In November of 2014 all three broadcast networks hailed President Obama’s executive order granting amnesty to illegal immigrants. However, following Tuesday’s decision by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to refuse lifting a stay on the controversial order, NBC and ABC both ignored the ruling, with Wednesday’s CBS This Morning providing a mere 17 seconds of coverage.
This Morning co-host Charlie Rose briefly noted: “The Washington Post reports on a setback for one of President Obama's signature immigration proposals. A federal appeals court refused to allow the President to defer deportations of illegal immigrants and grant them work permits. 26 states sued the government, calling the program unconstitutional.”
All three network evening newscasts on Tuesday skipped the major blow to Obama’s agenda.
After the President attempted to unilaterally change the nation’s immigration laws, the same networks were eager to praise the move. On the November 21, 2014 CBS This Morning, correspondent Major Garrett declared: “For immigration activists, long disappointed by White House indifference, it all sounds like a new day.”
NBC’s Today that same morning warned the GOP against opposing the action: “Republican leaders are nervous that they won't be able to control their conservative members who would like to lash out and have a fight now with the President....But it comes with a risk...potentially alienating Latinos in this country."
That night, the evening newscasts of both networks touted Obama’s “campaign-style fervor” in defending the move and “chastising congressional Republicans for inaction.”
