Forgoing much of its regularly scheduled segments to cover live the official nomination of Hillary Clinton for president Tuesday night at the Democratic National Committee (DNC), ABC’s World News Tonight repeatedly harped in the most jittery mood possible about the DNC hall being in “tears” at Clinton becoming the first woman to be a major party’s presidential nominee.
If that insanity wasn’t enough, anchor David Muir tried to spin for the Clintons ahead of former President Bill Clinton’s primetime speech by claiming that well-known and scandal-ridden Hillary is “[a] woman still so unknown to many in this country.”
Muir welcomed viewers to the newscast by proclaiming that America was collectively “witnessing something truly historic in this convention hall right behind us” with “[r]eal emotion here on display, tears of joy from Hillary Clinton's supporters, and a sense of true pride from Bernie Sanders supporters.”
Before tossing to Clinton campaign correspondent and Saturday anchor Cecilia Vega, Muir dropped this head-shaking line that could be in the running for the NewsBusters quote of the day (released each morning by the MRC’s Tim Graham) about Clinton:
Bill Clinton will give what could be his most personal speech ever as he talks about his wife, later tonight. A woman still so unknown to many in this country, will he say anything that changes their minds? But first, ABC's Cecilia Vega live down in the hall with the roll call vote under way. Cecilia, I was just down there on the floor. What excitement in the room.
Trotting out the tears line twice more, Vega proclaimed how “[i]t is electric down here”: “It is electric down here, David. We are witnessing history right now. There are people all around me in tears as they watch this roll call vote. Hillary Clinton just minutes away from capturing this nomination. As history is made, tears.”
<<< Please consider helping NewsBusters financially with your tax-deductible contribution today >>>
Vega returned later in the show to gush about how Hillary will now be known to “a generation of children after today” as the first woman to be a major presidential nominee and that they too could be like Hillary:
There will be a generation of children after today who will grow up knowing that a woman can be nominated for president of the United States of a major party and that is a first. No matter the political leanings, if you are for Bernie Sanders or you’re for Hillary Clinton in this room right now, there is a sense that history is being made. We are seeing tears, we are seeing photos being taken and all of this, David, as Jon Karl mentioned, this is just in this moment
Going down to the convention floor after socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (Vt.) moved to have Clinton be nominated unanimously, chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl did his best Lee Cowan impression from 2008 as he raved about the crowd and implored viewers at home to listen along with him to behold “a moment like we have not seen, frankly, in my time in covering politics”:
Well, and David, I would say more than that. This is a moment like we have not seen, frankly, in my time in covering politics over the course of over two decades. Listen to that crowd. Listen to that crowd. Bernie Sanders, you can see tears coming down his eyes, you know, this is the moment, this is the most improbable campaign, one nobody thought he had a chance, so many of his supporters here to this day wanted to fight, did not want to turn, did not want to give up and he came out to make it unanimous, to release all of his delegates to say, let's make it unanimous, Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee. This place is going crazy. Listen to that. Listen to that.
Over on the CBS Evening News, the references to tears were far fewer but the newscast nonetheless began with anchor Scott Pelley ruling just before Clinton went over the top that “history is just minutes away” and “a milestone for America....nearly a century after women first won the right to vote.”
In the lone reference to people crying, congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes told an anecdote of an interview she did with members of the Ohio delegation:
I was talking to a man in the Ohio delegation a couple of minutes ago, and he's a Bernie Sanders supporter. He pointed to the woman next to him and said, she's been active in the women's movement since the 1970s. She's been looking forward to this moment for decades and both of them instantly teared up.
For viewers in the Washington D.C. metro area, we were spared the proceedings as they unfolded on NBC Nightly News as our airtime of 7:00 p.m. Eastern and instead treated to a more traditional newscast with a variety of stories that went beyond the DNC.
The relevant portions of the transcript from ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir on July 26 can be found below.
ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir
July 26, 2016
6:30 p.m. Eastern [TEASE]
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News]
DAVID MUIR: Breaking news tonight on the floor of the Democratic National Convention. The roll call under way. The tension. History about to be made. Chants of Hillary, chants of Bernie on the floor. With Hillary Clinton about to become the first female presidential nominee.
(....)
MUIR: Good evening from Philadelphia tonight and as we come on the air here, we are witnessing something truly historic in this convention hall right behind us. Real emotion here on display, tears of joy from Hillary Clinton's supporters, and a sense of true pride from Bernie Sanders supporters. This hall is about to nominate the first woman as a presidential candidate for a major party. The roll call right now,let's take you live to the hall. They are going state by state, announcing how many votes from each state Hillary Clinton, how many for Bernie Sanders, cheers for both candidates in this hall and there is considerable suspense in the room right now. What will Sanders supporters do when Hillary Clinton reaches that magic number?
(....)
MUIR: Bill Clinton will give what could be his most personal speech ever as he talks about his wife, later tonight. A woman still so unknown to many in this country, will he say anything that changes their minds? But first, ABC's Cecilia Vega live down in the hall with the roll call vote under way. Cecilia, I was just down there on the floor. What excitement in the room.
CECILIA VEGA: It is electric down here, David. We are witnessing history right now. There are people all around me in tears as they watch this roll call vote. Hillary Clinton just minutes away from capturing this nomination. As history is made, tears.
(....)
VEGA: And something they've been needing for the last couple of days here in Philadelphia, David, Hillary Clinton just put out a tweet right now, it had one word, the word “history.” And a photo of her. There will be a generation of children after today who will grow up knowing that a woman can be nominated for president of the United States of a major party and that is a first. No matter the political leanings, if you are for Bernie Sanders or you’re for Hillary Clinton in this room right now, there is a sense that history is being made. We are seeing tears, we are seeing photos being taken and all of this, David, as Jon Karl mentioned, this is just in this moment, this crowd still does not know that Hillary Clinton has reached that threshold.
(....)
JONATHAN KARL: Well, and David, I would say more than that. This is a moment like we have not seen, frankly, in my time in covering politics over the course of over two decades. Listen to that crowd. Listen to that crowd. Bernie Sanders, you can see tears coming down his eyes, you know, this is the moment, this is the most improbable campaign, one nobody thought he had a chance, so many of his supporters here to this day wanted to fight, did not want to turn, did not want to give up and he came out to make it unanimous, to release all of his delegates to say, let's make it unanimous, Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee. This place is going crazy. Listen to that. Listen to that.
