With Major League Baseball having moved its All-Star Game from the majority-Black Atlanta, Georgia to the heavily White Denver, Colorado, Tuesday’s CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News were enthralled with the decision, having done their parts to further lie about Georgia’s voting law and tout President Biden’s threat to any state that’s thinking about securing elections.
And having sucked up to Colorado by peddling the narrative that Colorado’s voting laws are some sort of gold standard, they left those comparisons behind and instead celebrated the mid-summer classic coming to the Centennial State.
CBS spent two minutes and 12 seconds reveling in this economic hit to Georgia. Anchor Norah O’Donnell boasted of the “battle between politicians and big business” with “[m]ore than 40 states hav[ing] proposed or passed new restrictive voting laws, and corporations are being pressured to respond” and MLB’s move being the biggest example.
White House correspondent Nancy Cordes voiced the left’s jubilation: “Georgia's loss is Colorado's gain. The governor, Jared Polis, said today the All-Star game will bring nearly $200 million to his state.”
After saying that “MLB's power play infuriated Republicans,” Cordes did what the liberal media have done for weeks, which was treat Republican statements about the Georgia law with skepticism: “They insist the new Georgia law wasn't designed to restrict minority voting.”
Cordes brought in CBS News election law expert David Becker to do Stacey Abrams’s bidding with a garbage time solo shot to Republicans about Georgia’s early voting period (click “expand”):
CORDES: But CBS News election law expert David Becker read the Georgia law. His take:
BECKER: And there are some good things there, like an expansion of early voting. But there are also some things that are really questionable that could be really bad, basically highly restricting drop boxes, a criminalization of providing food or beverage to someone waiting in line. Those kinds of things should raise concerns.
CORDES: He says he's even more concerned about a Texas bill that would eliminate drive-through voting and limit voting machines and voting hours.
The chyron that appeared as Becker spoke? “Debate Rages as Republicans Push New Voting Restrictions.”
Here again, a news outlet that accepted the Democratic Big Lie as fact because, as we see with every issue, Republican proposals are some combination of controversial, racist, and wrong. And that would include Becker's furthering of the misleading claims about serving food and drink to voters (which has strangely become a life or death issue for the Democratic Party).
Speaking of lies and racism, Cordes also featured Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner (D), who insisted without pushback (and thus her approval to, according to the left’s logic) that Republican voting measures are “reminiscent of the Jim Crow era.”
She also boasted that Turner “is urging Texas-based corporations to speak up now” as well as the threat from Biden for states to “smarten up” and “stop” or they run the risk of economic consequences. While Biden refused to commit to giving his outright endorsement to The Masters being staged outside the Peach State, Cordes (and Biden) made their intentions clear.
She concluded with more fear-mongering:
Republicans in Georgia and Texas say they're just trying to improve voter security. But our elections law expert David Becker told us the Texas bill actually makes elections less secure by allowing partisan poll watchers to videotape voters at the ballot box, something that is widely viewed, Norah, as intimidation.
Over on NBC, anchor Lester Holt followed up on Monday’s act of corporate liberalism with a 20-second brief that falsely claimed the Georgia law was about “restricting voting rights”:
This summer’s All-Star Game has a new home, MLB announced the game will be played in Denver after moving it out of Atlanta in protest of Georgia’s GOP-backed new law restricting voting rights. Many Republicans have blasted the decision. Today, President Biden told Georgia and other states looking to pass similar laws to “smarten up.”
This cheering of economic loss in a majority Black city was made possible by the supportive advertisers such as Allstate and Dawn on CBS and Cadillac on NBC. Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page. CBS Evening News has also asked people to text their thoughts to O’Donnell to this number: (202) 217-1107.
To see the relevant transcripts, click “expand.”
CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell
April 6, 2021
6:31 p.m. Eastern [TEASE][ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; Voting Rights Fallout]
NORAH O’DONNELL: Vote rights fallouts. With Major League Baseball moving its all star game out of Georgia, we'll take a deeper look at the state's new voting law, the bad and the good. Why experts tell us Texas will be the next battleground.
(....)
6:41 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Voting Rights Fight]
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: MLB Moves All-Star Game to Denver Over Georgia Voting Law]
O’DONNELL: We're going to turn now to a battle between politician and big business. More than 40 states have proposed or passed new restrictive voting laws, and corporations are being pressured to respond. It's led to Major League Baseball to pull this year's All-Star Game out of Georgia. We get more now from CBS' Nancy Cordes.
NANCY CORDES: Georgia's loss is Colorado's gain. The governor, Jared Polis, said today the All-Star game will bring nearly $200 million to his state.
GOVERNOR JARED POLIS (D-CO): Colorado is really knocked one out of the park on this one.
CORDES: MLB's power play infuriated Republicans.
SENATE MINORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): I just think it's stupid.
CORDES: They insist the new Georgia law wasn't designed to restrict minority voting.
SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): To Major League Baseball, you don't know what you're talking about.
CORDES: But CBS News election law expert David Becker read the Georgia law. His take:
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; Debate Rages as Republicans Push New Voting Restrictions]
DAVID BECKER: And there are some good things there, like an expansion of early voting. But there are also some things that are really questionable that could be really bad, basically highly restricting drop boxes, a criminalinallization of providing food or beverage to someone waiting in line. Those kinds of things should raise concerns.
CORDES: He says he's even more concerned about a Texas bill that would eliminate drive-through voting and limit voting machines and voting hours.
HOUSTON MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER (D): Are these bills reminiscent of the Jim Crow era? Yes?
CORDES: Houston's mayor is urging Texas-based corporations to speak up now.
TURNER: If people remain silent will these bills pass? Absolutely.
CORDES: President Bien was asked today whether The Masters golf tournament should move out of Georgia, too. He called it a tough decision.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: The best way to deal with this is for Georgia and other states to smarten up. Stop it. Stop it.
CORDES: Republicans in Georgia and Texas say they're just trying to improve voter security. But our elections law expert David Becker told us the Texas bill actually makes elections less secure by allowing partisan poll watchers to videotape voters at the ballot box, something that is widely viewed, Norah, as intimidation.
O’DONNELL: This debate is going to continue in the courts, too. Nancy Cordes, thank you.
—
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
April 6, 2021
7:01 p.m. [TEASE][ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: All-Star Game Move]
LESTER HOLT: The new home of the All-Star game revealed.
(....)
7:23 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: All-Star Game Move]
HOLT: This summer’s All-Star Game has a new home, MLB announced the game will be played in Denver after moving it out of Atlanta in protest of Georgia’s GOP-backed new law restricting voting rights. Many Republicans have blasted the decision. Today, President Biden told Georgia and other states looking to pass similar laws to “smarten up.”
