Daily Show Hypes Couric’s ‘Fact-Based’ Anti-Gun Doc, Despite Claims Interviews Were Doctored

May 25th, 2016 11:49 AM

Just 11 days after Katie Couric’s documentary Under the Gun premiered on television, the media is still enamored by it and fervently promoting its message and messenger. Couric appeared on The Daily Show May 24 to promote the film and host Trevor Noah did his best at giving a softball interview that characterized the film as fact-based journalism. But a new report alleges that the filmmakers doctored at least one interview in the film to get the footage they wanted.

From the moment Couric appeared on the show, Noah began raving about how great a journalist she was.

“This is such an honor” Noah gushed,“You are television!” he said as Couric sat down for the interview.

He continued: “The documentary that you made is truly spectacular” before praising how “nonpartisan” it was.

NOAH: Every time you see a documentary around gun control or gun rights in America, it always seems to be very partisan. You set out, though, to make a documentary that was all about the facts, all about the journalism, all about the stories.

Couric hammered home how “fair” the documentary was to gun owners. Couric responded that she made this film so “that people could be educated, understand the facts.” She hyped, “It’s a very data-driven film.” She expressed to Noah, “If we stop demonizing each side and kind of put the facts out there, we were just hoping it would set the table for an intelligent conversation, informed conversation.”

Noah and Couric both allege that the documentary is not partisan but based on “the facts.” Apparently Noah wants viewers to forget all of the anti-gun journalism and advocacy Katie Couric has participated in her long public career. And the fact that the media is fiercely promoting the film, despite always demonizing gun owners and the gun lobby, is proof in and of itself that there’s an agenda behind this “unbiased” doc.

But that’s not all. According to a new report by Bearing Arms, at least one interview was altered to change the answer interviewees gave to Couric. The Virginia Citizens Defense League alleges that they have audio proof that the filmmakers doctored part of an interview they did with Couric in the documentary. 

From VCDL:

Watching the video, you hear Katie ask, “If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorist from walking into, say, a licensed gun dealer and purchasing a gun?” The camera then shows the group members TOTALLY SILENT FOR EIGHT SECONDS. The camera zooms in on one member, who looks down.

The clear implication is that none of the group had an answer for that question and was being evasive and avoiding eye contact.

The truth is, and as you will hear in the audio, below, that the group responded to Katie immediately, with answers to her question! Yet the video shows no one responding.