On Friday, former Vice President Dick Cheney and daughter and former Rep. Liz Cheney endorsed Kamala Harris while the Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Donald Trump. For ABC, NBC, and CBS's Saturday morning shows, the former was a “huge” deal while the latter was portrayed as ironic given Trump’s legal controversies or simply ignored.
ABC White House correspondent MaryAlice Parks was up first on Good Morning America and hyped the Harris-Cheney news, “Harris also yesterday enjoyed that boost from former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, who announced he will vote for her. He wrote in a statement that Donald Trump, quote, ‘tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after voters had rejected him.’”
Meanwhile, at NBC, Laura Jarrett says the Cheney endorsement is "huge" and she and Aaron Gilchrist don't even mention the Fraternal Order of Police pic.twitter.com/yx311MWNvW
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) September 7, 2024
As for Trump, he “dismissed Cheney, calling him irrelevant. He also celebrated a new endorsement that he got from the Fraternal Order of the Police, he promised to be tough on crime, but, Gio, he spent much of his time there, when he was talking to the police, officers talking about how much he didn't trust the law enforcement system, how much he was sort of felt prosecuted, and he didn't like his own tangles he had with the law.”
Over at NBC, Today host Laura Jarrett also played up the Cheney news with White House correspondent Aaron Gilchrist, “Aaron, of course, the VP picked up a huge Republican endorsement on Friday. A former VP himself, Dick Cheney, just days after his daughter, Liz Cheney, also endorsed Harris. What are they saying about that?”
Gilchrist also sought to elevate the news, portraying it as “unexpected,” declaring, “Yeah, the former congresswoman’s endorsement wasn't a total surprise here, but the former vice president was more unexpected. Dick Cheney put out a short statement after his daughter said in an interview that he would be voting for Harris and he called Trump a threat to the republic there, adding quote ‘we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Today ignored the FOP endorsement completely, although Nightly News briefly mentioned it on Friday night.
At the same time, Nikole Killion juxtaposes Trump's endorsements with his legal news, "Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed law and order candidate, earns an endorsement from the Fraternal Order of Police... just hours after learning his own criminal sentencing was delayed." pic.twitter.com/pjq07T2Lfh
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) September 7, 2024
Meanwhile, on CBS Saturday Morning, White House correspondent Weijia Jiang included the Cheneys in a list of what she considered to be Harris’s accomplishments over the last week, “The VP is coming off a big week for cash and political support with Republican Liz Cheney and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, endorsing her, along with over 100 law enforcement officials from across the country and dozens of prominent CEOs, including James Murdoch, Mark Cuban, and Laurene Powell Jobs. And the Harris campaign says it raised $361 million in August, and that includes donations from 1.3 million first-time donors, and they're really hoping that fresh excitement to fork over money turns into enthusiasm to go vote in November.”
Shortly after, Congressional correspondent Nikole Killion sought to portray the FOP endorsement as ironic, “Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed law and order candidate, earns an endorsement from the Fraternal Order of Police in battleground North Carolina, just hours after learning his own criminal sentencing was delayed.”
After a brief clip of Trump claiming he did nothing wrong, Killion continued, “The appearance comes after Justice Juan Merchan ruled the president will be sentenced November 26th, three weeks after the election for his conviction for falsifying business records to cover up payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.”
While the networks managed to read statements from Cheney arguing that Trump is a threat to democracy, none of them recalled how Harris urged people to donate to a bail fund for 2020 rioters. No wonder 78 percent of Joe Biden voters claim to be unaware of such beliefs.
Here are transcripts for the September 7 shows:
ABC Good Morning America
9/7/2024
7:08 AM ET
MARYALICE PARKS: Harris also yesterday enjoyed that boost from former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, who announced he will vote for her. He wrote in a statement that Donald Trump, quote, “tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after voters had rejected him.”
Now, Trump yesterday dismissed Cheney, calling him irrelevant. He also celebrated a new endorsement that he got from the Fraternal Order of the Police, he promised to be tough on crime, but, Gio, he spent much of his time there, when he was talking to the police, officers talking about how much he didn't trust the law enforcement system, how much he was sort of felt prosecuted, and he didn't like his own tangles he had with the law.”
***
NBC Today
9/7/2024
8:10 PM ET
LAURA JARRETT: Aaron, of course, the VP picked up a huge Republican endorsement on Friday. A former VP himself, Dick Cheney, just days after his daughter, Liz Cheney, also endorsed Harris. What are they saying about that?
AARON GILCHRIST: Yeah, the former congresswoman’s endorsement wasn't a total surprise here, but the former vice president was more unexpected. Dick Cheney put out a short statement after his daughter said in an interview that he would be voting for Harris and he called Trump a threat to the republic there, adding quote “we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Now, the Harris campaign saying the vice president is proud to have Cheney's support and respects his courage to put country over party. Laura.
***
CBS Saturday Morning
9/7/2024
8:08 PM ET
WEIJIA JIANG: The VP is coming off a big week for cash and political support with Republican Liz Cheney and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, endorsing her, along with over 100 law enforcement officials from across the country and dozens of prominent CEOs, including James Murdoch, Mark Cuban, and Laurene Powell Jobs. And the Harris campaign says it raised $361 million in August, and that includes donations from 1.3 million first-time donors, and they're really hoping that fresh excitement to fork over money turns into enthusiasm to go vote in November.
…
NIKOLE KILLION: Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed law and order candidate, earns an endorsement from the Fraternal Order of Police in battleground North Carolina, just hours after learning his own criminal sentencing was delayed.
DONALD TRUMP: Everyone realizes that there was no case because I did nothing wrong.
KILLION: The appearance comes after Justice Juan Merchan ruled the president will be sentenced November 26th, three weeks after the election for his conviction for falsifying business records to cover up payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.