On Thursday, the nervous sweat had yet to wear off on ABC’s Good Morning America from their weak knees and clammy palms from their Tuesday and Wednesday shows recapping the Democratic National Convention.
This time, the played the role of Russia Today anchors promoting their party’s vice presidential candidate Tim Walz as a scandal-free “[s]ocial studies teacher, retired National Guard member, high school football coach” who “electrified this arena...with a pep talk for the nation” calling on those listening “to give it their all” to save the country from the GOP.
I'm once again here to showcase how much of an ebullient Biden-Harris cheerleader ABC's Mary Bruce is.
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 22, 2024
She's definitely hot and bothered by everything #DNC. pic.twitter.com/G1MnM9ydDO
Co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos got things going in the opening tease: “Governor Walz takes the stage at the Democratic Convention...Social studies teacher, retired National Guard member, high school football coach...with his wife and children cheering him on. Former President Bill Clinton and TV legend Oprah Winfrey takes the stage, too.”
Chief pom-pom waver Mary Bruce was bursting at the seams in excitement in her lead-off report, insisting the man who’s lied about his children being conceived using IVF and his military service to name a few came with “straight talk” to give “a heartfelt pitch”:
Well, it is safe to say that, just a few weeks ago, many Americans had never heard of Tim Walz. But last night, he electrified this arena, the nation hearing his personal story and meeting his adoring and very proud family. Walz shared plenty of straight talk and made a heartfelt pitch for the ticket. The former high school football coach leaving it all on the field. Overnight, Coach Walz with a pep talk for the nation.
In between soundbites of Walz’s speech, Bruce beamed that Walz’s “family [was] bursting with pride” as he “shar[ed] his story growing up in a small town in Nebraska.”
“The 24-year veteran and six term congressman, an avid hunter who’s fought for gun reforms, a former social studies teacher who passed free meals for all school children...But Walz also taking on the traditional running mate role of attack dog,” Bruce swooned.
Before shifting to celebrities, Bruce said “[t]he former high school football coach urging supporters to give it their all.”
Bruce saved some energy for cheering the presence of “star power”, “the queen of television” in Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton, “[t]he man from Hope now saying the nation needs a president of joy.”
Speaking of the “classic” Winfrey, Bruce said “[h]er first speech at a political convention” consisted of “urging Americans to vote their values” and “bringing the crowd their feet with her signature crescendo.”
Bruce concluded with a preview of the kisses she’ll apply to Harris on Thursday night and Friday morning:
She is, of course, going to share her personal story, as the daughter of immigrant, arguing that she understands the middle class experience. She’ll talk about her work as a prosecutor, as she now prosecutes the case against Trump, and she will most certainly share her vision of hope and optimism for the future[.]
Stephanopoulos and devoutly anti-Trump correspondent Rachel Scott gave a few minutes to the Trump campaign, but instead of letting Trump speak for himself, they painted a wildly partisan picture of Trump doing little at his rallies except engaging in “personal attacks” and “anti-Semitic” smears with policy being all but nonexistent (click “expand”):
STEPHANOPOULOS: Trump out on the trail yesterday, Rachel. His team keeps telling him to talk about policy, but he just can’t help himself.
SCOTT: Yeah. The former President, George, is making it clear he is not going to stay away from those personal attacks. And it’s also clear he’s been watching what has been playing out here at the Democratic National Convention. He went on to attack someone who’s not even on the Democratic ticket, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, calling him a highly overrated Jewish governor, claiming that the speech that he gave was poorly delivered. Now, Shapiro, of course, was on the short list to be Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate. He did deliver a blistering speech, going after the Republican ticket, accusing them of trying to take away freedoms of Americans. But that reaction from Donald Trump, part of a larger pattern. The former President has attacked Jewish people who are supporting Vice President Kamala Harris in comments that have been labeled as anti-Semitic. Now, the former President has been out on the campaign trail doing a blitz across the battleground states, really trying to counter the Democratic National Convention. He did deliver his first outdoor rally speech since that attempted assassination on his life. There were added security provisions, bulletproof glass surrounding him. Snipers were in position. But, yes, George, despite what his advisers are telling him, despite what Republican allies are telling him to stay focused on the policy, he said he’s not going to stay away from those personal insults[.]
And for good measure, the tools at ABC completely dismissed almost any chance Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s departure from the 2024 field would matter. In fact, it was floated this would be a boost for Harris, not Trump (click “expand”):
STEPHANOPOULOS: Rick, RFK Jr.’s poll numbers had been dropping. Hard to gauge what impact his getting out, maybe endorsing Donald Trump will have.
KLEIN: Yeah, George. I mean, the battleground states look a lot different than they did a few short weeks ago when Donald Trump was leading everywhere. Right now Kamala Harris is up in six of the seven big battleground states including the Midwestern states, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania. Tim Walz, of course, from Wisconsin [sic]. And we are right now in the state of Illinois. But to your point about the national polling, when Robert F. Kennedy was added to the latest poll, he was polling at just five percent. As Jon Karl said, he was well into the double digits earlier in the summer. Harris with a three-point lead with the three of them in the race, but when you take him out of the mix, it is not at all clear where his voters necessarily go. When you took that away as an option in our latest poll, you see the largest share of voters actually then went to Kamala Harris, but the biggest number on this screen is 34 percent that say it was someone else if Kennedy was out of the mix. Some of them are holding out for Kennedy. So, if Kennedy is now telling supporters to vote for Donald Trump, you might see the lion’s share of them go to Donald Trump. Kennedy has had better popularity and favorability among Republicans than among Democrats. And a lot of his views are closely aligned with Donald Trump. The bottom line is, George, we may see a tightening race get even tighter as a result of this.
To see the relevant ABC transcript form August 22, click here.
