In reacting to President Trump’s 2020 RNC speech on Thursday night, ABC made sure their coverage reflected the total opposite of how they basked in and marveled at Joe Biden’s speech. Instead, they decried it as a “no hope” speech “filled with” “darkness,” entitlement, “harsh attacks,” lacked energy, and dared to suggest Biden would reenact lockdowns if elected.
Chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl was most effusive of Biden’s speech, calling it his “finest hour” and “the speech of his life.” But after saying Trump had “moments of hopefulness,” he dispensed with pleasantries to lament the “darkness” of Trump’s remarks calling out Biden’s fealty to China and policies that would destroy “the American dream.”
Karl huffed that along with the fireworks display and White House speech being “possibly illegal,” Trump gave “one of the longest and lowest energy speeches that I have seen the President give.”
Hilariously, chief anchor and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos replied that was what the Biden campaign had said about the speech in using the term “low energy.”
Speaking of Stephanopoulos, he was incredibly the most balanced of ABC’s roster. He said Biden had “a forceful end” and “a stark speech for a stark time” and for Trump, he credited the President for “open[ing]” and “clos[ing] with optimism.”
“It was filled with harsh attacks. Also, the President saying he kept his promises and a litany of what he wanted to do in a second term,” he added.
Senior national correspondent Terry Moran didn’t sound off on Biden’s speech last Thursday, but he was there to complain about Trump coming off as monarchical:
I think the most impressive thing about this speech, which did go on for a long time and he did seem to run out of steam, is this backdrop and his statement: We're here and they're not. The people's house. He believes — he's living there, but he’s also essentially claiming it almost as a matter of right. It is a new kind of politics in America.
Senior congressional correspondent Mary Bruce hailed Biden’s speech as “intimate” and “passionate,” but when it came to Trump, she focused on the Biden camp’s reaction and tweets.
In part, she boasted that “even before the President started speaking, the Biden campaign was fighting back” and took “a page out of Trump's playbook, live tweeting throughout the speech.”
Stephanopoulos asserted “there's going to be a lot of fact-checking going from the speech from his opponents, from independent fact-checkers” and went to World News Tonight anchor David Muir to defend Biden over his claim (to Muir last week) that he could very well enact a nationwide lockdown to thwart the coronavirus (click “expand”):
STEPHANOPOULOS: David Muir, there's going to be a lot of fact-checking going from the speech from his opponents, from independent fact-checkers. There was one line that he took directly from your interview with Joe Biden, but basically twisted what Biden said into something he didn't say.
MUIR: Yeah, this is a blueprint, I think, from President Trump tonight. He essentially sign posted how he's going to go after Joe Biden and defend himself on his handling of the pandemic. George, what you're talking about is this particular line. The President tonight said that “Joe Biden wants to inflict a painful shutdown on the entire country. A “shutdown would inflict unthinkable and lasting harm on our nation's children, families, and citizens.” He said “the cost of a Biden shutdown” and he measured it in different ways. I want to go back to my interview. We pulled the transcript just to make sure people at home know that we're reading exactly what was said. You know, I asked Joe Biden if he were elected, and coronavirus combined with flu, and of course scientists have said that’s a real possibility, I asked him, would he be prepared to shut down the country again. This is what Joe Biden said. “I would be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives. Because we cannot get the country moving forward until we control the virus.” And then he pointed out, he said, “that's the fundamental flaw of this administration, the Trump administration's thinking to begin with, in order to keep the country running and moving and the economy growing and people employed, you have to fix the virus, you have to deal with the virus.” That's when I pressed and said, “so, if the scientists say shut it down,” he said, “I would listen to the scientists.” He was trying to draw a line there, between science and what he believes has been a failure on the part of the Trump administration in doing so. But President Trump made it clear tonight he's going to label this now the Biden shutdown going forward.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Right and said — and the President said instead of following science, when, in fact, what Biden told you —
MUIR: Right, exactly. He flipped it around.
STEPHANOPOULOS: — he would follow the science.
When it came to Biden’s DNC speech, Muir merely summarized key lines from his speech to serve as analysis.
ABC News Live host Linsey Davis hailed Biden last week as “genuine” and “sincere,” but didn’t have anything close to say about Trump. Instead, she only fact-checked Trump’s claim about being the President that’s done the most for African-Americans.
As for ABC’s liberal panelists, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel slammed Trump for “trying to push COVID to the rearview mirror” in what was a “dark,” “no hope,” and “stressful” speech that was “out of ideas and therefore out of time.”
Yvette Simpson lamented that Trump wouldn’t alluded to black people killed by police, but credited him for energizing the leftist base and having “amplified systemic racism” for all to see.
And again to ABC’s credit, they were the only network to provide reaction from conservative and Republican voices. As they did with both conventions, Stephanopoulos called on former Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) and Sara Fagen (click “expand”):
STEPHANOPOULOS: Chris Christie, what worked, what didn't?
CHRISTIE: I think the contrast that he set up with Biden on the issues worked. He tried to send a very clear picture on what America would look like under him versus what America would look like under Joe Biden. I would have done away with some of the State of the Union stuff. The backward looking stuff, I don't think really did anything for him tonight, but that contrast between he and Biden, I think sets the stage for the next 67 days.
(....)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Sara Fagen, we're seeing this spectacle there in Washington and all across the mall. That is a massive fireworks display.
FAGEN: It is.
STEPHANOPOULOS: — right there, set off by President Trump and this was clearly a Donald Trump production.
FAGEN: It was unquestionably the greatest Donald Trump production ever. And look, I think he gave this speech that conservatives love. He gave the speech that Yvette would have liked Biden to give to progressives. Conservatives loved this speech.
ABC went commercial free on Thursday night for the RNC coverage, but go here to read more about the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back campaign.
To see the relevant ABC transcript from August 27, click “expand.”
ABC’s The Republican National Convention -- Your Voice/Your Vote 2020
August 27, 2020
11:35 p.m. EasternGEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Clocking in at just over 70 minutes, second-longest convention acceptance speech in American history. Bet you can guess who had the first. It was Donald Trump in 2016, that was 76 minutes. Just about everything else in this convention acceptance speech is different and unusual. The setting, first of all, as we see the fireworks now by the Washington Monument. The setting, the White House. It is known as the people's house. Tonight, President Trump reveled in the fact that we, speaking of his supporters, are there, and they, his opponents, are not. Opened up with a lot of optimism, said he was brimming with confidence in the bright future we are building for America. Closed with optimism, as well. Saying nothing is impossible. In between, something of a mix between a State of the Union and a rally stump speech. So you see 2020 right there. Donald Trump mentioned Joe Biden 41 times. At least 41 times in his speech. The previous record was set by George H.W. Bush in 1992, there were eight. Joe Biden, last week, did not mention Donald Trump's name. It was filled with harsh attacks. Also, the President saying he kept his promises and a litany of what he wanted to do in a second term. Chris Christie, what worked, what didn't?
CHRIS CHRISTIE: I think the contrast that he set up with Biden on the issues worked. He tried to send a very clear picture on what America would look like under him versus what America would look like under Joe Biden. I would have done away with some of the State of the Union stuff. The backward looking stuff, I don't think really did anything for him tonight, but that contrast between he and Biden, I think sets the stage for the next 67 days.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Rahm Emanuel, what is Biden going to have to respond to from tonight?
RAHM EMANUEL: Well, first of all, say the truth about what happened to this country and is still happening under COVID. They are trying to push COVID to the rearview mirror and try to replace it with crime and safety and COVID is where he gets his worst scores and the American people know of all stripes, all partisanship what has happened to the United States and he failed under that and nobody can run for re-election as a failure and I think, let me say this, this is not morning in America again, which is what Reagan ran on. This is not building a bridge to the 21st century, which Bill Clinton ran on in ‘96. This was, in my view, out of ideas and therefore out of time. I agree with Chris that the best part of the speech was the contrast, but it was so dark and stressful that there's no hope in that message.
STEPHANOPOULOS: David Muir, there's going to be a lot of fact-checking going from the speech from his opponents, from independent fact-checkers. There was one line that he took directly from your interview with Joe Biden, but basically twisted what Biden said into something he didn't say.
DAVID MUIR: Yeah, this is a blueprint, I think, from President Trump tonight. He essentially sign posted how he's going to go after Joe Biden and defend himself on his handling of the pandemic. George, what you're talking about is this particular line. The President tonight said that “Joe Biden wants to inflict a painful shutdown on the entire country. A “shutdown would inflict unthinkable and lasting harm on our nation's children, families, and citizens.” He said “the cost of a Biden shutdown” and he measured it in different ways. I want to go back to my interview. We pulled the transcript just to make sure people at home know that we're reading exactly what was said. You know, I asked Joe Biden if he were elected, and coronavirus combined with flu, and of course scientists have said that’s a real possibility, I asked him, would he be prepared to shut down the country again. This is what Joe Biden said. “I would be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives. Because we cannot get the country moving forward until we control the virus.” And then he pointed out, he said, “that's the fundamental flaw of this administration, the Trump administration's thinking to begin with, in order to keep the country running and moving and the economy growing and people employed, you have to fix the virus, you have to deal with the virus.” That's when I pressed and said, “so, if the scientists say shut it down,” he said, “I would listen to the scientists.” He was trying to draw a line there, between science and what he believes has been a failure on the part of the Trump administration in doing so. But President Trump made it clear tonight he's going to label this now the Biden shutdown going forward.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Right and said — and the President said instead of following science, when, in fact, what Biden told you —
MUIR: Right, exactly. He flipped it around.
STEPHANOPOULOS: — he would follow the science. Linsey Davis, the President repeated one of his favorite lines tonight — look at the fireworks right there. That he's done more for black Americans than any president since Abraham Lincoln.
LINSEY DAVIS: Right. Just for some perspective and context there. Under Lyndon B. Johnson, blacks got the right to vote. FDR passed labor laws that banned discriminatory practices in the workplace. Under Truman, armed forces were desegregated. Household median income for blacks was actually higher before President Trump took office.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Yvette Simpsons, one of the other things we heard tonight, the President spoke of police officers killed in the line of duty. He did not mention black Americans who had been killed or shot by police officers.
YVETTE SIMPSON: Again, a major outage, which we will weigh against his claim that he's done so much for black people. I will tell you what he has done, though. He has fueled one of the most significant civil rights movements that we've seen since the ‘60s, probably one of the biggest global movements ever. He’s amplified systemic racism in this country and for that I say thank you.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Sara Fagen, we're seeing this spectacle there in Washington and all across the mall. That is a massive fireworks display.
SARA FAGEN: It is.
STEPHANOPOULOS: — right there, set off by President Trump and this was clearly a Donald Trump production.
FAGEN: It was unquestionably the greatest Donald Trump production ever. And look, I think he gave this speech that conservatives love. He gave the speech that Yvette would have liked Biden to give to progressives. Conservatives loved this speech.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Jon Karl?
JONATHAN KARL: Well, I — I have to say, George, there were — there were moments of hopefulness. He did say, when I am re-elected, the best is yet to come. The staging, you can hear the fireworks right here, was really quite incredible, possibly illegal in terms of the use of government property for such an overt political event. But — but darkness, George. He said China would own the United States if Biden is elected. That Biden would abolish the suburbs, that — that — that — that he would destroy the American dream and I have to say, it's also one of the longest and lowest energy speeches that I have seen the President give.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Yeah, the Biden campaign — there we see the entire Trump family up there — Biden campaign is calling it low energy. Perhaps to taunt the President. Terry Moran, he did say that China wanted to elect Joe Biden. He was referring, of course, to those intelligence reports about foreign interference. He did not mention those same intelligence reports suggested that Russia wants to see him win.
TERRY MORAN: Yeah, there's going to be a ton of foreign interference in this election and there are so many ways in. I think the most impressive thing about this speech, which did go on for a long time and he did seem to run out of steam, is this backdrop and his statement: We're here and they're not. The people's house. He believes — he's living there, but he’s also essentially claiming it almost as a matter of right. It is a new kind of politics in America.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And Mary Bruce, outside those gates, the protesters chanted all through the speech and the Biden campaign was actively responding for all 70 minutes.
MARY BRUCE: Yeah, George, even before the President started speaking, the Biden campaign was fighting back, as the President leans into this law and order message and argues that Americans would be less safe if Biden is president. Biden has been saying, look, everything that is happening right now is happening under Donald Trump's America. Joe Biden taking a page out of Trump's playbook, live tweeting throughout the speech, saying: “Remember: every example of violence Donald Trump decries has happened on his watch. Under his leadership. During his presidency.”
