The “Big Three” networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC were fired up Monday morning with coverage of Tuesday’s Wisconsin state Supreme Court election and predictably were apoplectic over Elon Musk’s tens of millions of dollars spent to help elect conservative Brad Schimel, but only CBS cared to mention liberal Susan Crawford has her own billionaire donors in Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (D) and George Soros.
“Overnight, Elon Musk handed out million dollar checks in Wisconsin with the balance of power on the state Supreme Court up for grabs. What it could impact,” scoffed ABC’s Good Morning America co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos in a tease.
Co-host Michael Strahan later had the lead-in for senior political correspondent Rachel Scott, huffing “Musk and his allies are spending millions of dollars on the race, which is drawing national attention.”
An ardent Trump hater, Scott painted it as some nationwide referendum on Trump, calling it “a political litmus test for his agenda” despite fretting this race has gone against the grain of being “traditionally non-partisan.”
Kvetching about Musk handing out two checks to those who signed a petition with his America PAC, Scott said the results will be “a test of the political power of Musk and a barometer about how voters are feeling about President Trump’s second term” and directly “impact future rulings on abortion rights and Wisconsin’s congressional map, which could shake up control of Congress.”
Ah, there it is! Scott admitted the quiet part out loud about the left’s objective: redraw congressional districts to favor Democrats.
Scott saw no reason to care about Pritzker or Soros, but instead closed by denouncing Musk creating “the most expensive judicial race” ever and embracing “Democrats and the candidate” for having “seized on Musk’s outside role.”
NBC’s Today could only muster 29 seconds about the election as it folded all its political news into one segment. Senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez shared that, amid the protests at Tesla dealerships, Musk was in Wisconsin for a town hall “ahead of a crucial state Supreme Court election tomorrow.”
“Democrats are accusing Musk of trying to buy the seat. The billionaire has offered money to voters there who are willing to sign a petition against ‘activist judges.’ Musk handing out million dollar checks last night,” he added ahead of a Musk soundbite about the election “affect[ing] the entire destiny of humanity.”
CBS Mornings mentioned Pritzker and Soros, but only as a footnote. Co-host Tony Dokoupil led off with Musk “putting money into yet another election” while senior White House and campaign correspondent Ed O’Keefe led with Musk’s support for Schimel and the checks.
Only shortly thereafter did O’Keefe note Crawford’s far-left supporters and then admit the left’s invested in Crawford’s victory so Democrats can concoct more blue House seats (click “expand”):
O’KEEFE: By some estimates, more than $80 million will be spent on the court race. Musk personally donating $3 million to the state’s Republican Party and his America PAC is pumping more than $12 million into advertising and campaign operations for Schimel, but billionaire Democrats are also spending here, most notably George Soros and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker boosting Susan Crawford, a circuit court judge who has made her closing argument mostly about Musk.
CRAWFORD: I never could have dreamed that I would be fighting the richest man in the world.
O’KEEFE: So why all the attention and money spent on this race? Well, it’s going to determine the ideological balance of the state Supreme Court, and they’re expected to handle a series of hot button issues in the coming years — abortion rights, whether labor unions can organize state workers, and then, perhaps most critically, ahead of next year’s midterm elections, congressional redistricting and then, of course, Elon Musk, some critics say he’s got business interests here in the state, that’s why he’s so interested
CBS Mornings Plus also covered the election and again framed it as only a major story because of Musk and used the far-left Brennan Center for Justice to claim Crawford’s the financial underdog.
And, just as they falsely claimed a few weeks ago the Brennan Center was “non-partisan,” they brought in someone from the Wisconsin chapter of the “bipartisan” Common Cause to denounce Musk as a foil for the ugliness of money in politics. Here was part of that (click “expand”):
DOKOUPIL: [W]e are talking about an election right now because more than $80 million has been spent on a state Supreme Court race. Between people who — folks who went to law school with these people. Probably don’t remember them. Never heard of them, they would say and we’re covering it here. Because one of the people spending big. There’s multiple billionaires involved. One of them is Elon Musk. His presence has helped turn this race, which has some big political implications — ihat is true for the state of Wisconsin into a test of what’s been framed as Elon’s money versus liberal anger. At a rally last night, Elon Musk himself gave two voters million-dollar checks. That he says were payment for them acting as spokespeople for his petition, which involves language like you support judges reading the Constitution as is. And not adding their own interpretation. So opposing activist judges there, so that’s a quote from the petition. Musk is not the only one spending big here in Wisconsin’s officially, technically non-partisan but no one’s fooled race. For just one Supreme Court seat in that state. Brad Schimel.
(....)
DOKOUPIL:. He’s received about $46 million of donations, including from Musk. Meanwhile his opponent, Susan Crawford, has raised about $36 million. Including donations from prominent Democratic backers George Soros. He’s a billionaire. And Illinois Governor J.D. Pritzker, another billionaire, so if you do the math overall. Tomorrow’s election will be the most expensive judicial race in American history.
DIAZ: And joining us now to explain why so much money is being thrown at this election and some of the concerns that this is creating, is the Executive Director of Common Cause Wisconsin, Jay Heck. Jay, thank you so much for joining us. Your organization is a pro-democracy, bipartisan watchdog group, so Elon Musk has called this state Supreme Court race. Something that will potentially affect the entire destiny of humanity. That he also says will help determine who controls the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. Why is he making these claims? Why does he view this election as so critical?
COMMON CAUSE WISCONSIN’s JAY HECK: Well, good morning from Madison, Wisconsin. It’s a brisk 30 degrees today. We haven’t put our snow shovels away. We’ll see how that affects the turnout tomorrow. I think it’s going to be very robust. And in part it is because Elon Musk has made himself a central issue in Wisconsin. $80 million that’s — it would probably be $100 million before it’s all said and done. Of which $20 million, Musk himself has put into the race. In addition, as you referenced, he’s made awards of $1 million to two people who have signed his petition. And he’s paying people $100 a piece to sign his petition. So he is injecting himself into a state Supreme Court election, which, you know, years ago, 20 years ago, when I started at Common Cause, would have been maybe $500,000. A nonpartisan race. And this has turned into a national referendum on Elon Musk and really the beginning of the Trump administration with all of this ridiculous amount of money that’s been poured into the race.
(....)
DOKOUPIL: Jay, you know, you guys are a pro-democracy organization. You want people to take seriously their right to vote, exercise their right to vote. Isn’t all of this money a good thing in terms of creating excitement and driving turnout? I mean, people are paying attention to a race that we definitely would not be talking about if it weren’t a contest of billionaires, anger, and Elon Musk.
HECK: Tony, you cannot turn your television on, your computer on, or even look at your phone without some negative ad from one side or the other inundating you. I would say that a little money is useful, but $100 million is overkill. And the question I think people are going to have in Wisconsin is whether they resent this outside unprecedented interference of zillionaire money coming into the state to influence the outcome of our election, a state election in Wisconsin and Musk by far has poured the most money in. Yes, there’s millionaire money supporting the progressive candidate, but it’s nothing on the scale that Elon Musk is spending.
To see the relevant March 31 transcripts, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS Mornings), here (for CBS Mornings Plus), and here (for NBC).
