Along with stoking racial tensions and egging on Americans to distrust and/or hate one another, some corners of the liberal media decided Friday afternoon to remind us of their affinity for the communist regime in China due to their hatred for President Trump. During two special reports, ABC and NBC collectively decried the Trump administration’s actions on China pertaining to the Wuhan coronavirus as “distracting” from his response to the pandemic and a way of “playing politics.”
In other words, ABC and NBC were unhappy that anyone would want China to be held accountable for not only their coverup of the virus’s impact but their anti-democratic moves in Hong Kong.
NBC chief foreign affairs correspondent and MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell reacted with comments that would serve as a great audition for China’s English-language network CGTN if she ever found herself needing work elsewhere.
Mitchell began by conceding that China has engaged in “bad behavior,” “cyber-hacking,” and “aggression in the South China Sea,” but quickly changed her tone to one of sadness for Trump’s “extraordinary actions.”
Adding that Trump created “a frightening development” in a feud sadly “not [being] solved through diplomacy,” Mitchell bemoaned the U.S. withdrawal from the WHO and how supposedly esteemed Chinese grad students would have a harder time studying at American universities (click “expand”):
This is a frightening development on the world stage for these issues not to be resolved through diplomacy, for this President to, as recently as January, was President Xi, January and February for his praising of the handling of the pandemic, so he went overboard in one direction at the same time that he was negotiating a trade deal and now he’s cracking down on China and getting out of the World Health Organization. We were the leader of the World Health Organization, which is not only about this COVID virus, but is about malaria, TB, HIV/AIDS, polio, tuberculosis. The support for the World Health Organization and our leadership there has been there in decades, we helped found it and for us to get out of it and take our money away and not having participated in their last big meeting on COVID-19 in London, we were the only great power, world leaders not participating is extraordinary.
Also, citing the fact that he’s going to stop the visas for graduate students from China. These are among the most valuable, intellectually valuable and also tuition-paying, full-tuition-paying graduate students in the United States. The American Association of University Presidents is very much against this. The chamber of commerce is very much against this. So, there is bipartisan support. This will be popular politically, but it also opens up a big economic gap. And he’s also threatening Chinese investors, Chinese companies on American exchanges. This is a major step.
It was fitting for Andrea to ignore how, with such an action, Chinese spy agencies would have a harder time coming into the country to cheat and steal our intellectual property and scientific research.
Over on ABC, it wasn’t any better.
“Well, he’s certainly been focusing on China as we know since the pandemic began and, in some ways, distracting from the pandemic by focusing on China, but he’s absolutely right that China is smothering Hong Kong and that they will focus on that more,” chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz griped.
Senior national correspondent Terry Moran complained that Trump was not only “bashing China,” but holding them accountable meant, to him, that Trump was “playing politics” an “trying to score some political points, reminding people why many of them supported him to begin with.”
Of course, senior White House correspondent Cecilia Vega agreed that this was only about “politics” and Trump “looking to shift blame.” Don’t worry, Xi! Cecilia is here to help (click “expand”):
VEGA: There’s certainly politics at play here. There are still trade negotiations going on with China that the President is working his way through. You know, you mentioned at the beginning he called this the Wuhan virus to begin with, so he is looking to shift blame as we are still in the middle of this coronavirus crisis also here in this country. Certainly, this is about politics. In the middle of everything that’s going on, in the middle of this pandemic, in the middle of what’s happening and this crisis --- this moment of crisis our nation is living through in Minneapolis, we sort of forget it is an election year. We are looking at five months away from an election and all of this comes into play at that. But really, to me, Terry, the headline right now is what was not said in the Rose Garden just a few moments ago.
MORAN: Alright, Cecilia Vega, thank you very much on this very important day for the United States-China relationship. With Martha Raddatz, also an important day for the presidency. As Cecilia just mentioned we’re accustomed in moments of national trauma and crisis to look to the president for words of calming, words of unifying, motivation, words essentially to get us through a hard time. And today, the President chose to bash China.
RADDATZ: He did.
However, perhaps we shouldn’t be too harsh on these ABC and NBC journalists. With the former being owned by major corporations (Disney for ABC, Comcast for NBC) with movie studios, theme parks, and other business in China, defending China comes with the territory.
To see the relevant ABC and NBC transcripts from May 29, click “expand.”
ABC News Special Report
May 29, 2020
3:00 p.m. EasternMARTHA RADDATZ: Well, he’s certainly been focusing on China as we know since the pandemic began and, in some ways, distracting from the pandemic by focusing on China, but he’s absolutely right that China is smothering Hong Kong and that they will focus on that more, the administration will focus on that more, but as you’ve heard there, Terry, at the very beginning, again, he talks about Wuhan and that lab in Wuhan and WHO as well. I think that was entirely not surprising.
(….)
3:04 p.m.
CECILIA VEGA: Yes, everything you and Martha said about at the top of this report regarding --- relating to China, this is huge news. The White House, the administration pulling out of the WHO in the middle of a global pandemic has huge implications, but the silence of what was not said in the Rose Garden right now is frankly astounding and I don’t think --- I can’t imagine any other president, frankly, walking out in the middle of a national crisis like the one that we’re living through today and not acknowledging to the country.
MORAN: He has obviously spoke about it on Twitter, as we’ve talked about and there’s no question the confrontation with China over Hong Kong and over other matters is very, very important. Do you think that, in bashing China, the President is also trying to score some political points, reminding people why many of them supported him to begin with, in taking on China and the globalization consensus that ruled in Washington. Is he playing politics, do you think, a little with this?
VEGA: There’s certainly politics at play here. There are still trade negotiations going on with China that the President is working his way through. You know, you mentioned at the beginning he called this the Wuhan virus to begin with, so he is looking to shift blame as we are still in the middle of this coronavirus crisis also here in this country. Certainly, this is about politics. In the middle of everything that’s going on, in the middle of this pandemic, in the middle of what’s happening and this crisis --- this moment of crisis our nation is living through in Minneapolis, we sort of forget it is an election year. We are looking at five months away from an election and all of this comes into play at that. But really, to me, Terry, the headline right now is what was not said in the Rose Garden just a few moments ago.
MORAN: Alright, Cecilia Vega, thank you very much on this very important day for the United States-China relationship. With Martha Raddatz, also an important day for the presidency. As Cecilia just mentioned we’re accustomed in moments of national trauma and crisis to look to the president for words of calming, words of unifying, motivation, words essentially to get us through a hard time. And today, the President chose to bash China.
RADDATZ: He did and, as Cecilia said, utter silence on what is dominating coverage in this country and the pain that the death of George Floyd caused. Those protests last night.
----
NBC News Special Report
May 29, 2020
3:01 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: The President, as you noted, he remained solely on the topic of China. Let's go to Andrea Mitchell right now. Andrew, we were talking about this and we talked earlier about the issue of leadership. What are your takeaways for what we just heard?
ANDREA MITCHELL: Well, it’s extraordinary that, despite all of China’s bad behavior, the acknowledge bad behavior not only on Wuhan, China, but years of cyber hacking and other kinds of aggression in the South China Sea there's been plenty of evidence of that, but now you have the two superpowers, the only two remaining economic superpowers, the U. S. and China coming behind and now what the Chinese have called a new cold war. This is a frightening development on the world stage for these issues not to be resolved through diplomacy, for this President to, as recently as January, was President Xi, January and February for his praising of the handling of the pandemic, so he went overboard in one direction at the same time that he was negotiating a trade deal and now he’s cracking down on China and getting out of the World Health Organization. We were the leader of the World Health Organization, which is not only about this COVID virus, but is about malaria, TB, HIV/AIDS, polio, tuberculosis. The support for the World Health Organization and our leadership there has been there in decades, we helped found it and for us to get out of it and take our money away and not having participated in their last big meeting on COVID-19 in London, we were the only great power, world leaders not participating is extraordinary. Also, citing the fact that he’s going to stop the visas for graduate students from China. These are among the most valuable, intellectually valuable and also tuition-paying, full-tuition-paying graduate students in the United States. The American Association of University Presidents is very much against this. The chamber of commerce is very much against this. So, there is bipartisan support. This will be popular politically, but it also opens up a big economic gap. And he’s also threatening Chinese investors, Chinese companies on American exchanges. This is a major step.
