Network Morning Shows Fret French ‘Anti-Government’ Protests ‘Hijacked’ by Riots

On Monday and Tuesday, the top broadcast network morning shows checked the boxes by covering the far-left, multiculturalism run amok in France, with mass riots causing near-apocalyptic damage in Paris and other major cities.

However, ABC, CBS, and NBC dismissed the role of the left in the rioting, asserting the “anti-government” sentiment over “the cost of living, and the state of France’s public services” was “hijacked” by “masked groups.”

Starting with CBS Mornings, Monday’s show was explaining it away from the start as co-host Norah O’Donnell said in a tease that “[a]nti-government protests in France turn[ed] violent with rioters torching cars and buildings.”

Co-host Gayle King later deployed the same posture: “Now we’re going to take it to France, where people are in shock this morning after weekend protests turned into anti-government violence in dozens of cities. France’s second largest city has banned all large gatherings today. The demonstrations began to protest the rising costs of living and declining public services.”

Reporter Aidan Stretch bemoaned the violence was triggered “by masked rioters who hijacked marches across France, looting stores, torching cars and buildings, and clashing with police.”

He found a man on the Paris streets in support of the riots (to the chagrin of his lady): “I just think the violence is somewhat legitimate because it is what can make progress.”

With sound from another riot supporter (a “social scientist”), Stretch framed this as part and parcel of French history, lamenting riots have come as the “far-left and far-right parties surge in the polls” (click “expand”): 

STRETCH: France has a history of fiery demonstrations. In 2018, protests that began against high fuel taxes descended in the chaos. But officials described this weekend’s violence as unprecedented. Nearly 2,500 people have been detained nationwide, according to the Interior Ministry. In an address Sunday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron said: “Those who sought to bring down the Republic will be held accountable.” The unrest comes six months before presidential elections, as both France is far-left and far-right parties surge in the polls. And Macron’s term-limited government faces intense financial pressure, exacerbated by five weeks of protests against poor school conditions and the high cost of living.

SOCIAL SCIENTIST PAOLA FORMENTI: I think the protests are very legitimate. There is a lot of anger. There is a lot of difficulty in living and studying.

STRETCH: Whether legitimate or not, those protests now tainted by the looting, arson, and mayhem that will take weeks to clean up. Most people we spoke to here said they expect the unrest to continue. The yellow jackets, a French labor group, have already planned demonstrations for next weekend, and the French government has promised a stronger police presence after being caught off guard on Saturday.

On Tuesday’s show, O’Donnell fretted “violent protesters” had taken “over the streets during the weekend,” while Stretch focused on the curfew in French cities and a State Department alert.

He also noted President Trump saying the riots were due to lax French immigration. For his part, Stretch added that “Macron’s government faces pressure from a ballooning government deficit, as both the far right and far left surge in polls ahead of Presidential elections this spring.”

Stretch condemned Macron “blam[ing] the violence on radical, far-left groups,” but huffed he “didn’t offer specifics” on what will be done about them.

Over at NBC, Monday’s Today had only 97 seconds. Fourth-hour co-host Sheinelle Jones described the riots as “ongoing chaos” by “demonstrators,” “fueled by the rising cost of living.”

Correspondent Raf Sanchez did use the r-word, saying it was “the worst rioting France has seen in years,” but he too gave them legitimacy by insisting they “started as peaceful protests over the rising cost of living, [and] poor conditions in schools.”

Noting the Limoges town hall burning to a crisp, Sanchez said the “public anger is aimed at President Emmanuel Macron,” who’s “seen...as out of touch,” and “blamed [the violence] partly on the Iran war.”

Chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel was on-site for Tuesday’s Today and complained “France’s far-right parties are...hop[ing] to capitalize on the chaos to win key elections in the spring” and blamed the riots on mass migration even though “French authorities and police have not linked immigrants to the rioting.”

In other words, it’s back to the same playbook for the elitist, liberal media we saw during the days of ISIS terror attacks in Europe. Instead of worrying about Islamists, they screamed about the “far right.”

Both days of ABC’s Good Morning America emphasized the jarring pictures of property destruction.

On Monday, foreign correspondent Tom Soufi Burridge said: “The protest Saturday involving hundreds of thousands of people, were supposed to be about the cost of living, and the state of France’s public services, but the situation quickly spiraled out of control in multiple French cities.”

“[M]asked groups attacking police, smashing up buildings, burning buildings, and rioters forcing their way into stores, and rooting was widespread. It was, at times, and in places, the sense of anarchy as the police lost control,” he added.

By Tuesday’s GMA, Burridge focused on the curfews as a chance for France to catch its breath following the weekend of “unrest” that’s resulted in “[a]bout 150 people...arrested and potentially facing charges in France, including one individual in relation to the burning down of a town hall in the city of Limoges.”

Being the most superficial of the broadcast networks (and since parent company Disney now owns the channel it’ll air on), Burridge made sure to mention that there were no plans to postpone or cancel Sunday’s Paris NFL game between the Saints and Steelers.

To see the relevant transcripts from October 19, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC). To see the relevant transcripts from October 20, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC).