World News anchor Charles Gibson appeared on Monday’s edition of The View to tout his own objectivity and to swear, "I'm very fond of John McCain. I carry no water for Obama." Speaking of the 2008 election, he marveled, "It was an amazing moment to say to the country that we have elected and African American as the 44th president of the United States.... It was just an amazing moment for the- for the progress of this country..." [Audio available here.]
Asked by co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck about the difficulty of maintaining objectivity, the ABC anchor, who famously grilled then-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, piously explained, "But, you're always trying to breed that subjectivity out of anything that you may do. I've talked about this before. But, it's very controversial in my family and my children think I'm absolutely nuts. I don't vote."
Gibson said he came to this decision after becoming emotionally involved with a candidate who won his heart: "I covered a candidate once in an election and I came to care whether that candidate won or lost. And I thought, there's something wrong here and that may, in some way, permeate what you're saying on the air. And, because, I became very- I just liked the guy."
Who could this be? The World News host, who is retiring at the end of the week, would not name the mystery politician. He continued, "And I thought he was a guy of, just, great probity and honor and a guy who wanted to do the right thing. And then I listened to his rhetoric for, you know, day after day after day, and I just decided it was probably better just not to let that- not let that creep into your thoughts. But, it's hard to keep it out."
Regarding Barack Obama, Gibson certainly has been unable to keep "it," bias, out of his reporting. On June 4, 2008, the giddy journalist cooed to the new Democratic presidential nominee: "When everybody clears out, the staff is gone, you're in the hotel room at night, and you're alone, do you say to yourself, 'Son of a gun, I've done this?’"
Anchoring live coverage after Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on October 9, 2009, Gibson rhapsodized, "The Nobel Committee feeling that he has inspired a new sense in the world."
On March 18, 2008, following Obama’s speech on race, in which he distanced himself from controversial Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Gibson could barely contain himself as he opened World News: "Tonight, Barack Obama delivers a major speech confronting the race issue head on....It may turn out to be the seminal speech of his presidential campaign....Obama challenged Americans to confront the country’s racial divide. An extraordinary speech."
And although he claims to "carry no water for Obama," Gibson chided Palin, during a September 12, 2008 interview for daring to criticize the Democratic candidate:
Why do you both keep saying that Obama is going to raise people's taxes? It's been pretty clear what he intends. He's talked about middle-class tax cuts, extending Bush tax cuts on everything but people who own or earn more than $250,000 a year -- cuts taxes on over 91 percent of the country. Why do you keep saying he's going to raise people's taxes?
A transcript of the December 14 segment, which aired at 11:42am EST, follows:
ELISABETH HASSELBECK: One thing I have to wonder, too, is- I'm sure- you're a great thinker, Charlie. How do you, and I wonder this of Barbara, too, maintain, outside of here-
CHARLES GIBSON: Great thinker? Goodness gracious!
HASSELBECK: Outside of here- How do you take your opinion out of things when something is going on in the world of news? I'm sure you have an opinion on it. But, yet, we never get it.
BARBARA WALTERS: We're always taught never to give opinions.
HASSELBECK: But it's such a discipline. I mean, I obviously lack that.
WALTERS: You know how careful I am here.
HASSELBECK: You're very careful.
GIBSON: Our former compatriot, that we used to work with, who was a hero in my life, David Brinkley, used to say there's no such thing as objectivity, there are just lesser degrees of subjectivity. But, you're always trying to breed that subjectivity out of anything that you may do. I've talked about this before. But, it's very controversial in my family and my children think I'm absolutely nuts. I don't vote. And I will after I retire and I’m not doing anything in the business. I'll go down and re-register.
JOY BEHAR: Well, you'll never be called for jury duty. When you vote-
GIBSON: No. You get called for jury duty because you have a driver's license.
BEHAR: Let me ask you about Obama. We were talking about President Obama- Sorry.
GIBSON: Let me come back to that because people are going to say how can you not vote? But, I won't go into the particulars. I covered a candidate once in an election and I came to care whether that candidate won or lost. And I thought, there's something wrong here and that may, in some way, permeate what you're saying on the air. And because I became very- I just liked the guy. And I thought he was a guy of, just, great probity and honor and a guy who wanted to do the right thing. And then I listened to his rhetoric for, you know, day after day after day, and, so, I just decided it was probably better just not to let that- not let that creep into your thoughts. But, it’s hard to keep it out.
WALTERS: Just to answer Joy's question-
BEHAR: The question I had, we were talking about Oprah's question for President Obama.
GIBSON: My kids, by the way, think I’m crazy.
BEHAR: Kay. The question she asked Obama was what would you grade yourself. Whoopi thinks it was a dumb question.
GIBSON: I agree with Barbara. Don’t do it. First of all, if you're going to do anything, give yourself an incomplete. He’s-
BEHAR: Incomplete is a good answer. I wish I'd thought of that.
GIBSON: He's been in office less than a year. He was saddled with an issue that he did not want to address, that came up during the campaign. When he started to run, the financial thing wasn't on him. He had to expend and enormous amount of political capital on that. He wants- I mean- From everything I can tell, he wants to be an transformative president.
...
11:52am
WALTERS: What grade are you giving yourself?
CHARLIE GIBSON: It's been a terrific career. And this was, in many respects, no matter who won, this was an election of a lifetime that I- It was an amazing moment to say to the country that we have elected and African American as the 44th president of the United States, something that you, and I and I doubt any one of us ever thought would happen. I'm very fond of John McCain. I carry no water for Obama. It was just an amazing moment for the- for the progress of this country and where it's gone and I said after it happened, for- you know, 226 years ago, this was two years ago, 226 years ago, we wrote in one of our founding documents that all men are created equal and we hadn't lived up to that for a long time. And this was a manifestation that we are stepping up. So, it was an election of a lifetime. I got to cover the extraordinary 2000 election when we went through that national catharsis of figuring out who we had actually elected. It’s just been- I got to do a presidential debate. I got to do Democratic and Republican debates.
[Walters interrupts and wraps up segment.]
—Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.






















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Water Boy
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 16:53 ET by allanfHoly gunga din!!!! Gibson is not a Water boy for Obama? At least he does not give Obama the look of lust that Brian Williams does.
Gunga Din! LOL
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 19:47 ET by MPayneThat's hilarious!
" Courage - a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it. " - William T. Sherman
Nope...he doesn't carry any water for bambam..
Tue, 12/15/2009 - 11:45 ET by Patriot IIhe just "loses" his water everytime he sees or hears him! Another "tingler" dum bass
Well done...
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 20:47 ET by unkeeafPost of the day!
Need a job or raise? Head to DC!
http://bit.ly/4uexig
I hope Obama
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 21:41 ET by TexasMom0517I hope Obama doesn't stop short or Mr. Gibson might have to go to the hospital!
Sheesh
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 16:54 ET by DontFeedTheTrollsblah, blah, blah, . . . . African American, blah, blah, blah . . . .
I think it would be even more amazing if you people (Gibson, et. al.) would stop judging everyone by the color of their skin and started judging people by the content of their character.
I think somebody already said that.
D
Write your Congress and Senate and tell them what YOU think!
Keep the ILLEGALS out, join NumbersUSA to send free faxes to your reps.
Symbolism over Substance
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 17:02 ET by Red Jeep"It was an amazing moment to say to the country that we have elected
and African American as the 44th president of the United States.... It was just an amazing moment for the- for the progress of this country..."
The Term African American
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 17:24 ET by richb313The Term African American always makes me sick. Any Dual Identity does the same thing. Did you know that if you hold dual citizenship you are not eligible to run for President? This is also the reason for the Constitutional requirement for Presidents to be Natural Born Citizens. There was to be no possible confusion as to loyalties of the person who holds that high office.
Besides, Obysmal's an
Tue, 12/15/2009 - 09:38 ET by HockeyKidBesides, Obysmal's an Indonesian American.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
X
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 17:14 ET by serfer62I watched the Gov Palin interview
I read your reaction to questions of ACORN
Gibson, you're an ass, a prejudiced ass...
He forgot to add "...in
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 17:27 ET by mattmHe forgot to add "...in particular." After all, one lib is as good as another as far as Charlie is concerned.
BTW - Do we know that O-kenyan is really an African-American, or is he an African-Indonesian?
...and another thing, how long until Charlie gets a job with either the administration or the DNC?
He does carry any water for
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 17:20 ET by ninerdogHe does carry any water for BO because he had a fire hose installed from the hydrant. He has a bad back ya know….
Yeah, it's hard to carry water...
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 17:22 ET by SickofLibs...when your entire head is up someone else's butt.
Have a pleasant retirement, and please, no "specials", K?
I Guess....
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 17:33 ET by notinstl..you gotta believe your own BS!!!!! and I'm callin' BS on Gibby....
Gibson may not carry any
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 17:38 ET by SmartypantsGibson may not carry any water for the president, but he does carry Obama's wine and cheese.
Annoy a liberal: Work hard and be happy.
Whopper
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 17:50 ET by ScottyDogCharlie Gibson believes his own lies. Who does he think he is kidding that he did not carry any water.
How do these people sleep at night after that whopper?
The are Liberals. Worse,
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 17:51 ET by bse5150The are Liberals. Worse, they are State Run Media Liberals.
They are speaking.
Therefore they are lying.
doesn't carry O's water
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 18:00 ET by jacktheripperis like Chris Mathews saying he doesn't get all tingly about Barry
Proud HillBilly from NNY
Obviously he is aware
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 18:12 ET by doug1950that many if not most believe he indeed does carry water for Obama or for that matter anything liberal. When you have to protest this much than you have pretty much been correctly tagged. Gibson is a waterboy, always has been, always will be. He can't help it. I bet he was a hall monitor in High School.
No doubt!!
Tue, 12/15/2009 - 08:01 ET by OuttaMyWayNot to mention, he likes McCain! i hope so, you propped him up because you know that would re-enforce the liberal lie: "they are all the same" to make it easier for people on the fence to lean left.
Even Walters was tired of
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 18:14 ET by doug1950Even Walters was tired of hearing him talk and interrupted him.
Another Journalist Retires, Just like Another Dem Retires
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 18:39 ET by TenebrousThis man is so ignorant that he didn't know about ACORN and then thought that it should be left to cable. Is he biased or stunningly incompetent? Either case proves what an empty suit he is.
But more to the point -- we're seeing a lot of these "objective" journalists retire just as Obama hits the swamp. Why is that? I've noticed a lot of liberal Dems are retiring, too. Coincidence? I think not.
The rats are leaving the ship, trying to get as far away from government (and covering it) as possible. Interesting, don't you think?
-----
www.Random-jumbled-thoughts.blogspot.com
"I covered a candidate once
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 18:39 ET by Kevroy"I covered a candidate once in an election and I came to care whether that candidate won or lost. Now, because I want to maintain my objectivity, I'm not going to name names, but his initials were BHO."
So if he's not partisan, then
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 19:07 ET by tdabbshe must be a misogynist. There's nothing else to explain the Palin interview...
Gibson is correct when he
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 19:14 ET by Kat Outta the BagGibson is correct when he says he carries no water for Obama...he's too busy playing the valet with the Emporer's new clothes.
Charlie "gunga din" Gibson
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 19:22 ET by AvitarCharlie Gibson will be forever known for his dirty political tricks on Obama's behalf. Ambush questioning Palin on a non-existant "Bush Doctrine" is very much on par with the LBJ's Daisy ad from the 1964 election. Too bad there is no equal measure that could show gunga din the magmatuede of what he has cost the country.
By the way Obama is not an African American. He is a WOG-American 3/8 Arab and half White Left-wing nut job American. While the genes for appearance are dominant it is completely bigoted and unfair to blame this train wreck on Africans even if it does turn out he was born there.
Gibson's water
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 19:24 ET by xraynovaAfter Gibson's Acorn debacle, it's evident that indeed he's not carrying water for obama... it's kool-aid.
Charlie....pleez. "Under
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 20:00 ET by RR GOPCharlie....pleez.
"Under Capitalism, man exploits man. Under Communism it's just the opposite."
"All that Communism needs to make it successful is for someone to feed and clothe it."
Oh no you clown
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 20:55 ET by WorriedYou didn't even hear their was something going on with ObamACORN.
Charlie cannot see his bias for Dear Leader because...
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 22:48 ET by R D Helm...his head is too firmly pressed against Obama's liver.
And ya know, it's pertty dark up there.
-Dave
Rewriting history
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 22:09 ET by ghblogI think that Gibson is right and literal about carrying water for Obama. He had some aid get the bottled water.
Charlie must have forgotten the special on health care in which he participated. We have not.
http://www.framingthedialogue.com/archives/a-pressmass-carol-chapter-one/
No, Gibson has his "people"
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 22:42 ET by nadadhimmiNo, Gibson has his "people" carry Obamas water, Charlie is in personal charge of rear end kissing.
Liberal Support
Tue, 12/15/2009 - 01:06 ET by countmein5050And he believes every word he said because he's surrounded by like-minded liberals who tell each they are right and everyone else is wrong and they, and they alone, are tolerant and loving and if any one should disagree it's only because they are on the WRONG side. This is how liberals live with themselves. If they find themselves unable to find an echo chamber to reinforce their self-importance then they begin to crumble because they have long since lost the ability to form an independent thought. They are drones.