The taxpayer-supported PBS NewsHour program caught up to the second Republican presidential debate on Thursday evening and predictably characterized it as a sad mess.
One of the paper’s most Republican-hostile reporters, White House correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez, pounced on some of the Republican responses and fact-checked them after the fact, in keeping with the show’s progressive agenda on transgender issues and the treatment of black history in school curricula.
She set the despondent tone in her lead:
Barron-Lopez: At times combative and unfocused, seven GOP presidential hopefuls desperately tried to steal the spotlight away from former President Donald Trump.
After mocking candidate Chris Christie’s rather cringe attempt to label Donald Trump “Donald Duck,” she stated that “Chaos reigned among the candidates” while singling out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence for dubious rebuttals – rebuttals that the candidates weren't allowed to challenge.
Barrón-López: DeSantis defended Florida's African American studies curriculum, which claims that some enslaved people benefited from slavery.
Gov. Ron DeSantis: These are great black history scholars, so we need to stop playing these games.
Laura Barrón-López: African-American history scholars dispute that, and so did Scott.
Sen. Tim Scott: There is not a redeeming quality in slavery. It’s why I can say I have been discriminated against, but America is not a racist country.
This canard, based on a single line of text, has been long discredited. Yet here it is again, on a tax-funded news channel.
The reporter moved on to the NewsHour’s great obsession, transgender issues, “fact-checking” a clip of Mike Pence opposing gender surgeries on children. They're "rare," but heavily endorsed by "Science."
Barrón-López: Fights over race and gender identity, now cornerstones of the modern GOP, came into play as well from former Vice President Mike Pence.
Mike Pence: And we’re going to pass a federal ban on transgender chemical or surgical surgery anywhere in the country. We’ve got to protect our kids from this radical gender ideology agenda.
Barrón-López: Gender-affirming care surgery for minors is rare. And Pence’s position is opposed by every major medical association in the country, which say such care for minors is effective and safe.
The very phrase “gender-affirming care” bespoke a liberal slant, one that Barron-Lopez’s previous reporting has carefully nurtured.
This post-debate rebuttal was brought to you in part by Raymond James financial advisors.
