CNN exaggerated poll numbers on Thursday's Newsroom to claim that Americans are writing off the scandals of the Obama administration.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux and Alison Kosik reported that voters were "a lot more concerned about the economy" and were saying "to heck with the scandals." Yet poll numbers showed voters did not say "to heck with" the IRS scandal, as a vast majority still wanted an investigation of the IRS probe of Tea Party groups. [Video below the break. Audio here.]
While a Quinnipiac poll showed 73 percent of voters deeming the economy a "higher priority" than "investigating" the scandals, 76 percent of voters still supported the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the IRS. However, CNN reported the news as if voters didn't even care about the IRS scandal.
Correspondent Alison Kosik noted:
"But right now with the economy kind of muddling along and high unemployment sitting on us at seven and-a-half percent, people say to heck with the scandals, to heck with the controversies, no matter who's in the White House, no matter which party is there, we care more about the economy than these scandals."
Anchor Suzanne Malveaux backed up Kosik's take at the end of the segment. "Alison, well put. To heck with all the other stuff. A lot of people still really focused on how they're doing in their own lives," Malveaux concluded.
And it should be noted that despite guns being way down on the list of top public concerns, CNN still hammered the gun issue for months with figures like Piers Morgan actively pushing more gun control.
Below is a transcript of the segment, which aired on May 30 on CNN Newsroom at 1:06 p.m. EDT:
SUZANNE MALVEAUX: And we see that there's a poll, there's a new poll that actually shows a lot of folks a lot more concerned about the economy than the political controversies that folks have been talking about in Washington. This is a Quinnipiac University poll. 73 percent say dealing with the economy is the higher priority than all those other controversies out there. Specifically, what should we be focusing on? What are Americans focusing on when they look at that number?
ALISON KOSIK: So when you look at these numbers, you see what's important. So these scandals that we talk about that President Obama's in, whether it's the IRS scandal or Benghazi, they tend to gain more attention, this survey basically says, these scandals tend to gain more attention when there's less concern about the economy. But right now with the economy kind of muddling along and high unemployment sitting on us at seven and-a-half percent, people say to heck with the scandals, to heck with the controversies, no matter who's in the White House, no matter which party is there, we care more about the economy than these scandals. It's all about, you know, what matters in Americans' lives.
For many of us average people the scandals don't touch us as much as, let's say, difficulty getting a job or paying the bills. So the bottom line with this is that the economy is still issue number one, especially when it's not doing well. And although we are seeing improvement in the U.S. economy, it's not going gang busters. There are still a lot of people out of work and a lot of people having trouble paying the bills. Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Alison, well put. To heck with all the other stuff. A lot of people still really focused on how they're doing in their own lives.
