Today’s “Race to the White House” reporting from ABC serves as the network’s latest submission as the most Trump-hostile and Harris-servile. What was billed as a campaign roundup turned out to be little more than a shameless attack on X owner Elon Musk.
Watch as presidential debate co-moderator David Muir and Senior Campaign Correspondent Rachel Scott team up to frame Musk as a “controversial billionaire”, repeating that phrase multiple times within a short period of time not unlike a mantra:
DAVID MUIR: Former President Donald Trump speaking to business leaders in New York, saying he'll put controversial billionaire Elon Musk in a key role in a Trump administration. Election Day now 60 days away. Here's Rachel Scott.
RACHEL SCOTT: Today, Donald Trump announcing a major role in his administration for the world's richest man, promising to put controversial billionaire Elon Musk at the head of a new government commission to crack down on fraud and waste.
DONALD TRUMP: A complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms. We need to do it. Can't go on the way we are now. And Elon, because he's not very busy, has agreed to head that task force. It will be interesting. If he has the time, he'd be a good one to do it, but he's agreed to do it.
SCOTT: No stranger to controversy, Musk has shared misinformation on his social platform X, even once sharing an anti-semitic post, for which he later apologized. The billionaire has endorsed Trump and actively promoted his campaign on X.
What is the purpose of such statements? None, really beyond inflaming viewers against Elon Musk, who committed the cardinal sins of purchasing X, standing up for free speech and endorsing Donald Trump.
Campaign roundups typically cover what both campaigns do. Time here was allocated exclusively to the trashing of Musk and, by association, Donald Trump. We even got union bosses’ reactions to comments by Trump and Musk on firings. However, there was no coverage of Harris’s recent remarks on the economy- whether on price controls, tax plans, or any other such proposals.
Viewers were treated to a single sentence on Harris hunkering down in Pennsylvania. If it weren't for Regime Media, we’d have none at all.
Click “expand” to view full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on ABC World News Tonight on Thursday, September 5th, 2024:
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT
9/5/24
6:42 PM
DAVID MUIR: We turn now to the race for The White House. The ABC News presidential debate just five days away now. Vice President Kamala Harris arriving in Pittsburgh to prepare for the debate. Former president Donald Trump speaking to business leaders in New York, saying he'll put controversial billionaire Elon Musk in a key role in a Trump administration. Election Day now 60 days away. Here's Rachel Scott.
RACHEL SCOTT: Today, Donald Trump announcing a major role in his administration for the world's richest man, promising to put controversial billionaire Elon Musk at the head of a new government commission to crack down on fraud and waste.
DONALD TRUMP: A complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms. We need to do it. Can't go on the way we are now. And Elon, because he's not very busy, has agreed to head that task force. It will be interesting. If he has the time, he'd be a good one to do it, but he's agreed to do it.
SCOTT: No stranger to controversy, Musk has shared misinformation on his social platform X, even once sharing an anti-semitic post, for which he later apologized. The billionaire has endorsed Trump and actively promoted his campaign on X. In fact, Musk himself proposed this idea of a commission in an online Q & A with Trump. Trump seemed to like the idea, and praised Musk for threatening to fire his own workers who go on strike.
ELON MUSK: I'd be happy to help out on such a commission.
TRUMP: I'd love it.
MUSK: If it were formed.
TRUMP: Well, you, you're the greatest cutter. I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in, you say, you want to quit? They go on strike, I won't mention the name of the company, but they go on strike. And you say, that's okay, you're all gone. You're all gone. So, every one of you is gone.
SCOTT: The head of Teamsters calling Trump's comments "Economic terrorism." The head of the UAW saying, "When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean." Today, Trump saying Musk would be charged with finding trillions of dollars in federal waste and fraud. Musk accepting the role, saying, "I look forward to serving America if the opportunity arises."
And David, as for Vice President Kamala Harris, she just landed in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania, where she plans to hunker down in Pittsburgh to prepare for next week's debate now just five days away. David?
MUIR: Rachel Scott live in Washington. Rachel, thank you as always.
