Amidst the almost wall-to-wall coverage of the second Trump impeachment trial, there were more than a few unrelated news stories to talk about, including new nursing home bombshells involving Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) and then the suspension of White House Deputy Press Secretary TJ Ducklo for sexist and threatening attacks against Politico’s Tara Palmeri.
And on Friday night’s broadcast network newscasts, they all chose to finally acknowledge but downplay the Cuomo story while ABC and NBC skipped over Ducklo. Of course, if the parties were reversed in both stories, there’s little doubt both stories would have received full segments.
ABC, CBS, and NBC covered for Cuomo on Thursday night’s newscasts and the Friday morning shows, but ABC’s World News Tonight, the CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News ended their silence on the admission from a top Cuomo aide that the state dramatically underreported the number of patients placed in nursing homes by 40 percent.
Worse yet, the aide admitted that they had done so out of fear the actual facts would be used against them by the Trump Justice Department and apologized not to New York families, but New York Democratic lawmakers.
However, the “big three” networks only offered a combined one minute and 14 seconds.
ABC correspondent Whit Johnson used up 26 seconds of a larger COVID segment to tuck that in while NBC senior national correspondent Miguel Almaguer did the same and doled out a scant 17 seconds (click “expand”):
WHIT JOHNSON [ABC]: But tonight, new questions about the impact of the pandemic on the most vulnerable Americans. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo under fire, accused of covering up the state's true death toll in nursing homes. A top aide admitting that the governor’s office withheld the numbers, saying they would “be used against us” by the Trump Justice Department. This after a recent report found the deaths were undercounted by a much as 50 percent.
(....)
MIGUEL ALMAGUER [NBC]: In New York, where indoor dining resumed today, Governor Cuomo coming under fire after a top aide said his administration delayed releasing accurate data on nursing home deaths as well as on the more than 9,000 COVID patients transferred to long-term care facilities.
NBC’s puny nod came despite anchor Lester Holt dedicating an opening tease to Cuomo, warning of “outrage over New York’s nursing homes” with “Cuomo under fire” for “[w]hat a top aide admitted about COVID deaths.”
CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell also teased the damning news and dedicated a separate news brief to Cuomo, but that only ran for 31 seconds:
Tonight, there are bipartisan calls for an investigation into New York Governor Andrew Cuomo after his top aide admitted to democratic lawmakers that the Cuomo administration intentionally underreported the state's COVID death toll in nursing homes. In recent weeks, a court order and the state's attorney general forced Cuomo's office to admit the death toll is nearly 15,000, thousands more than previously reported. The governor's aide said it was done out of fear that the Trump administration would use the numbers against Cuomo.
Pivoting to Ducklo, the Jen Psaki lieutenant was suspended for a week without pay after Vanity Fair went public with comments Ducklo made threatening to ruin Palmeri for reporting on his relationship with Axios’s Alexi McCammond and belittled Palmeri’s love life.
The article revealed that Psaki and other top White House communications aides knew about Ducklo’s behavior, but only had him write a note of apology to Palmeri as they also reached out to Politico officials to express their regrets.
After Psaki faced tough questions at Friday’s White House press briefing, NBC Nightly News and World News Tonight gave the Biden administration an assist by refusing to cover it.
Meanwhile, the CBS Evening News covered the scandal for 17 seconds. White House correspondent Weijia Jiang (who asked one of those questions) ended her report from the North Lawn by calling out this disconnect between the administration’s call for civility and decency versus Ducklo’s behavior but refused to mention him by name:
Here at the White House, you can see the First Lady has decorated for Valentine's day. President Biden has said he wanted to restore decency and vowed to fire anyone on the spot who was disrespectful. But tonight, a deputy press secretary has only been suspended for one week after using sexist and threatening language with a female reporter.
The downplaying of Cuomo’s massive scandal and largely ignoring Ducklo’s ugly behavior toward a female reporter was made possible thanks to advertisers such as Allegra (on CBS), Consumer Cellular (on NBC), and Humana (on ABC). Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page. CBS Evening has also asked people to text anchor Norah O’Donnell at this number: (202) 217-1107.
To see the relevant network transcripts from February 12, click “expand.”
ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir
February 12, 2021
6:45 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; Vaccines to Pharmacies; One Million Doses Sent to 6,500 Locations Across U.S.]
WHIT JOHNSON: But tonight, new questions about the impact of the pandemic on the most vulnerable Americans. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo under fire, accused of covering up the state's true death toll in nursing homes. A top aide admitting that the governor’s office withheld the numbers, saying they would “be used against us” by the Trump Justice Department. This after a recent report found the deaths were undercounted by a much as 50 percent.
—
CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell
February 12, 2021
6:31 p.m. Eastern [TEASE][ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; Nursing Home Deaths]
NORAH O’DONNELL: Plus, an aide to New York governor Cuomo admits the state intentionally underreported the death toll in nursing homes.
(....)
6:43 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; White House Suspends Press Aide Accused of Threatening Reporter]
WEIJIA JIANG: Here at the White House, you can see the First Lady has decorated for Valentine's day. President Biden has said he wanted to restore decency and vowed to fire anyone on the spot who was disrespectful. But tonight, a deputy press secretary has only been suspended for one week after using sexist and threatening language with a female reporter.
(...)
6:43 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; Cuomo Under Fire for Alleged Nursing Home Death Toll Cover-Up]
O’DONNELL: Tonight, there are bipartisan calls for an investigation into New York Governor Andrew Cuomo after his top aide admitted to democratic lawmakers that the Cuomo administration intentionally underreported the state's COVID death toll in nursing homes. In recent weeks, a court order and the state's attorney general forced Cuomo's office to admit the death toll is nearly 15,000, thousands more than previously reported. The governor's aide said it was done out of fear that the Trump administration would use the numbers against Cuomo.
—
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
February 12, 2021
7:01 p.m. Eastern [TEASE][ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; Nursing Home Outrage]
LESTER HOLT: Outrage over New York’s nursing homes. Governor Andrew Cuomo under fire. What a top aide admitted about COVID deaths.
(....)
7:10 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; Cuomo Aide Delayed Data on Nursing Homes Deaths]
MIGUEL ALMAGUER: In New York, where indoor dining resumed today, Governor Cuomo coming under fire after a top aide said his administration delayed releasing accurate data on nursing home deaths as well as on the more than 9,000 COVID patients transferred to long-term care facilities.
