Changing of the Liberal Guard on NBC's Today

Wednesday was Meredith Vieira's final day as co-host of NBC's Today. Since joining the broadcast in September 2006, she has brought staunch liberal advocacy to the morning news program, following the model of her predecessor, Katie Couric. News reader Ann Curry will take over as Matt Lauer's co-host, maintaining the broadcast's left-leaning perspective.

The Media Research Center has compiled Profiles in Bias on both Curry and Vieira, highlighting some of their most biased moments on Today. From Curry praising left-wing journalist Helen Thomas as her "mentor," to Vieira urging "rock star" Barack Obama to run for president, the two NBC hosts read from the same slanted script.

Below are some samples of Curry climbing the liberal ladder on the morning show and Vieira consistently waking up of the left side of the bed during her tenure:

Curry 'Inspired' by Longtime Lib Helen Thomas

Curry, on the October 6, 2009 Today show, called longtime liberal White House correspondent Helen Thomas her "inspiration." As part of an ongoing series "Today's Mentors and Inspirations," she visited the former UPI reporter and current Hearst columnist in Washington and offered a bouquet of a profile to her hero as, over video of Thomas challenging former presidents Curry gushed:

        CURRY: Affectionately called the First Lady of the White House press corps, Helen Thomas has made 10 presidents sweat-

        HELEN THOMAS: Charged with perjury-

        CURRY: -stammer-

        GEORGE W. BUSH: That's where, that's where-

        CURRY: -and answer to the people. She first walked through those White House gates half a century ago.
 

Curry's Question of the Ages for Obama: Beatles or Rolling Stones?

On the April 1, 2008 Today show, Curry traveled with Obama on the campaign trail and mostly threw softball questions to the then presidential candidate, such as whom did he prefer: "Beatles or the Rolling Stones?" Curry also tried to broker an Obama-Clinton ticket as she pressed: "They want this. The Democrats want this."


Gore Thanks NBC for 'Live Earth' Coverage, Curry Urges Him to Run

Appearing with Curry during NBC's prime time coverage Saturday July 7, 2007  of Al Gore's "Live Earth" concerts, Gore gave a shout out to the network for its donation to his global warming cause, as Gore told Curry: "Thanks for what NBC has been doing." Curry didn't exactly deliver a hard-hitting interview. When Gore declared the concerts "the largest global entertainment event in all of history," she congratulated him before pressing him about running for President, suggesting that "without you there will not be the political will in the White House to fight global warming." She pleaded: "A lot of people want me to ask you tonight if you're running for President. And I know what you're answer is gonna be, believe me. I gotta ask you though. After fueling this grass roots movement, if you become convinced that without you there will not be the political will in the White House to fight global warming to the level that is required, because the clock is ticking, would you answer the call? Would you answer the call, yes or no?"


A look back at Vieira:
 

Swooning Over 'Rock Star' Obama

"You know you are the equivalent of a rock star in politics....Many people, afterwards [after Obama's 2004 Democratic convention speech], they weren't sure how to pronounce your name, but they were moved by you. People were crying. You tapped into something. You touched people. What did you tap into that, that was missing?...If your party says to you, 'We need you,' and, and there's already a drumbeat out there, will you respond?"
— Meredith Vieira to then Senator Barack Obama on NBC's Today, October 19, 2006.


'What's So Good About' Bush's Failed Tax Cuts?

"One of the key issues also heading into the midterm elections, is this expiration of the tax cuts, Bush's tax cuts....These tax cuts have been in existence for quite a while, these Bush tax cuts. If they were designed to stimulate the economy and to create jobs, they didn't succeed. So what's so good about them?"
— Co-host Meredith Vieira to GOP Representatives Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy on Today, September 14, 2010. In the five years after the full tax cut package was passed in 2003, the economy added more than 8.3 million new jobs.


Heated Up Over Global Warming, 'Are We All Gonna Die?'

"So I'm running in the park on Saturday, in shorts thinking this is great but are we all gonna die? You know? I can't, I can't figure this out....there were record breaking temperatures across the, 72 in New York City, 69 in Boston on Saturday. A lot of people wondering is it global warming or something much simpler?"
— Vieira on Today, January 8, 2007.