After chastising President Trump for ‘politicizing’ lottery visas after the New York City terror attack last week, the big three networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) spent time during their Monday evening broadcasts pushing for more gun control while slamming Trump for saying the Sutherland, Texas mass shooting was a mental health issue. ABC took it a step further and offered misleading claims that Trump had made it easier for the mentally ill to buy firearms, an assertion that was proven false back in February.
Their disdain for the President, Republicans, and Second Amendment advocates was palpable. “The mass shooting here in Texas has prompted some in Congress to once again call for gun control. Will this time be different,” declared soon-to-be-minted CBS Evening News Anchor Jeff Glor. And Congressional Correspondent Nancy Cordes seemed dismayed that “President Trump blamed [the shooter’s] psyche, not his weapon” for the taking of innocent lives.
After noting that, so far, there was no news of the shooter being diagnosed with a mental illness, she claimed it “may explain why he was able to obtain a Ruger AR-556 rifle within days of it being named the NRA's gun of the week.” Besides the obvious smear of the NRA, Cordes’ comment neglected what CBS had previously reported, which was the shooter had slipped through the cracks because the Air Force failed to have the FBI add his to the Criminal Background Check System after his court-martial.
“And while U.S. levels of mental illness are comparable to those in other western countries, our rate of firearm homicides is 6 to 16 times greater,” Cordes continued, failing to take into account most of those deaths were crime between criminals and suicides.
Cordes also touted Democrats for pushing gun control and lamented how the GOP hadn’t done anything. “Congress does have all the facts about dozens of past mass shootings, of course, but that hasn't led to much action either,” she whined, failing to mention that most liberal gun control schemes would not have stopped any of the recent mass shootings.
On NBC Nightly News, White House Correspondent Hallie Jackson sneered as she began her report: “It happened again, a shooting then tweets, thoughts and prayers … And on gun control, any debate delayed.” “Too soon, the President says, echoing his comments last month two days after the worst mass shooting in U.S. history,” she continued to bemoan.
“Talking about mental illness after a mass shooting is absolutely a political diversion,” a Sandy Hook parent told NBC in an interview and played by Jackson. And still, there was no mention of how any of the liberal proposed gun control measures would have stopped the shooting. Again, a background check would have stopped the Sutherland shooter from purchasing all of his weapons if he was properly added to the Criminal Background Check System.
Meanwhile, on ABC’s World News Tonight, sensationalist Anchor David Muir and White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega were claiming Trump had made it easier for the mentally ill to buy weapons, a charge that had been debunked months ago.
“And tonight, a move by President Trump just weeks after his inauguration is now taking on new scrutiny. He signed a measure making it easier for some people with mental illness to buy a gun,” Muir announced as the segment began. And after playing a clip of Trump in Japan saying the problem was one of mental health, Vega proclaimed:
But shortly after the President took office, he signed a measure rolling back a regulation that made it harder for some people with mental illnesses to purchase guns. Critics said the rule -- which affected about 75,000 people -- violated the Second Amendment.
That was false. There’s also the matter of Vega seemingly being fine with 75,000 people losing their rights because it was a relatively small amount.
But as expertly explained by the National Review’s Charles C.W. Cooke, shortly after Trump inauguration, the rule which was removed regarded the Social Security Administration unilaterally declaring people violent and mentally defective because they needed aid with their personal finances. The repeal of the rule was backed by the NRA, the liberal ACLU, many mental health groups, and, as noted by the Review, the American Association of People with Disabilities wrote:
This rule would require the Social Security Administration to forward the names of all Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit recipients who use a representative payee to help manage their benefits due to a mental impairment to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
“The rule would have allowed bureaucrats within one of our federal agencies to bar American citizens from exercising a constitutional right — and on the highly questionable grounds that to be incapable of managing one’s finances is, by definition, to be a ‘mental defective,’” with no mental health professional involved, Cooke explained.
The evening broadcasts of the big three networks were a disgusting and blatant political push for liberal gun control policy that would ultimately be ineffective and pointless. And it’s hypocritical for them to lambaste Trump for not wanting to limit Americans’ rights while chiding him for wanting to trip up a terrorist organization. But then again, many in the media treat the NRA and gun owners as the real terrorist.
The gun control campaign by the networks was made possible by their commercial sponsors. ABC's include Prudential Insurance and Anoro. CBS was sponsored by Consumer Celluar and Prudential Insurance too. NBC's ran commercials for Trintellix, Advil and Metamucil.
Transcripts below:
CBS Evening News
November 6, 2017
6:43:14 – 6:45:25 PM Eastern [2 minutes aa seconds]JEFF GLOR: The mass shooting here in Texas has prompted some in Congress to once again call for gun control. Will this time be different? Here's Nancy Cordes.
(…)
NANCY CORDES: America's mass shooting problem came up in Tokyo today, where President Trump blamed Kelley's psyche, not his weapon.
DONALD TRUMP: I think that mental health is your problem here. This was a very, based on preliminary reports, a very deranged individual.
CORDES: But there is no evidence yet that the suspect was ever diagnosed with a mental health disorder. Which may explain why he was able to obtain a Ruger AR-556 rifle within days of it being named the NRA's gun of the week. [Gunfire] And while U.S. levels of mental illness are comparable to those in other western countries, our rate of firearm homicides is 6 to 16 times greater.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott told CBS This Morning it's up to the Almighty to turn things around.
GAYLE KING: We all agree praying and hugs are very good, but what can we do the keep these weapons out of people that you are saying yourself are evil?
(…)
CORDES: Here on Capitol Hill, the debate has become as predictable as mass shootings themselves.
NY SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND: Americans are being slaughtered, and Congress is refusing to protect them!
CORDES: Democrats pushed for stricter gun laws today as Republicans pushed for patience.
JOHN CORNYN: I think being rational people, we ought to want to know exactly what the facts are before we decide what the best course of action might be.
[Cuts back to live]
CORDES: Congress does have all the facts about dozens of past mass shootings, of course, but that hasn't led to much action either, whether you're talking about guns or mental health or anything else, Jeff.
(…)
...
ABC
World News Tonight
November 6, 2017
6:43:19 PM -6:45:16 Eastern [1 minute 56 seconds]DAVID MUIR: President Trump sending his condolences to the victims here in Texas from Tokyo tonight. The first stop on his 13-day tour of Asia. Saying “it is not a guns situation, but a mental health problem at the highest level.” And tonight, a move by President Trump just weeks after his inauguration is now taking on new scrutiny. He signed a measure making it easier for some people with mental illness to buy a gun. Here's ABC's Cecilia Vega, traveling with the president.
(…)
DONALD TRUMP: Mental health is your problem here. This was a very -- based on preliminary reports, a very deranged individual. A lot of problems over a long period of time.
CECILIA VEGA: But shortly after the President took office, he signed a measure rolling back a regulation that made it harder for some people with mental illnesses to purchase guns. Critics said the rule -- which affected about 75,000 people -- violated the second amendment. In Tokyo, the president said now is not the time to talk about gun control.
(…)
VEGA: Too soon. He said the same thing in the wake of last month's Las Vegas massacre, despite his immediate call for changes in immigration policy in the wake of last week's truck rampage in New York City. Hours after that attack, he tweeted, "I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already extreme vetting program."
