When will the liberal media spend their newscasts touting their correspondents chasing Democrats around the Capitol and hounding them over the last Biden controversy? That’s a question upon seeing ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS Mornings give full reports Wednesday to putting GOP Senator Tommy Tuberville (AL) on blast for a gaffe about military recruitment and white nationalism.
Though Tuberville originally made the comments in May while responding to a gotcha question on an Alabama radio show about whether white nationalists should be allowed in the military (and Tuberville saying he sees them as Americans), the controversy resurfaced thanks to the ill-advised choice to appear on CNN for the inaugural episode of The Source with Kaitlan Collins.
A Democratic donor herself, CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King was all in:
Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville is coming under fire for not clearly calling White nationalism what it is, racism, and that is drawing criticism from both sides of the aisle. Last night, Tuberville appear to walk back some of his comments when he was pressed by our Scott MacFarlane on Capitol Hill.
With January 6 no longer able to be the apple of his eye, MacFarlane took this and, after catching viewers up to speed with short soundbites, he boasted that Tuberville’s comments “[drew] a scathing rebuke from the Democratic leader in the Senate.”
MacFarlane continued, constructing the implicit narrative of the GOP having a racism problem and bragging GOP senators spent Tuesday being “faced with” queries about Tuberville (click “expand”):
MACFARLANE: Late last year, the Republican Party was forced to respond when former President Donald Trump had dinner with White nationalist, Nick Fuentes. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell again made it clear where he stood after Tuberville’s comments —
SENATE MINORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): White supremacy is simply unacceptable in the military and in our whole country.
MACFARLANE: — as GOP senators we’re faced with this question throughout the day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER [TO SCOTT]: Do you believe that White nationalists are racist?
SENATOR RICK SCOTT (R-FL): If you’re a White nationalist, absolutely.
MacFarlane painted himself as the hero:
MACFARLANE: When we caught up with him late in the day, Tuberville clarified his comments. [TO TUBERVILLE] What is a White nationalist?
TUBERVILLE: White nationalist is somebody that thinks that they should be the only ones in this country, okay?
MACFARLANE: Racist, all the time.
TUBERVILLE: Right, right. Racist. That’s what I’m saying.
Unlike ABC, CBS’s MacFarlane ended by highlighting “a separate controversy” for Tuberville as he’s holding up “senior military officer promotions and appointments...in protest of a Pentagon policy that pays for the time off and travel for service members who seek abortion services.”
A former Democratic Party hack, ABC co-host George Stephanopoulos also did his part for The Cause, reading this tease: “Also this morning, the Republican senator under fire for what he said about white nationalists. Rachel Scott presses him on whether white nationalists are racist. What he’s saying now.”
With the chyron reading “U.S. Senator Under Fire” and “Tuberville Reverses Claim After White Nationalist Comments Spark Backlash,” congressional correspondent Rachel Scott explained Tuberville “only walk[ed] back those comments after top Republicans here on Capitol Hill started to distance themselves...and after he faced repeated questions from reporters.”
Making the press the hero of this story, she later explained:
I asked him to clarify his comments and whether he believes that white nationalists who espouse white supremacy and who believe that the white race is superior are racist, he pushed back against that definition but also said that he’s against racism. Then, hours later, he suddenly reversed course. When pressed by reporters once again, he said for first time that white nationalists are racists, something he refused to say for months, George.
Stephanopoulos was flabbergasted, telling Scott “[t]hat was something.”
This double standard from ABC and CBS was brought to you by advertisers such as Kohl’s (on ABC) and Neutrogena (on CBS). Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcripts from July 12, click here (for ABC) and here (for CBS).
