The morning after a contentious vote in which over 100 House Democrats revolted against the Democratic president's proposed tax package, NBC congressional correspondent Kelly O'Donnell chose to frame the debate as a resounding victory for the White House.
Appearing on MSNBC's "Daily Rundown" today, O'Donnell was only willing to admit "some" Democratic opposition to the extension of current tax rates for all Americans, which will prevent an across-the-board tax increase in January.
Instead of reporting that 112 Democrats turned against President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, O'Donnell emphasized that the votes were evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, 138 to 139, respectively. For O'Donnell, 45 percent of the president's party defecting represents only "some" opposition.
O'Donnell also tried to sweep the intra-party rebellion under the rug, dismissing substantial Democratic opposition as nothing more than "footnote stuff."
The following is O'Donnell's report on the tax package, which aired at 9:03 a.m. EST on MSNBC's "Daily Rundown":
It was must-see viewing for us, Savannah and Chuck, at midnight, so I'm glad that you noted that the hours here have been crazy long for these members. But they did get it done. And what's interesting is when you look at the total for passage it was almost evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, 138 to 139, and that says something after all of the fighting going on. There was, of course, some liberal opposition. They were unhappy with some aspects of it that especially benefited more wealthy families and that did not go down as they had hoped. They tried lots of different things. And a handful of Republicans were also not pleased that this adds to the deficit by $858 billion. But that now becomes all the footnote stuff and, as you mentioned, the president will get to sign this as soon as they get the paperwork done here and sent out to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue to get his signature.
--Alex Fitzsimmons is a News Analysis intern at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
