Wednesday marked the continuation of the near total blackout on the corruption trial of Democratic New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez by the Big Three Networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC). While none of the networks covered the trial, which was in the middle of jury deliberations, CBS Evening News thought it was a priority to run a 44-second news brief mocking President Trump for drinking from a bottle of water while in the middle of a long speech.
A recent study by the Media Research Center found that since the Menendez trial began on September 9, CBS had only spent 22 seconds talking about it during CBS This Morning, while CBS Evening News had not touched the trial at all during that time. That meant CBS News had spent twice as much time in one evening reporting on Trump drinking from a bottle of water than they had in the 70 days since the trial began.
“President Trump today gave an account of his Asia trip that appeared for a time might run as long as the 12-day journey itself. His mouth got so dry he had to stop and search for a bottle of water to quench his thirst,” mocked Temporary Anchor Anthony Mason. “A few minutes later, it happened again.”
Mason found the incident comical and ironic because Trump once mocked Republican Florida Senator Marco Rubio for something similar:
You'll recall Mr. Trump on the campaign trail mocked then-rival Marco Rubio for taking a water break as he delivered the GOP response to a state of the union address. Within moments today, Senator Rubio pounced with this review of the President: ‘Needs work on his form has to be done in one single motion, and eyes should never leave the camera, but not bad for his first time.’
“Tweet revenge,” Mason declared, an obvious pun.
It’s worth noting that neither ABC nor NBC felt the need to report on Trump drinking water. CBS News also seemed to have a habit of filling up their evening broadcast with water news when there were problematic issues to cover. Back on March 9, then-Anchor Scott Pelley spent 18 seconds reporting on how “a rising tide of popularity has made water the bestselling drink in America,” instead of mentioning an ax attack in Germany.
Menendez was the first sitting U.S. Senator to face a corruption trial since the early 1980s and his blue seat hung in the balance with Republican Governor Chris Christie still in office (for the time being). It’s a scenario that absolutely deserved far more airtime than the Big Three Networks were willing to spare.
CBS's mocking of Trump was sponsored by Crest, Alka-Seltzer, Liberty Mutual, and Pom Wonderful.
Transcript below:
CBS Evening News
November 15, 2017
6:43:59 PM Eastern [44 Seconds]ANTHONY MASON: President Trump today gave an account of his Asia trip that appeared for a time might run as long as the 12-day journey itself. His mouth got so dry he had to stop and search for a bottle of water to quench his thirst. A few minutes later, it happened again. You'll recall Mr. Trump on the campaign trail mocked then-rival Marco Rubio for taking a water break as he delivered the GOP response to a state of the union address. Within moments today, Senator Rubio pounced with this review of the President: “Needs work on his form has to be done in one single motion, and eyes should never leave the camera, but not bad for his first time.” Tweet revenge.
