On Thursday, NBC and MSNBC eagerly touted a new ad from the Biden campaign that featured several liberal journalists attacking President Trump with hostile coverage of his overseas trip to the NATO summit. Despite playing the ad multiple times, none of the reporters acknowledged – or objected – to the fact that members of the press were being used to push a partisan political message.
Referring to NBC’s attempt on Wednesday to hype world leaders “appearing to mock President Trump” during the NATO summit, on Thursday’s Today show, chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell declared: “Once again, the U.S. president, an outsider among allies, who openly mocked him at Buckingham Palace.”
She touted how Biden was seizing on the incident: “This morning, Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden trying to capitalize on the moment gone viral, releasing this video.” A clip ran of the ad, in which CNN New Day host Alisyn Camerota could be heard reporting: “World leaders caught on camera laughing about President Trump.”
Later, near the end of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, the full Biden ad was played. It revealed that nasty anti-Trump soundbites from co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski were also featured prominently in the campaign video, as well as remarks from CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer:
ALISYN CAMEROTA [CNN]: World leaders caught on camera laughing about President Trump.
JUSTIN TRUDEAU: I watched his team’s jaws drop to the floor.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI [MSNBC]: Several world leaders mocking President Trump.
JOE SCARBOROUGH [MSNBC]: They’re laughing at him.
DONALD TRUMP [SPEAKING AT U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY]: My administration accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.
[AUDIENCE LAUGHING]
TRUMP: I didn’t expect that reaction, but that’s okay.
SCARBOROUGH: World leaders mocking and ridiculing him for being completely off balance.
WOLF BLITZER [CNN]: Allies are deeply worried about him. They say he’s becoming increasingly isolated. Something is very wrong.
Following the ad, Brzezinski happily voiced her approval of being used to promote the Biden campaign, uttering an enthusiastic, “Yes!” Her husband and co-host Scarborough turned to left-wing pundit John Heilemann and wondered: “We’re in a Democratic primary, how does that play?” Heilemann gushed: “Well....Joe Biden bringing back the focus on what the stakes are and why he’s the person to take on Donald Trump. That’s a winning message for Joe Biden, if there is any one.” Scarborough agreed: “Yes, yes.”
Neither her nor Brzezinski made any attempt to distance themselves from the ad or claim any kind of objectivity when it came to their coverage of the 2020 presidential race.
MSNBC continued to boost the latest Biden attack ad throughout the day. In the 9:00 a.m. ET hour, anchor Stephanie Ruhle proclaimed: “...this video surfaced of a group world leaders from France, Britain, and Canada apparently laughing and mocking him [Trump] at a reception Tuesday night. And 2020 contender Joe Biden wasted no time capitalizing on the moment, releasing this video moments after the President touched down on U.S. soil.”
In the 10:00 a.m. ET hour, fill-in anchor Geoff Bennett similarly hailed: “As President Trump faces a major escalation in the impeachment process back here in Washington, he’s also facing fallout from the NATO summit. Former VP Joe Biden seeking to capitalize on a viral moment with this new campaign video. Take a look at this.”
He then interviewed former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Nicolas Burns, who the reporter pointed out was “currently advising Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.” Rather than challenge the ad or object to journalists being used in it, Bennett lobbed this softball:
And first on this new Biden campaign video, it frames that moment with Trudeau and those other world leaders as more than just a laugh at President Trump’s expense, but something that exposes President Trump’s dangerous incompetence. So help us understand what makes President Trump’s performance at NATO dangerous, an imminent threat?
Burns predictably did the bidding of his candidate and bemoaned: “...frankly it’s sad for any American to see an American president ridiculed this way by his peers, by other world leaders. That hasn’t happened in our lifetime.”
Members of liberal media don’t care if their used as props in a Democratic campaign video as long as the target is Donald Trump.
