CBS’s Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan are set to moderate Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate but if their recent reporting is an indicator, viewers should expect a one-sided attack from the CBS Evening News anchor and the Face the Nation moderator.
After the first attempt on President Donald Trump’s life, O’Donnell actually wondered if he was partially to blame as she pressed Rep. Kevin McCarthy on did Trump “bear responsibility” for the “hotter” political temperature and does he need to “change his rhetoric?”
As Trump was recovering from the first shooting, Brennan scolded: “This was a traumatic event no doubt for him, but I did notice there was no call for lowering the temperature, condemning all political violence” on Trump’s social media account.
If those two could be so callous to Trump after that heinous moment, what chance does his JD Vance have in getting fair treatment in Tuesday’s debate against Tim Walz?
NewsBusters video editor Bill D’Agostino put together the following montage:
The following are just a few of the most obnoxious left-wing or anti-conservative outbursts from O’Donnell and Brennan via the MRC’s archives:
MARGARET BRENNAN
Trump Is “Wrong” About Kamala, “We’ll Tell You Why”
Host Margaret Brennan: “A new line of false attack on Vice President Harris.”
Clip of Donald Trump: “Kamala went full communist. You heard that? She went full communist. She wants to destroy our country after causing catastrophic inflation.”
Brennan: “We’ll tell you why that’s wrong and how the voters see the candidates’ handling of the economy in our new CBS News poll.”
— Host Margaret Brennan’s opening to CBS’s Face the Nation, August 19, 2024.
He Just Got Shot But Trump Really Needs to Lower “The Temperature,” “Tamp It Down”
“He is recovering from these injuries now. This was a traumatic event no doubt for him, but I did notice there was no call for lowering the temperature, condemning all political violence, and really trying to signal to his supporters as well not to retaliate or to have any kind of escalation here. I just am looking at these [Trump’s Truth Social] statements.”
— CBS Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan on CBS News live coverage of the Trump assassination attempt, July 13, 2024.
Highlighting Trump’s Grandchildren Takes “Rough Edges Off the Strongman”
“You heard one of the grandchildren, Kai Trump, say ‘oh, grandpa calls me too.’ There wasn’t a lot of acknowledgement that the former First Lady was not here. Ivanka Trump was not here until tonight. But it takes some of the rough edges off of the strongman when you see he has a family, too.”
— CBS’s Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan on CBS Evening News, July 18, 2024.
“Move On” From Hunter, Nothing to See Here
“There are so many legal issues in this campaign, and I want to ask you about one involving the President’s son Hunter Biden, who’s gonna appear in court this week to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and will enter into an agreement that could avert conviction on a gun-related charge. The deal has infuriated many congressional Republicans who were holding their own hearings. And I wonder after this plea happens if you would advise your party to move on?”
— Host Margaret Brennan to former New Jersey Governor and current GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie on CBS’s Face the Nation, July 23, 2024.
NORAH O’DONNELL
After First Trump Shooting, O’Donnell Presses: Does He Need to Change His “Rhetoric?”
“It’s almost like the rhetoric’s gotten hotter since then [Jan.6]….Does Donald Trump bear some responsibility for that? Does he need to change his rhetoric?...Did you say that to Donald Trump today? Did you say, look, we need to think about the kind of rhetoric we have here? We can set a standard here.””
— CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell to Rep. Kevin McCarthy on live coverage of President Joe Biden’s remarks on first assassination attempt on Donald Trump, July 14, 2024.
Trump “Castrates the Facts”
“The President of the United States castrating the facts of the election results that have been reported tonight, falsely claiming that he has won the election and disenfranchising millions of voters whose ballots have not been counted sadly because of the raging pandemic and the failures of the administration to contain the pandemic.”
— CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell on CBS News 2020: Election Night — America Decides, election night/early morning coverage November 4 EST.
RNC Fireworks Leaves O’Donnell Despondent
“This is an extraordinary thing to — to see this in Washington as the fireworks that spell out ‘Trump’ on government land. There are some things the President said tonight that deserve some clarification. John Dickerson, it took more than half an hour before the President addressed the pandemic that has claimed 180,000 lives and infected more than five million Americans.”
— CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell on CBS News: 2020 America Decides: Republican Convention, August 27.
Time to Celebrate the Pandemic! It Led to “Cleaner Air and Cleaner Water”
“Tonight, we mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. There were supposed to be big celebrations around the world, but instead, people are celebrating inside and they’re celebrating cleaner air and cleaner water.”
— Anchor Norah O’Donnell on CBS Evening News, April 22.
Lobbing Softball to Liz
“You have been known as a champion for the middle class. Why have you made that your calling?”
— Co-host Norah O’Donnell to Senator Elizabeth Warren on CBS This Morning, April 22, 2014.
“Uncle Joe” Talking About America’s “Core Values”
“He’s [Joe Biden] really talking about the core values of this nation are at stake. I mean, he comes with a wealth of background and to take him on are what, essentially are issues like character....But apart from these [endorsements], this is Uncle Joe. You know? Regular Joe from Scranton, Pennsylvania and the rust belt states and the white working class voters that Democrats lost in the last election.”
— Co-host Norah O’Donnell on CBS This Morning, April 25, 2019.
“You always remember the person....that comes to your family member or friend’s funeral or calls you. And that’s what a lot of people say about Joe Biden, is that he’s that first person who calls and shows up at a family member’s funeral.”
— Co-host Norah O’Donnell on CBS This Morning, April 4, 2019.
Should “Dangerous” Trump Be Removed from Office?
“If he is dangerous to democracy, as you say, should he be removed from office?”
— Co-host Norah O’Donnell question to Sen. Jeff Flake on CBS This Morning, October 25, 2017.
Norah’s Plea: Can Anything Be Done to “Stop” Brett Kavanaugh?
“We know that if Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed, this will shift the balance of power on the Supreme Court for decades to come. Republicans control the majority. Is there anything you can do to stop this nomination?”
— Co-anchor Norah O’Donnell’s question to Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer as aired on CBS This Morning, July 10, 2018.
Lambasting Limbaugh
“He [Limbaugh] has said, ‘I hope he fails,’ talking about President Obama. And Rush Limbaugh also said this, he said ‘we are being told that we have to hope Obama succeeds, that we have to bend over, grab the ankles, bend over forward, backward, whichever, because his father was black, because this was the first black President.’ Do you agree with Rush Limbaugh?...On that specific thing, that, ‘we have to bend over because this is the first black President,’ why don’t you feel like you could denounce something like that? Are you so beholden to someone like Rush Limbaugh that you can't say that?...Is that the type of rhetoric we need?”
— MSNBC’s Norah O’Donnell to Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN), on MSNBC Live, January 28, 2009.
