On Tuesday, ABC’s Good Morning America was somewhere between apoplectic and forlorn over former President Trump’s two-hour-long interview with X owner and entrepreneur Elon Musk on everything from artificial intelligence to the assassination attempt on Trump’s life to the economy to immigration to North Korea.
Despite its depth, length, and the number of topics (none of which Kamala Harris seems willing to do with anyone anytime soon), ABC kvetched that it was little more than “a very familiar pattern of controversial statements, insults and attacks” from Trump that included “anti-Semitic” remarks and “brushing off dire warnings about the impact of climate change.”
This segment from ABC's 'Good Morning America' is wild. Absurd framing, starting with Stephanopoulos boasting of Trump "struggling to counter the rise of Kamala Harris".
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 13, 2024
It got worse with Kamala tool @RachelVScott huffing @realDonaldTrump and @ElonMusk's @X conversation was no… pic.twitter.com/yIKA8IyywD
Co-host and former NFL player Michael Strahan read what was probably penned for him in a tease:
Trump bringing up false claims and controversial statements, laying out what he would do if reelected, including shutting down the Department of Education and ignoring concerns about the impact of climate change. Trump also attacking Vice President Harris and President Biden. How the Harris campaign is responding this morning.
Co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos also understood the assignment. He bragged that Trump’s “struggl[ing] to counter the rise of Kamala Harris” (as though the election’s over) and hyped the real headline was the interview “was hampered by technical issues.”
Senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott — who harangued Trump during that now-infamous National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) event — shilled for her friends in the Harris campaign from the get-go:
This all got off to a rocky start. The conversation was delayed by more than 40 minutes because of tech issues. Elon Musk said he wanted to have this conversation so the former President could appeal to independent voters. But Trump fell into a very familiar pattern of controversial statements, insults and attacks.
Scott made sure to emphasize January 6 as for why he was kicked off the site formerly known as Twitter crashed ahead of time, but almost suggested Musk lied because she declared there’s “no evidence” a cyberattack took place. She then (click “expand”):
SCOTT: Overnight, Donald Trump’s vaunt return to the platform that once banished him for posting false claims about the election. The company saying at the time the account was permanently suspended “due to the further risk of incitement of violence.” It was reinstated by Elon Musk in November of 2022 when Musk bought the company. Trump returning to the conversation Monday for a conversation with Musk. Technical issues delaying it from the start for more than 40 minutes. Musk claiming a so-called denial of service attack, a kind of cyberattack that floods a server with traffic to force it offline, saying the “massive attack illustrates there’s a lot of opposition to people just hearing what President Trump has to say,” though he provided no evidence of such a cyberattack.
MUSK: Alright, hello, everyone. So my apologies for the late start.
SCOTT: Users getting messages like this saying “details not available”. Those able to get into the livestream, welcomed by hold music, then silence. X saying more than a million people eventually signed on.
(....)
SCOTT: Over two hours, the former President drifted into bringing up false claims, insults and controversial statements. Trump praising his relationships with authoritarian leaders, saying he got along well with North Korean leader Kim Jong un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
TRUMP: I get along with Kim Jong Un. We had dinner. We had everything and he — he really liked me and I got along with him.
Instead of playing audio, Scott merely summarized a portion about Russia’s Vladimir Putin, saying “Trump also describ[ed] a conversation he had with Putin about invading Ukraine, claiming he told him not to invade” and kvetched that Trump would shut down the Department of Education.
After running a statement on the interview from the Harris campaign as if she works there, Scott huffed about Trump “brushing off dire warnings about the impact of climate change,” “promised the largest deportation in history,” and “repeating claims that have been widely called anti-Semitic” by criticizing Jewish people who want to support Harris.
And, to show how dense her hatred is, Scott seemed offended that President Biden’s name came up: “And, in a sign how much he’s struggled to pivot to a new rival, Trump also spent time attack President Biden even though he’s no longer in the race.”
CBS Mornings and NBC’s Today were at least able to keep themselves from discombobulating.
CBS’s Ed O’Keefe largely let soundbites from Trump and Musk speak for themselves, but co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King whined in the “Eye Opener” that Trump “attack[ed] his rivals, spread falsehoods, and discuss the attempt on his life.”
Tossing to O’Keefe, King further complained: “It was delayed by technical difficulties and gave Trump an opportunity to focus on familiar falsehoods and personal attacks.”
Over on NBC, correspondent Garrett Haake also took Scott’s approach to imply Musk lied about the cyberattack (“blamed without evidence on a hack”), whined that Trump “mispronounced Harris’s name”, and boasted Trump “prais[ed] Musk” for “mass firings and layoffs at his multiple companies”.
To see the relevant ABC transcript from August 13, click here.
