To borrow a headline from a recent episode of the NewsBusters Podcast, Tuesday’s CBS Mornings made it even more evident that, given their persistent simping for President Biden and his political allies ahead of the midterms, they need to hear this message: Stop trying to make fetch happen.
CBS has gone above and beyond compared to its morning competitors with ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today in fixating on rescuing the left’s midterm prospects. On Tuesday, co-host Tony Dokoupil got it started by touting Biden “in campaign mode” from Labor Day as he “touted the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Democrats” and “pil[ed] criticism on Trump supporters in the GOP.”
Chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes lamented that while Biden “isn’t on the ballot this November, obviously, but his agenda will hit a wall if Republicans take back control of the House or the Senate, so he is hitting the campaign trail, trying to fend off a fate that befalls most first-term Presidents.”
Cordes offered zero pushback on Biden referring to half the country as a national security threat: “With the fall election season now in full spring, the President is stumping for other Democrats and slamming former President Trump and his supporters.”
Her counter instead was this note to viewers:
CORDES: Republicans argue the President isn't addressing the issues Americans feel most important about.
SENATOR RON JOHNSON (R-WI): It is inflation. It’s record-high gas prices and rising crime.
After hyping a two-percent increase in Biden’s approval rating from 43 to 45 percent, she boasted that “Democrats hope to buck” the normal midterms “trend” of the party in power losing seats “by capitalizing on anger over rollbacks in abortion rights.”
She insisted it’s the case because a new Wall Street Journal alleged “the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade motivating them to cast their ballots even more than inflation was.”
“It’s become a consistent theme in Democratic ads...Republicans have seen those same polls. Some of them are softening the abortion language in their campaign literature. Others are simply trying to focus on other issues, but Democrats are making that tough to do,” she added.
NBC’s Today had 23 seconds on the midterms with chief White House correspondent Kristen Welker hyping how Biden went on “the trail to boost support for Democrats in key battleground states” and “blasted the former President again, trying to cast him as a danger to the country.”
Monday’s CBS Mornings wasn’t any better with two segments over a combined five minutes and 41 seconds parroting Biden’s claims that America’s system of governance is under threat.
The January 6-obsessed Scott MacFarlane touted Biden’s “fiery speech” from last week and passed only the administration’s insistence that Biden’s ire has “only” been “directed at those who’ve insisted violence and continue to deny the 2020 election results.”
In a second segment, senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe and CBS pollster Anthony Salvanto held up a new poll as proof that Biden “may be on to something” (click “expand”):
O’KEEFE: According to the latest CBS News poll, more than 70 percent of Americans believe democracy in the United States is under threat and more than half of them believe political violence across the country will increase. CBS News elections and surveys director, Anthony Salvanto is here. He’s the guy that puts the poll together, then tells us what exactly Americans told us. Good to see you again this morning, in person. President Biden gave that big speech last week suggesting democracy is under threat and our numbers suggest he may be on to something, right?
SALVANTO: Well, the concern is out there, Ed. Take a look at the number who say they think political violence will increase. And not only is it two thirds, but that has been itself increasing; more people worried about that, though, I should say both parties say this is not a good thing, that that is a bad thing. And then we ask look ahead for the next generation, and a majority thinks the US will be less of a democracy going forward. So yes, the concern is out there, but you know, both parties blame each other for it.
O’KEEFE: Right. Democrats and Republicans both a bit strident about each other.
SALVANTO: Yes. You know, this is a really important measure going forward. When we asked Democrats, how do you see Republicans? Look across to the other side. Well, okay, about half of them, call them the opposition. That’s somebody you can go back and forth with on policy, but almost half of them call them enemies. That’s an existential threat. And then same thing goes when you ask Republicans, what do you think about Democrats? Opposition. Yes, half of them, but half of them call them enemies. And this is so important, because it tells you there is going to be an election, not just about a fight over public policy, but over the other side’s motivations.
O’KEEFE: And the perhaps, silver lining in this is it’s half of Republicans, half of Democrats feel that way. So, only about a third of the country really is feeling that way about the other side.
(....)
SALVANTO: [P]eople do worry that there’s going to be a politicized election counting process. Officials may not certify votes. So this may go on past November, in some sense, and leave people worried.
O’KEEFE: It’s not great. Here’s the good news.
SALVANTO: That’s not good, but here is where we find young people more optimistic that Americans can work out their differences. And that’s where we find the bright spot in all of this.
Tuesday’s post-Labor Day White House propaganda was made possible thanks to advertisers such as Amazon (on CBS) and Citi (on NBC). Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcripts from September 6, click “expand.”
CBS Mornings
September 6, 2022
7:01 a.m. Eastern [TEASE]UNIDENTIFIED, NEWS ANCHOR: President Biden spent his labor day in two battleground states, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: The extreme MAGA Republicans in Congress have chosen to go backwards.
(....)
7:10 a.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Biden Sharpens Midterm Message; Slams Pro-Trump Republicans, Touts Inflation Reduction Act]
TONY DOKOUPIL: Moving on to the midterms, they are just 63 days away, and President Biden is already back in campaign mode. At events in the swing states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, he touted the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Democrats and he continued a recent trend, piling criticism on Trump supporters in the GOP. For more on the President’s messaging, Nancy Cordes is at the White House for us. Nancy, good morning.
NANCY CORDES: Good morning, Tony. Yeah, the President isn’t on the ballot this November, obviously, but his agenda will hit a wall if Republicans take back control of the House or the Senate, so he is hitting the campaign trail, trying to fend off a fate that befalls most first-term Presidents.
BIDEN: Hello, Milwaukee.
CORDES: On Labor Day, President Biden hailed labor workers who were key to his victory nearly two years ago.
BIDEN: Cause I wouldn't be here without unions.
CORDES: With the fall election season now in full spring, the President is stumping for other Democrats and slamming former President Trump and his supporters.
BIDEN: The extreme MAGA Republicans in Congress have chosen to go backwards, full of anger, violence, hate, and division.
CORDES: Republicans argue the President isn't addressing the issues Americans feel most important about.
SENATOR RON JOHNSON (R-WI): It is inflation. It’s record-high gas prices and rising crime.
CORDES: Recent polling finds that the President’s approval rating is up, though he’s still well below 50 percent. In Milwaukee Monday, the state's governor campaigned with Mr. Biden, but Wisconsin’s Democratic Senate opted to go to other Labor Day events.
LT. GO. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): Send me to Washington, DC.
CORDES: Outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s Lieutenant Governor and Senate hopeful John Fetterman stumped with President Biden for the first time since suffering a stroke in May.
BIDEN: If I have to be in a fox hole, I want John Fetterman in there with me.
CORDES: Midterm elections tend to favor a party out of power, especially in times of economic uncertainty. Democrats hope to buck that trend by capitalizing on anger over rollbacks in abortion rights. In a new Wall Street Journal poll, voters said the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade motivating them to cast their ballots even more than inflation was. It’s become a consistent theme in Democratic ads.
WOMAN #1 IN JOSH SHAPIRO AD: Doug Mastriano is too extreme on abortion.
WOMAN #2 IN JOSH SHAPIRO AD: This guy is so extreme.
WOMAN #3 IN JOSH SHAPIRO AD: Way too extreme for me.
CORDES: Republicans have seen those same polls. Some of them are softening the abortion language in their campaign literature. Others are simply trying to focus on other issues, but Democrats are making that tough to do. President Biden hitting the campaign trail again, going to the battleground state of Ohio on Friday. Vlad?
VLADIMIR DUTHIERS: Alright, Nancy Cordes for us at the White House. Nancy, thank you.
-----------------------------------------------------------
NBC’s Today
September 6, 2022
7:10 a.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Biden Hits the Trail Ahead of Midterms]
KRISTEN WELKER: All of it comes with the midterms now just two months away. President Biden hitting the trail to boost support for Democrats in key battleground states. On Monday near Pittsburgh, he blasted the former President again, trying to cast him as a danger to the country.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Democracy’s really at stake. You can't be a democracy when you support violence when you don't like the outcome of an election.
