On Monday, CBS This Morning unbelievably attempted to blame the Trump administration for Cuba’s economy crumbing after decades of the island nation’s brutal, corrupt communist regime oppressing its people. The broadcast then urged the Biden administration to appease the authoritarian government by removing sanctions on the dictatorship.
“Cuba is rocked by its biggest public protests in decades,” fill-in co-host Adriana Diaz warned at the top of the show. After noting that “Thousands of people are angry over food shortages and the government’s response to the pandemic,” the anchor fretted over the fate of the regime: “What authorities are doing to keep control.”
Introducing the segment minutes later, co-host Gayle King told viewers: “Thousands of people across Cuba took part in some of the biggest protests on the island in decades....Some now want Cuba’s president to step down.” Reporting from Miami, correspondent Manuel Bojorquez reiterated: “Demonstrators here say they are fed up by food shortages, rising prices, collapsing infrastructure, and the government’s response to a rising number of COVID-19 infections.”
However, rather than detail all the ways in which the communist regime has abused its own people for decades, Bojorquez instead cited propaganda from the country’s dictator: “On Cuban television, Miguel Diaz-Canel blamed the protests on the U.S. and its trade embargo for a severe impact on Cuba's recent economic downturn.”
Attempting to bolster these lies, a soundbite ran of Cuba-based CBS News producer Portia Siegelbaum ranting: “The Trump administration passed many more regulations, many more sanctions against it, which basically has cut off all income coming into Cuba.” She then hoped the U.S. would start a policy of appeasement: “I think the Biden administration, he at least said at the beginning he was going to review this policy and make changes. But nothing has happened.”
At no point in the CBS coverage were the words “communist,” “authoritarian,” or “dictatorship” used to describe the Cuban government. Sadly, the same was true on ABC’s Good Morning America, with correspondent Victor Oquendo explaining:
The country is in the midst of a worsening economic crisis, along with resurgence of COVID cases. Cubans are coping with severe food and medicine shortages. Cuba’s leader blaming tight U.S. sanctions and calling on those loyal to the regime to confront the protesters.
NBC’s Today show actually accurately labeled Cuba’s regime a “communist dictatorship.” Correspondent Morgan Radford reported:
An unprecedented display of anger and frustration in the streets of Cuba on Sunday. Thousands of anti-government rallies in large cities and small towns across the island of 11 million people. Citizens calling for an end to the decades-old communist dictatorship. Protesting the island’s dire economic conditions, foot shortages, and the slow pace of COVID-19 vaccinations. In one area of Havana, protesters clashing with police. Elsewhere they chanted “repressers” at riot police.
Cubans voicing anger over the repression of civil liberties and the handling of the pandemic amid what many are describing as the country’s worst economic crisis in decades. President Miguel Diaz-Canel blaming the United States for the unrest and calling on supporters to take back the streets during a nationally televised speech Sunday afternoon.
The desperation in the liberal media to blame Republicans for everything under the sun has become such a sick obsession that some reporters will openly endorse propaganda from brutal dictatorships in order to accomplish that goal.
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Here is a full transcript of the July 12 report on CBS This Morning:
7:00 AM ET TEASE
ADRIANA DIAZ: Cuba is rocked by its biggest public protests in decades. Thousands of people are angry over food shortages and the government’s response to the pandemic. What authorities are doing to keep control.
7:13 AM ET SEGMENT
GAYLE KING: Thousands of people across Cuba took part in some of the biggest protests on the island in decades. They are angry over recent food and medicine shortages and a worsening COVID outbreak. Some now want Cuba's president to step down. Manuel Bojorquez is in Miami with more on the story. Manny, good morning to you. How are the Cuban Americans there reacting to this?
MANUEL BOJORQUEZ: Gayle, good morning. Versailles restaurant is typically the epicenter of rallies and protests here in Miami’s Little Havana’s neighborhood and last night was no different with thousands of people showing up to show their support for those protesters in Cuba. And while the demonstrations may be commonplace, what's happening in Cuba is not only rare but historic. Thousands of protesters gathered in communities around Havana and across the island nation, shouting "Freedom" and "We are not afraid." Although protests began peacefully, they soon took a more violent turn as police and special forces moved in later on to break up the demonstrations.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel himself made an appearance at one protest and spoke with some of the citizens who confronted him. Demonstrators here say they are fed up by food shortages, rising prices, collapsing infrastructure, and the government's response to a rising number of COVID-19 infections. On Saturday, Cuba recorded nearly 7,000 new cases. On Cuban television, Miguel Diaz-Canel blamed the protests on the U.S. and its trade embargo for a severe impact on Cuba's recent economic downturn.
PORTIA SIEGELBAUM (CBS News producer): The Trump administration passed many more regulations, many more sanctions against it, which basically has cut off all income coming into Cuba.
BOJORQUEZ: Portia Siegelbaum is a CBS News producer based in Cuba.
SIEGELBAUM: I think the Biden administration, he at least said at the beginning he was going to review this policy and make changes. But nothing has happened.
BOJORQUEZ: Several politicians have expressed their support for the people of Cuba and those protesters, including Cuban American senator Marco Rubio. As one defector told our CBS Miami affiliate, seeing those protests was, quote, magical. Anthony?
