With the first week of the CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell in the books, it has showcased a CNN-like penchant for liberal bias and punditry masquerading as reporting. On Friday, the Trump coverage offered an embrace of anti-Semitic, corrupt, and far-left Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) by attacking the President for “demonizing” her to please his “anti-immigrant base.”
To make matters worse, an additional segment skewed the President’s “go back” tweet with the help of at least two covert liberal activists.
O’Donnell delivered snark in going to national correspondent Dean Reynolds:
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar went back to where she comes from, which is Minnesota, and received a warm welcome. The Somali-born lawmaker returned to her district last night amid her feud with President Trump, who suggested that she and three other congresswomen of color go back to the places from which they came.
As if the media are the gatekeepers of who can be deemed patriotic, Reynolds began with a hint of annoyance the President would praise his supporters despite their widely-condemned chant amidst this “incendiary back and forth” (click “expand”):
REYNOLDS: After first rejecting his ardent fans who mocked Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar this week with chants of “send her back,” today the President embraced them.
TRUMP: Those are incredible people. Those are incredible patriots.
REYNOLDS: Mr. Trump’s about-face on a sensitive issue was a bow to his base, enraged by Omar, an immigrant from Somalia who taunted the President as she arrived home in Minneapolis last night.
OMAR: We are going to continue to be a nightmare for this President, because his policies are a nightmare to us.
Speaking to a man at a farmers’ market in her district, Reynolds wondered if “you think there is any danger” being posed by the President’s rhetoric, to which the man obviously agreed.
After soundbites from men “one congressional district over” who didn’t like Omar, Reynolds’s piece (which could be just as easily used as an audition for the Kamala Harris campaign) ended with these jabs: “Demonizing a Muslim congresswoman from Somali may arouse Mr. Trump's anti-immigrant base, possibly enough to win Minnesota, a state he lost by fewer than two percentage points almost three years ago.”
So, nothing about why Omar’s so controversial. Huh. What journalism!
Going to the first break, O’Donnell teased: “[T]he trauma of being told, go back to where you came from. How the President's words have reopened wounds.” At the start of the piece, she added: “For many Americans of color, ‘go back to where you came from’ cut[s] like a knife.”
This was despite the fact that the President’s argument was in reaction to people like Omar who express such venom for not only the country but her fellow Americans as fundamentally flawed.
Correspondent Jamie Yuccas went first to Keisuke Hoashi, who “was in grade school when the taunts started, ‘go back to your country.’” Turns out, a basic Google search will show that Hoashi’s Twitter account tilts left, including a tweet ahead of the report thanking cable news darling and far-left Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) for “starting the conversation.”
Yuccas spoke next to Alex Rodriguez, who “attended schools where he was one of the only Latinos and told by classmates, go back” and then Ian Lopez, who described himself as “a Latino born and raised in Hawaii.”
Speaking about the phrase, Lopez condemned it as having a “destructiveness” and “ugliness...behind it.” Once again, a simple search will show that Lopez is, according to his Twitter profile, “a UC Berkeley law professor senior fellow” at the far-left Demos plus “the author of Dog Whistle Politics.” Yikes. So, again, someone with far-left, hate-Trump mindset already predisposed to oppose him.
As with most of these covert liberal activist cases, the liberal media can have on whomever they want (although we obviously would lobby for balance). But it’s another and far more unethical thing to trot out individuals as ordinary people when they have partisan motivations.
Over on ABC’s World News Tonight, anchor David Muir and correspondent Kyra Phillips were jazzed at former First Lady Michelle Obama going after Trump on Twitter (click “expand”):
MUIR: The President late today no longer says he is unhappy with the crowds chanting “send her back,” tonight calling them “incredible patriots” and earlier this week, this outrage, the reaction the President, when asked about it, said I'm enjoying in the fight. Tonight, what he is saying now. And former First Lady Michelle Obama, who did not mention the news directly, though she weigh in tonight with a tweet.
(....)
PHILLIPS: Tonight, Michelle Obama speaking out. The former First Lady doesn't mention the President by name, but her aim is clear, tweeting, “What truly makes our country great is its diversity....Whether we are born here or seek refuge here, there's a place for us all. We must remember it's not my America or your America. It's our America.”
And for good measure, Phillips concluded her pro-Omar piece by touting what two liberal world leaders think about all this (as if most Americans care) (click “expand”):
MUIR: World leaders are watching thus from afar and they’re weighing in on the chants and how the President is handing this?
PHILLIPS: Indeed. Strong words too. Referencing, David, the President's racist tweet, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying the comments were hurtful, wrong, and completely unacceptable. And German Prime Minister Angela Merkel also weighing, declaring that she stands in “solidarity” with the four congresswomen.
To see the relevant transcript from July 19's CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell, click “expand.”
CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell
July 19, 2019
6:38 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Warm Homecoming
NORAH O’DONNELL: Congresswoman Ilhan Omar went back to where she comes from, which is Minnesota, and received a warm welcome. The Somali-born lawmaker returned to her district last night amid her feud with President Trump, who suggested that she and three other congresswomen of color go back to the places from which they came. Dean Reynolds spoke with voters in the battleground state.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Pres. Trump Renews Attacks on Rep. Omar]
DEAN REYNOLDS: After first rejecting his ardent fans who mocked Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar this week with chants of “send her back,” today the President embraced them.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Those are incredible people. Those are incredible patriots.
REYNOLDS: Mr. Trump’s about-face on a sensitive issue was a bow to his base, enraged by Omar, an immigrant from Somalia who taunted the President as she arrived home in Minneapolis last night.
CONGRESSWOMAN ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): We are going to continue to be a nightmare for this President, because his policies are a nightmare to us.
REYNOLDS: The President was not pleased.
TRUMP: But I'm unhappy when a congresswoman goes and said, “I'm going to be the President's nightmare.” She’s lucky to be where she is.
REYNOLDS: The incendiary back and forth deepened the feud with Omar and three other Democratic congresswomen who favor impeachment.
TRUMP: A lot of people say they hate our country. I think it's a disgrace.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Omar on Attacks: ‘We Are Not Deterred’]
REYNOLDS: Some of Omar's constituents are worried. [TO UNIDENTIFIED MALE #1] Do you think there is any danger?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE #1: Absolutely. We're sitting in the cauldron here.
REYNOLDS: We sampled opinion at a farmers’ market. [TO UNIDENTIFIED MALE #2] What do you think of the fight between the congresswoman and the President?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE #2: It's ridiculous. My parents and their parents before them, they went through that. My kids shouldn't have to go through that.
REYNOLDS: But one congressional district over, it was Omar and her friends who are at fault.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE #3: The rhetoric that these individuals are spewing, it is vile It is hatred. It is even us no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE #4: I don't think those women reflect most people's views. I think this is a great country.
REYNOLDS: Are you sorry to see her, Omar, in Congress?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE #3: Absolutely.
REYNOLDS: Demonizing a Muslim congresswoman from Somali may arouse Mr. Trump's anti-immigrant base, possibly enough to win Minnesota, a state he lost by fewer than two percentage points almost three years ago. Norah?
O’DONNELL: Alright, Dean Reynolds, thank you.
(....)
6:43 p.m. Eastern [TEASE]
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Reopened Wounds]
O’DONNELL: Still ahead on the CBS Evening News, the trauma of being told, go back to where you came from. How the President's words have reopened wounds.
(....)6:45 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: “Go Back” History]
O’DONNELL: For many Americans of color, the words “go back to where you came from” cut like a knife. Hearing that sentiment from the President of the United States has, for some, brought back painful memories. Jamie Yuccas now on words that wound.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Americans Describe Being Told ‘Go Back’]
JAMIE YUCCAS: Keisuke Hoashi was in grade school when the taunts started, “go back to your country.”
KEISUKE HOASHI: At eight years old it's a powerful, horrible thing to tell someone that they don't belong there.
YUCCAS: How do you identify your nationality?
HOASHI: I always call myself a New Yorker.
YUCCAS: So, you grew up in Texas, you're an American citizen?
ALEX RODRIGUEZ: Yes.
YUCCAS: Alex Rodriguez attended schools where he was one of the only Latinos and told by classmates, go back.
RODRIGUEZ: At the time, it's awful. I would be singled out for my last name. It was basically more or less constant. Something’s different. I don't fit in as much.
IAN LOPEZ: I'm a Latino born and raised in Hawaii.
YUCCAS: Ian Lopez was told to go back as a college student in Missouri.
LOPEZ: You have to recognize the message, the destructiveness of the message, the ugliness of the intent behind it.
YUCCAS: All Americans, all successful professionals, all still reeling from the memory.
LOPEZ: These messages that you don't belong take a long-term toll.
TRUMP: If they don't like it, let 'em leave.
YUCCAS: Lopez says the words this week and the chants —
TRUMP RALLY CROWD: Send her back! Send her back!
YUCCAS: — have reopened raw wounds. [TO LOPEZ] Go back to your country. What does it mean when the President of the United States says it versus just some man on a street?
LOPEZ: It's heartbreaking on a personal level because it says the most powerful person in the United States believes that many of us don't belong.
HOASHI: If the President resorts to schoolyard taunt, then it seems to me that it gives free rein for anybody to go into those very same schoolyard taunts.
YUCCAS: Are these things you’ll ever forget?
HOASHI: I've been carrying these things around for 50 years now.
YUCCAS: Jamie Yuccas, CBS News, Los Angeles.
To see the relevant transcript from ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir on July 19, click “expand.”
ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir
July 19, 2019
6:30 p.m. Eastern [TEASE][ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: President Trump Doubles Down]
DAVID MUIR: President Trump doubling down tonight, no longer saying he is upset with those who chanted “send her back.” What he is saying now. And first lady Michelle Obama tonight, not directly referencing the headlines, but tweeting late today.
(....)
6:36 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: President Doubles Down]
MUIR: The President late today no longer says he is unhappy with the crowds chanting “send her back,” tonight calling them “incredible patriots” and earlier this week, this outrage, the reaction the President, when asked about it, said I'm enjoying in the fight. Tonight, what he is saying now. And former First Lady Michelle Obama, who did not mention the news directly, though she weigh in tonight with a tweet. Here is ABC's Kyra Philips tonight.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; President Doubles Down; Trump: Crowd Chanting Send Her Back “Patriots”]
KYRA PHILLIPS: Tonight, President Trump defending his North Carolina supporters who chanted this about Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar who came to the U.S. as a child refugee from Somalia.
TRUMP RALLY CROWD: Send her back! Send her back!
PHILLIPS: The chant was inspired by the President's racist tweet suggesting four Democratic congresswomen “go back” to the countries they came from, even though all are American citizens and three of them were born here. Under pressure from his own party, the President said he felt “a bit badly” about the chant and was “not happy.” Today, a different tune.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You know what I'm unhappy with? I'm unhappy with the fact that a congresswoman can hate our country. [SCREEN WIPE] Those people in North Carolina, that stadium was packed. It was a record crowd and I could have filled it ten times, as you know. Those are incredible people. Those are incredible patriots.
PHILLIPS: Later, I pressed him. [TO TRUMP] The chant, “send her home,” is it racist to you?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Say it?
PHILLIPS: The chant, “send her home,” is that —
TRUMP: No, you know what's racist to me? When someone goes out and says the horrible things about our country, the people of our country. [SCREEN WIPE] I think to me, that's a disgrace. And we should never forget it. We're dealing with people that hate our country.
PHILLIPS: Tonight, Michelle Obama speaking out. The former First Lady doesn't mention the President by name, but her aim is clear, tweeting, “What truly makes our country great is its diversity....Whether we are born here or seek refuge here, there's a place for us all. We must remember it's not my America or your America. It's our America.”
MUIR: So, let's get right to Kyra Phillips live at the White House tonight. World leaders are watching thus from afar and they’re weighing in on the chants and how the President is handing this?
PHILLIPS: Indeed. Strong words too. Referencing, David, the President's racist tweet, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying the comments were hurtful, wrong, and completely unacceptable. And German Prime Minister Angela Merkel also weighing, declaring that she stands in “solidarity” with the four congresswomen. David.
MUIR: Kyra, thank you.
