While ABC’s World News Tonight and the CBS Evening News largely stuck Friday to the investigation into the Thousand Oaks, California bar shooting and the grieving families, NBC Nightly News went political.
Their strategy? Well, NBC took it upon itself to push gun bans and gun control with support from both a doctor’s group that the National Rifle Association (NRA) had tweeted about (before the shooting) and comments from a grieving mother calling for “no more guns.”
“Also, a war of words erupts, the NRA versus doctors fed up and speaking up after the latest mass shooting in America. And a mom whose son survived the Vegas massacre only to die in that bar issues a thundering call to action,” anchor Lester Holt proclaimed in one of the newscast’s teases.
Later at the eight-minute mark and after a news brief on the victims, Holt transitioned to bashing the NRA with a lead-in to correspondent Catie Beck’s report: “The NRA has not commented on the massacre but something the gun lobby group tweeted just hours before it happened has sparked a fierce feud with many of the nation’s doctors.”
Beck first took up the cause of Susan Orfanos, who’s son Telemachus was killed at the bar after he survived last year’s Las Vegas shooting.
She spoke to reporters earlier in the day and demanded “gun control” and ruled that she doesn’t want anyone praying for her. Instead, she wants guns wiped off the map.
Beck next stated that “[p]arents are part of a growing chorus of concern over gun violence, one that now includes doctors” and asked Dr. Michel Aboutanos with VCU Health if “gun violence is a public health issue,” to which he agreed.
With that opening, she went after the NRA for a tweet sent before the shooting that was critical of the American College of Physicians, which wants to be able to tell patients “about gun safety.” Any notion that it wouldn’t involve direct lobbying for gun control is a farce.
Beck then concluded:
New a war of words raging on social media between the National Rifle Association and doctors. On Wednesday before the California shooting, the NRA firing back on Twitter against a doctor's group that said physicians should be talking to patients about gun safety: “Someone should tell self-important anti gun doctors to say in their lane.” The tweet sparking fury in doctors across the country. “We’re not anti gun: we are anti bullet holes in our patients.” “Do you know how many bullets I pull out of corpses weekly?” Dr. Michel Aboutanos already talks about gun safety with his patients...But still, a fierce debate with no solution in sight.
So besides the tweet, the NRA and the Second Amendment were only represented in the NRA tweet. Otherwise, the entire report was from the left, including the tweets from two doctors (Esther Choo and Judy Melinek) who, if you check out their Twitter accounts, are ardent gun control supporters and firm leftists.
And with House Democrats set to take control in January, this point should be labeled moot as they can surely ban basic Glocks and handguns that millions of Americans own.
To see the relevant transcript from NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt on November 9, click “expand.”
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
November 9, 2018
7:00 p.m. Eastern [TEASE][ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; War of Words]
LESTER HOLT: Also, a war of words erupts, the NRA versus doctors fed up and speaking up after the latest mass shooting in America. And a mom whose son survived the Vegas massacre only to die in that bar issues a thundering call to action.
SUSAN ORFANOS: And I don't want prayers. I don’t want thoughts. I want gun control, and I hope to god nobody else sends me anymore prayers.
(....)
7:08 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: NRA vs. Doctors]
HOLT: The NRA has not commented on the massacre but something the gun lobby group tweeted just hours before it happened has sparked a fierce feud with many of the nation’s doctors. NBC’s Catie Beck explains.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; NRA Vs. Doctors Feud Erupts After California Bar Shooting]
CATIE BECK: 27-year-old Tele Orfanos was killed Wednesday night. One of a dozen lives lost in California's Borderline club shooting. He survives the Las Vegas concert shooting last year but sadly not this time. His mother Susan tells KABC TV she wants change.
ORFANOS: I want gun control, and I hope to god nobody else sends me any more prayers. I want gun control. No more guns.
BECK: Parents are part of a growing chorus of concern over gun violence, one that now includes doctors. [TO ABOUTANOS] Do you think gun violence is a public health issue?
MICHEL ABOUTANOS: I think it’s a public health crisis. I think we’re all in it.
BECK: New a war of words raging on social media between the National Rifle Association and doctors. On Wednesday before the California shooting, the NRA firing back on Twitter against a doctor's group that said physicians should be talking to patients about gun safety: “Someone should tell self-important anti gun doctors to say in their lane.” The tweet sparking fury in doctors across the country. “We’re not anti gun: we are anti bullet holes in our patients.” “Do you know how many bullets I pull out of corpses weekly?” Dr. Michel Aboutanos already talks about gun safety with his patients.
ABOUTANOS: When we're dealing with this on a daily basis, the trauma that we're seeing, we're the voice.
BECK: But still, a fierce debate with no solution in sight. Catie Beck, NBC News.
