NBC and CBS Morning Shows Ignore False Limbaugh Quotes and Failure of NFL Bid

By Scott Whitlock | October 15, 2009 | 10:52

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NBC and CBS’s morning shows on Thursday completely skipped any reference to the false quotes that forced Rush Limbaugh to be dropped from a group bidding to buy the St. Louis Rams. Only Good Morning America had any coverage at all. News anchor Chris Cuomo simply recapped the development and added, "[Limbaugh] had been criticized for past statements about black players."

Cuomo made no mention of the untrue quotes, such as Limbaugh supposedly having said in the past that "slavery had its merits." Wouldn’t it be only fair for Good Morning America, NBC’s Today and CBS’s Early Show to at least discuss how false statements derailed the conservative’s attempts to own a team?

The Media Research Center has called upon the cable outlets that ran the fake quote to retract. So far, MSNBC has refused. CNN's Rick Sanchez asserted that Limbaugh has denied the remark. (Anderson Cooper admitted the falsity on Wednesday’s AC360.) The MRC has also produced a special report on the liberal media's attacks against the host.

On Tuesday’s GMA, the program’s host and reporters danced around the inaccurate comments attributed to the radio host. Correspondent David Muir played a clip of Limbaugh complaining, "They have to go somewhere to find concocted quotes, which are now bordering on slander, libel, whatever it is, that I never said." But, Muir didn’t describe the false information. Instead, he mysteriously referenced "actual quotes" that Limbaugh made about the sports media’s touting of Donovan McNabb.

Wednesday’s Nightly News on NBC and ABC’s World News both had brief items on Limbaugh no longer being part of the bid to buy the Rams. CBS’s Evening News did not file a report.

A transcript of Thursday’s Good Morning America anchor read, which aired at 7:07am EDT, follows:

CHRIS CUOMO: Rush Limbaugh has been sacked in his bid to help buy the St. Louis Rams football team. An investment group has dropped Limbaugh, saying he had become a distraction. He had been criticized for past statements about black players.