NBC has been bemoaning a bill has been introduced in the House that would end America’s routine issuance of student visas to nationals of an unfriendly foreign power. In response to the measure, Kimmy Yam published an article on NBCNews.com on March 19 alleging that the bill amounted to a “new Chinese exclusion act.”
The article focused heavily on the complaints of current Chinese students and advocacy groups in the U.S., and gave less attention to the practical security concerns which might make such a measure attractive. Yam gave attention, for instance, to an anonymous Chinese student who flatly denounced the bill as “just blatant racism and xenophobia,” and another who claimed to have noticed a “slight shift” in attitudes since Trump took office, but who failed to back up these words with any actual specifics. Yam also claimed that the bill has resulted in “concerns around safety” for such students, but again failed to back up this assertion with facts.
The supporters of the bill were not completely ignored, as a quote was provided from Rep. Riley M. Moore (R-W. Va.), who introduced the measure, and was quoted as saying “I will never apologize for defending America’s vital national interests against our greatest geopolitical foe.”
I wonder why @NBCNews didn't include the rest of my quote. Any explanation @kimmythepooh? pic.twitter.com/tqdibdRpxA
— Rep. Riley M. Moore (@RepRileyMoore) March 19, 2025
It appeared, though, that NBC did not even quote Moore in his entirety. Moore posted that evening on X that, in addition to the words reproduced by NBC, he had also said “but NBC News should apologize to its readers for pathetically parroting Chinese Communist propaganda.”
Yam also quoted a spokesperson of the Chinese embassy, who claimed that America has already long “suppressed and persecuted” Chinese students in this country, but again made no attempt to actually substantiate this claim with any evidence.
Apparently, NBC was more concerned with making sure they were not publicly accused of parroting Chinese Communist propaganda, than they were with actually not parroting Chinese Communist propaganda.
