Even though it’s doubtful the liberal base or even establishment asked for it, former President Joe Biden gave his first speech Tuesday night since leaving the White House and, given the depths of their hatred for President Trump, ABC and NBC sang Biden’s praises for “sounding the alarm about how divided the nation is” and “defend[ing] Social Security.”
Tuesday’s NBC Nightly News found time for a full segment with co-anchor Tom Llamas boasting to senior White House correspondent Kelly O’Donnell Biden was “firing back against the current administration.”
O’Donnell — as much of an establishment liberal journalist as there is in the Briefing Room — boasted this was “just 85 days after” he left office and the speech marked a return to “the political arena with a very specific purpose: to take on the Trump administration and defend Social Security.”
“Now, he’s at a bipartisan conference in Chicago and there Mr. Biden is laying out what we sees as a threat to Social Security over cuts to staff, phone services, local offices that he says could affect seniors’ access,” she added.
After a clip Biden saying Trump has “[i]n fewer than 1000 days...done so much damage and so much destruction” to the country, especially Social Security.
“And tonight’s speech also highlights that this is a political side that feels very familiar to us from the Biden years, but it’s also right at the frontlines of where Democrats are today as they try to redefine their message in the Trump era,” she concluded.
Unsurprisingly, there wasn’t even sort of a fact-check like there was on the Fox News Channel’s Special Report thanks to host Bret Baier:
Shifting to Wednesday, ABC’s Good Morning America was far more overt in lamenting they’re no longer in control of the White House.
Co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos cued up a wholly partisan Biden soundbite with a similarly partisan set-up: “We’re going to turn now to former President Biden making his first speech since leaving office, sounding the alarm about how divided the nation is and criticizing the Trump administration.”
In the clip, Biden complained “[w]e can't go on like this as a divided nation as divided as we are” and he’s “never” seen America “this divided.” As for why, Biden said it’s “30 percent” of the country who “has no heart.”
Senior political correspondent Rachel Scott reacted as one would expect from a network that celebrated even the most benign Biden initiative (click “expand”):
And former President Joe Biden is breaking his silence. These are his first public comments since leaving the White House. He took aim at the Trump administration, accusing them of taking a hatchet to Social Security. Biden saying that, in fewer than 100 days the new administration has done “so much damage and destruction,” calling it “breathtaking.” President Trump has promised not to cut Social Security benefits, but weeks ago, Elon Musk suggested it could be a primary target as he tries to reduce government spending. Since then, offices have received a flood of calls with questions from Americans who are worried about their benefit. Social Security is expected to be a key issue in next year's midterm elections. Now, Biden did not mention President Trump by name, only referring to him as “this guy.” But he did talk about American values saying nobody is king.
Stephanopoulos briefly changed topics to Gary Shapley’s reported appointment as acting IRS commissioner, framing this as “Trump rewarding one of his political allies[.]”
Scott lamented this was “another sign the president is elevating a political ally” with Shapley’s mere qualifications being a supposed Trump partisan despite having been one of those non-partisan government workers the left are now lionizing:
Gary Shapley initially rose to fame among Republicans because he testified on Capitol Hill accusing the Justice Department of slow-walking the investigation into Hunter Biden, something that the Justice Department denied at the time. Well, sources tell me that the President is now elevating Shapley to be the acting commissioner of the IRS until the President’s pick is confirmed.
To see the relevant transcripts from April 15 and 16, click here (for ABC) and here (for NBC).
