Ted Cruz in fall of 2013 as a "bizarre," "long-winded protest." Today’s Natalie Morales explained, "The dusk to dawn talk-a-thon was expected to go about 15 hours." She noted that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called global warming action a "question of our own survival." It was only CBS This Morning co-anchor Norah O’Donnell who pointed out that there "are no plans to bring a climate bill to the Senate floor this year." If no legislation is planned, how does this warrant network coverage?
NBC Gushes Over ‘Sorority House’ of Democratic Congresswomen
In fawning puff piece aired on Tuesday’s NBC Today, correspondent Craig Melvin was delighted by three Democratic congresswoman – including left-wing bomb-thrower and DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz – sharing a Washington D.C. townhouse when Congress is in session: "For Florida’s Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Alabama’s Terri Sewell, and New York’s Carolyn Maloney, it’s all business during the day. They’re congresswomen. Oh, but by night….This is like a sorority house."Schultz declared: "It’s a sisterhood, for sure." Melvin observed that New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney "is less a house mother and more the landlord." Maloney explained: "Well, when I was first elected, I lived alone….I was used to a husband and two children and a cat and pandemonium, chaos at home. So I decided to buy a house and fill it up with friends, which is exactly what I did."
NBC Punts on Joe McGinniss’ Death; Hyped Palin-Bashing Book in 2011
CNN’s New Day on Tuesday devoted a 23-second news brief to the death of author Joe McGinniss on Monday, noting that "McGinniss made headlines again in 2010, when he moved next door to Sarah Palin’s Alaska home in order to research his book, ‘The Rogue.’ Palin threatened to sue him, but never did." However, Tuesday’s Today on NBC, which touted their interview of McGinnis in September 2011 by hyping his supposed "stunning allegations made about Sarah Palin in a bombshell book," omitted his passing. Anchor Savannah Guthrie gave the writer a platform during the segment to forward his unsubstantiated claims about the former Alaska governor.
