On Thursday, both NBC’s Today and ABC’s Good Morning America gleefully touted a new “rallying cry” among Democrats and liberal activists in the wake of Republicans admonishing Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren for attacking Attorney General Jeff Sessions on the Senate floor ahead of his confirmation vote.
On Today, correspondent Peter Alexander proclaimed: “The fierce debate over Sessions putting Democrat Elizabeth Warren in the spotlight, after Republicans formally silenced her for speaking negatively about her fellow senator.” A clip followed of Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell explaining: “She was warned. Nevertheless, she persisted.” The reporter eagerly announced: “That quote instantly becoming a rallying cry, already on t-shirts. Hillary Clinton tweeting, ‘She persisted. So must we all.’”
During a report for Wednesday’s NBC Nightly News, correspondent Kasie Hunt similarly cheered: “Within hours, that quote became a feminist battle cry...”
On ABC’s Good Morning America, correspondent Mary Bruce declared: “Outrage after Senator Elizabeth Warren was shut down during the debate....Now, Mitch McConnell has defended the move against Warren, saying she was warned but she persisted. That hashtag, #ShePersisted, is now becoming a rallying cry for Warren’s supporters. Even Hillary Clinton tweeting about it and getting on board.”
Co-host George Stephanopoulos predicted: “Yeah, this just the beginning of that.”
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CBS This Morning avoided parroting the partisan “rallying cry,” with correspondent Nancy Cordes instead taking a more balanced approach to the Sessions confirmation: “The decision by Republicans to bar Democrat Elizabeth Warren from the Sessions debate only drove both sides further into their own camps. Democrats said she was silenced....Republicans, like South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, said she’d had it coming.”
She then noted: “For Warren, the ensuing drama had some upsides.” A clip followed of Cordes actually pressing Warren on using the incident to raise money: “You did send out a fundraising letter shortly after all of this happened. How much have you raised off of this?”
On Wednesday, all three networks scolded “nasty” Republicans for having “silenced” Warren.
Here are excerpts of the February 9 coverage on the NBC, ABC, and CBS morning shows:
Today
7:07 AM ET
PETER ALEXANDER: Jeff Sessions will be sworn in as attorney general this morning, here at the White House, becoming the nation's top law enforcer. But it comes at the very same time that President Trump is again taking shots at one of the pillars of this country, an independent judiciary that administers the rule of law.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Sessions Confirmed as Attorney General; To Be Sworn in Today as Warren “Silencing” Controversy Grows]
President Trump got his man.
SENATE PRESIDENT: The nomination is confirmed.
ALEXANDER: The Senate, late Wednesday, confirming Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who’s helped shape the President's policies, including on immigration. Session's opponents teeing off overnight.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER [D-SENATE MINORITY LEADER]: When Jeff Sessions was passed, it turned my stomach. He doesn't belong there. And I think a lot of Republicans know it.
ALEXANDER: The fierce debate over Sessions putting Democrat Elizabeth Warren in the spotlight, after Republicans formally silenced her for speaking negatively about her fellow senator.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL: She was warned. Nevertheless, she persisted.
ALEXANDER: That quote instantly becoming a rallying cry, already on t-shirts. Hillary Clinton tweeting, “She persisted. So must we all.”
(...)
Good Morning America
7:12 AM ET(...)
MARY BRUCE: Outrage after Senator Elizabeth Warren was shut down during the debate.
SENATE PRESIDENT: The Senator will take her seat.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Outrage Over Vote to Silence Warren; Democratic Colleagues Take to Floor in Support]
BRUCE: Called out after quoting Martin Luther King’s window, Coretta Scott King, reading a letter she wrote 30 years ago criticizing Sessions’ record on civil rights. Republicans saying she disparaged a fellow senator.
BRUCE [TO WARREN]: Republicans say you went to far, that you broke the rules.
WARREN: I don't get to read an historical document that goes to the very essence of the question whether or not Jeff Sessions is entitled to be the Attorney General of the United States.
BRUCE: Several male senators later reading that same letter without censure. Now, Mitch McConnell has defended the move against Warren, saying she was warned but she persisted. That hashtag, #ShePersisted, is now becoming a rallying cry for Warren’s supporters. Even Hillary Clinton tweeting about it and getting on board. George?
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Yeah, this just the beginning of that.
(...)
CBS This Morning
7:14 AM ET(...)
CORDES: The decision by Republicans to bar Democrat Elizabeth Warren from the Sessions debate only drove both sides further into their own camps. Democrats said she was silenced.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Leader McConnell owes Senator Warren an apology.
CORDES: Republicans, like South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, said she’d had it coming.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM [R-SOUTH CAROLINA]: The bottom line is it was long overdue with her. I mean she is clearly running for the nomination in 2020.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: I don't understand how he can say that.
CORDES: Republicans contend Senator Warren broke an obscure Senate rule when she read aloud from a 30-year-old letter.
WARREN: Mr. Sessions has used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN [SENATOR]: The rules are very clear that you don't impugn another senator.
CORDES: For Warren, the ensuing drama had some upsides.
CORDES: You did send out a fundraising letter shortly after all of this happened. How much have you raised off of this?
WARREN: I don't have any idea. But I'll tell you this, lots of people have now seen Coretta Scott King's letter. I think it's more a part of our living history again.
(...)
