According to the three morning shows on Wednesday, Hillary Clinton’s latest primary loss is a just a “bump” in the road that will simply “prolong” the Democratic race. Bernie Sanders has now defeated Clinton in 19 states while the frontrunner has only prevailed in 23. Yet, on the Today show, NBC’s Savannah Guthrie insisted, “Bernie Sanders says he's in it to win it after defeating Hillary Clinton by double digits in West Virginia's Democratic primary. But that victory did little to dent Clinton's nearly insurmountable lead in the delegate count.”
Guthrie warned, “While Sanders' win gives him fresh momentum, it does not dent Clinton's large delegate lead by much." Over on ABC’s Good Morning America, Cecilia Vega poured cold water on Sanders, saying, “Big celebrations from Bernie Sanders. This is his second big win this month. But let's take a look at the math. The nomination is still really far away from him at this point.”
She added, “He won just a handful more pledged delegates than Hillary Clinton with that West Virginia win.”
CBS This Morning’s Norah O’Donnell described yet another Sanders victory as a “bump” in the road:
NORAH O'DONNELL: Another primary win for Bernie Sanders is prolonging the Democratic race. His victory in West Virginia doesn't change Hillary Clinton's overall lead, but it is one more bump in her path to the general election. Sanders beat Clinton by 15 points, 51 to 36 percent.
To be fair, GMA’s Vega noted, “But the reality is [Clinton has] got a real problem going forward. She's had a hard time winning over white working class voters.” But both the ABC journalist and Guthrie avoided explaining that Sanders has now notched 19 victories with Clinton at 23.
Next week looks like more bad news for Clinton as the Sanders-friendly Oregon goes to vote.
In contrast, Cordes on CBS did note the pertinent number of states won by each:
NANCY CORDES: Sanders has now won nearly as many states as Clinton has. Nineteen states to her 23. It's just that her states have been bigger, and she won some of those big states by large margins, putting the delegates that he needs, Charlie, virtually out of reach.
The reason this is important is not that Clinton will likely be defeated by Sanders. But it shows a tremendous general election weakness for the ex-Secretary of State. Also, uniquely, Norah O’Donnell pointed out that Sanders’s victories are pushing Clinton to the left.
Last week, Clinton went down to defeat in Indiana and a similar pattern could be seen. The networks spun her as looking ahead to November.
A transcript of the GMA segment is below:
GMA
5/11/167:07am ET
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: We’re going to go to the race for the White House now and a big win for Bernie Sanders in West Virginia. He is far behind Hillary Clinton in the nomination fight, but after his win last night, he says the race is far from over.
BERNIE SANDERS: And tonight it appears that we’ve won a big, big victory in West Virginia. If we do well in the coming weeks in Oregon, in California, in New Jersey, in Kentucky and the other states, we still have that road to victory in winning the majority of pledged delegates.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And ABC's Cecilia is in Covington, Kentucky with the latest. Good morning, Cecilia.
CECILIA VEGA: George, good morning to you. You heard it there. Big celebrations from Bernie Sanders. This is his second big win this month. But let's take a look at the math. The nomination is still really far away from him at this point. He won just a handful more pledged delegates than Hillary Clinton with that West Virginia win. She still leads by more than 700 delegates at this point. In order for Sanders to clinch nomination, he need to win 98 percent of the remaining delegates going forward. George, this is an uphill climb to say the least, as much as Hillary Clinton would like to put this primary fight behind her, it’s still a long ways away.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And that is the question right there. Bernie Sander cannot catch up. Can't get 98 percent of the delegates. And the Clinton team is explaining away this loss in West Virginia. But it is bogging her campaign down.
VEGA: Well, yeah, you know, they say they did not advertise in West Virginia. They say the demographics favor him there. But the reality is she's got a real problem going forward. She's had a hard time winning over white working class voters, George. And that, as you know, is a group that Donald Trump has done especially well with.
