If the last few weeks have shown us anything, it’s a reminder that far too many in the liberal media will lie in the name of facts to peddle a narrative. On Monday, NBC Nightly News did its part by lying that Georgia’s voter law was “more restrictive” to voting, passed off facts about the law as merely claims, and griped that many on the right were pushing back against corporations and Major League Baseball for peddling lies.
Fresh off his admission that bias was a good thing, anchor Lester Holt showed that he’s not a fan of “fairness” (which really means objectivity): “There's new pushback tonight against Major League Baseball and companies that have criticized Georgia’s more restrictive voting law. Former President Trump among those weighing in.”
And one of the chyrons as Holt read the lead-in? “Big Business Backlash.”
The horror!
Correspondent Blayne Alexander took his cue, fretting: “Tonight, baseball's biggest battle is not on the field with anger mounting against the league for moving this summer's all-star game out of Atlanta over Georgia's controversial new voting law.”
If journalists like Alexander and Holt wouldn’t be so committed to fear-mongering, perhaps the narrative would look a little different. But since issues like COVID and voting are based in fear, too many journalists have other ideas.
After a soundbite from Governor Brian Kemp (R), Alexander said there was “growing backlash against major companies like Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines, which criticized the law after it passed” with Trump urging boycotts against both corporations and MLB.
Alexander took note of Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s refusal to throw out the first pitch at the Texas Rangers’s home open, Alexander cited the security of voter ID for an absentee ballot and Georgia’s early voting period topping blue states as merely Republican statements instead of it being the truth.
Worse yet, Alexander omitted the fact that an ID is already required for in-person voting and that those without an ID could obtain one from the state for free.
Despite the fact provided in a bite from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that “[i]t easier to vote in Georgia after the new law than it is in Delaware now, the President's home state,” Alexander pivoted right to the claims of suppression.
“But Democrats call it voter suppression, saying that those I.D. requirements, new limits on drop box usage, and banning anyone except a poll worker from offering water to voters in line all restrict access to the ballot, especially for black voters,” said Alexander.
Of course, there are some things to clear up. ID requirements for absentee voting is, again, an extension of what’s already required for in-person voting and in effect to some degree for states such Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin (and all of which voted for Biden).
Drop boxes has been a common claim of voter suppression, but in Georgia, they were only brought about (as in many states) as part of the coronavirus state of emergency, so they were put into law as they could have otherwise gone away.
And on water, it’s perhaps the most tiresome lie and has been thoroughly debunked.
Alexander concluded with an apocalyptic claim from the head of Georgia’s NAACP and her own coda about the PGA:
REV. JAMES WOODALL: There is no equivalence here. This is an assault against democracy itself. This includes rural voters, black voters, democratic voters, Republican voters.
ALEXANDER: But not all sports are getting out of town. The PGA Tour is keeping this fall's Tour Championship in Atlanta as planned.
As my colleagues have shown repeatedly, Alexander has been quite a reliable surrogate for Stacey Abrams and her campaign of lies.
NBC’s contribution to the purposeful disinformation campaign against Georgia was made possible thanks to the supportive endorsement of advertisers such as Consumer Cellular, Ford, and Swiffer. Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant NBC transcript from April 5, click “expand.”
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
April 5, 2021
7:13 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; Voting Rights Battle]
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Big Business Backlash]
LESTER HOLT: There's new pushback tonight against Major League Baseball and companies that have criticized Georgia’s more restrictive voting law. Former President Trump among those weighing in. Blayne Alexander is there.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; MLB Backlash After All-Star Game Moved from Georgia]
BLAYNE ALEXANDER: Tonight, baseball's biggest battle is not on the field. With anger mounting against the league for moving this summer's all-star game out of Atlanta over Georgia's controversial new voting law.
GOVERNOR BRIAN KEMP (R-GA) [on FNC’s The Story, 04/05/21]: We are done with the cancel culture and this pressuring. Let's just play sports and leave the politics out of it.
ALEXANDER: It comes amid growing backlash against major companies like Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines, which criticized the law after it passed. Former President Trump urging people to “boycott baseball and all the woke companies that criticized the law.” Just today, Texas Governor Greg Abbott declined to throw out the Texas Rangers’s first pitch. And the Atlanta Braves, whose players have already covered up the All-Star patch on their uniforms, expressing disappointment, writing: “This was neither our decision nor our recommendation.” Republicans say that the law makes Georgia's elections more secure by requiring I.D. to apply for an absentee ballot and they say that the law expands the early voting period longer than some blue states.
SENATE MINORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): It is easier to vote in Georgia after the new law than it is in Delaware now, the President's home state.
ALEXANDER: But Democrats call it voter suppression, saying that those I.D. requirements, new limits on drop box usage, and banning anyone except a poll worker from offering water to voters in line all restrict access to the ballot, especially for black voters.
GEORGIA NAACP PRESIDENT REV. JAMES WOODALL: There is no equivalence here. This is an assault against democracy itself. This includes rural voters, black voters, democratic voters, Republican voters.
ALEXANDER: But not all sports are getting out of town. The PGA Tour is keeping this fall's Tour Championship in Atlanta as planned. Lester?
HOLT: Alright, Blayne, thank you.
