In a perfect example of how the left and the media put hating President Trump ahead of almost everything else (including their political victories), the first reaction the broadcast networks had to the Supreme Court’s Thursday ruling protecting DACA was to boast about it being a “big blow” to the President. They would eventually note how hundreds of thousands of so-called “Dreamers” were now allowed to stay in the U.S., at least for now, but it always came after dunking on Trump.
ABC’s World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News each kicked off their evening newscasts with the DACA ruling, and the first words out of each anchor’s mouth were bragging about the loss for Trump. “Tonight, the Supreme Court ruling on the Dreamers, blocking President Trump's plan to end the program that protects nearly 650,000 young immigrants who came to America as children, protecting them from being deported,” announced ABC anchor David Muir.
“Chief Justice John Roberts joining the court's more liberal justices in the 5-4 decision, saying the President has the right to dismantle the program, but that the administration failed to provide, quote, ‘a reasoned explanation for its action,’” Muir added before noting the reaction of Dreamers:
On the steps of the supreme court today, there were celebrations, banners says "America is home." It was a blow to the President, ending DACA was a top campaign promise. And it was the second time this week the high court has ruled against him, after Tuesday's decision protecting LGBTQ workers from discrimination in the workplace.
Only after Muir noted Trump’s angry reaction did correspondent Terry Moran explore what it meant for DACA recipients. “Across America, for hundreds of thousands of dreamers, there was relief, for now,” he reported. “For many, the ruling keeps hope alive.”
It was the same thing from CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell. “We are going to begin tonight with a surprising Supreme Court ruling against the Trump administration, one that has wide-ranging implications for nearly 650,000 young immigrants known as Dreamers,” she touted. “In a major decision, the court stopped President Trump's move to end DACA.”
O’Donnell handed the segment off to legal correspondent Jan Crawford, who led into her report in a similar way. “Well, Norah, it was another loss for the President in this newly conservative court. Today's ruling was narrow, but for DACA recipients, it was momentous,” she said.
On a side note, Crawford, who’s normally very fair, rehashed the long-debunked allegation that Trump had referred to immigrants as “animals.” In reality, Trump was having a conversation about MS-13 gang members. Very disappointing.
For NBC’s part, anchor Lester Holt not only celebrated Wednesday’s ruling as a loss for Trump, but he also recalled Tuesday’s LGBT ruling as well:
A stunning blow to President Trump today and a victory for undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers. The U.S. Supreme Court blocking the President from shutting down the program that has shielded hundreds of thousands of young people, brought here as children from deportation. It’s a second court ruling this week to be celebrated on the left and brought a sharp response from the President.
And NBC Justice correspondent Pete Williams echoed Crawford. “It's the second surprising ruling this week from a conservative Supreme Court, a big blow to President Trump and a huge victory for young people in the DACA program,” he said.
One would think the liberal media would first celebrate the ruling as a victory for the Dreamers. But in the age of Trump, they want to make sure the president they hate takes his lumps before all else.
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s World News Tonight
June 18, 2020
6:32:36 p.m. EasternDAVID MUIR: Tonight, the Supreme Court ruling on the Dreamers, blocking President Trump's plan to end the program that protects nearly 650,000 young immigrants who came to America as children, protecting them from being deported.
Chief Justice John Roberts joining the court's more liberal justices in the 5-4 decision, saying the President has the right to dismantle the program, but that the administration failed to provide, quote, “a reasoned explanation for its action.”
On the steps of the supreme court today, there were celebrations, banners says "America is home." It was a blow to the President, ending DACA was a top campaign promise. And it was the second time this week the high court has ruled against him, after Tuesday's decision protecting LGBTQ workers from discrimination in the workplace.
Tonight, the President responding, taking on the court and making it clear this will be a key issue come November. But for now, a major victory for the Dreamers. And ABC's Terry Moran, who covers the court, leading us off tonight.
[Cuts to video]
TERRY MORAN: Across America, for hundreds of thousands of dreamers, there was relief, for now.
(…)
MORAN: For many, the ruling keeps hope alive.
(…)
MORAN: In the court's 5-4 ruling today, conservative Chief Justice John Roberts joined the four liberal justices, rejecting the Trump administration's stated reasons for ending DACA in 2017 as merely “arbitrary and capricious,” violating federal law. At the same time, the court's ruling makes clear the President can end the program, as long as he does it properly. “We do not decide whether DACA or its rescission are sound policies. We address only whether the agency provided a reasoned explanation for its action," Roberts wrote.
In a fierce dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas called DACA “unlawful from its inception” and accused his fellow justices of ducking their duty. “Today's decision must be recognized for what it is, an effort to avoid a politically controversial but legally correct decision," Thomas wrote.
(…)
President Obama announced the DACA program, which protects law abiding immigrants who came to America as children from being deported, in 2012. Since then, more than 825,000 have utilized the program, including roughly 27,000 now working in the health care industry, fighting COVID-19. All told, the dreamers paid nearly $4 billion in federal taxes in 2017 and their families include 256,000 U.S. children born here.
(…)
[Cuts back to live]
MUIR: Let's get to Terry Moran. At the court for us tonight. And Terry, this ruling, while a victory for the Dreamers, we know it's not a permanent decision. So, what’s likely to come next and this immediately puts this front and center come election day.
MORAN: It sure does, David. And this is not a permanent decision, as you say. It puts it right back on the map. President Trump can go and try again and he suggested on Twitter he will. And that will mean the Dreamers will be a big election issue. Joe Biden responding on Twitter today, saying, "Here's my promise to you. On day one, I'll send a bill to Congress that creates a clear road map to citizenship for Dreamers and for 11 million undocumented migrants into our country." So, it is a major political issue now that it has left the courts.
(…)
CBS Evening News
June 18, 2020
6:32:01 p.m. EasternNORAH O’DONNELL: We are going to begin tonight with a surprising Supreme Court ruling against the Trump administration, one that has wide-ranging implications for nearly 650,000 young immigrants known as Dreamers. In a major decision, the court stopped President Trump's move to end DACA. That's the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that was started under President Obama.
The policy gives some immigrants who entered the U.S. without authorization when they were children a chance to come forward and apply to stay and work in the country. But the Trump administration said DACA was illegal, and tried to terminate it, leaving nearly three-quarters a million young people in limbo.
Well today, supporters celebrated at the court after the justices voted 5-4 that the Trump administration improperly ended the program. The decision, which was written by the Republican-appointed chief justice, angered President Trump who fired back on Twitter. And it creates another heated issue in his re-election campaign against former Vice President Joe Biden, who backs the program.
There's a lot of news to get to tonight, and our team of correspondents is covering it all. CBS' Jan Crawford is going to lead us off tonight from the Supreme Court. Jan.
JAN CRAWFORD: Well, Norah, it was another loss for the President in this newly conservative court. Today's ruling was narrow, but for DACA recipients, it was momentous.
[Cuts to video]
(…)
CRAWFORD: For those young people who dared to dream, the decision brought overwhelming joy.
(…)
CRAWFORD: And an outpouring of hope.
(…)
CRAWFORD: The 5-4 ruling, written by Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by the court's four liberal justices, said the Trump administration's decision to rescind the Obama-era program was “arbitrary and capricious,” and that it “failed to consider the hardship to DACA recipients.”
But three of the dissenting justices called the decision an “effort to avoid a politically controversial but legally correct decision.”
(…)
President Trump announced in 2017 he was rescinding DACA, saying it was unlawful because President Obama exceeded his authority when he implemented it in 2012 by executive action.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: These aren’t people, these are animals.
CRAWFORD: But in a separate opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court's first Hispanic justice, says remarks like those “create the strong perception” President Trump's decision was “contaminated by impermissible discriminator animus.”
On Twitter, President Obama praised the decision and urged Americans to “elect Joe Biden and a Democratic Congress that does its job.”
(…)
[Cuts back to live]
CRAWFORD: Now, the court sent the case back to the Department of Homeland Security to try again to justify why DACA should end. That is not likely to happen before November, which, of course, means immigration, the makeup of the Supreme Court, again, major issues in the upcoming election.
NBC Nightly News
June 18, 2020
7:01:36 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: A stunning blow to President Trump today and a victory for undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers. The U.S. Supreme Court blocking the President from shutting down the program that has shielded hundreds of thousands of young people, brought here as children from deportation. It’s a second court ruling this week to be celebrated on the left and brought a sharp response from the President. Pete Williams has details.
[Cuts to video]
PETE WILLIAMS: It's the second surprising ruling this week from a conservative Supreme Court, a big blow to President Trump and a huge victory for young people in the DACA program.
(…)
WILLIAMS: President Obama launched DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals in 2012 with the stroke of a pen by executive order. Since then, 800,000 young people, known as Dreamers, brought to the U.S. by their undocumented parents, have been allowed to stay, go to school and get jobs. President Trump could have shut it down the same way, by executive order. Instead, his Justice Department declared it illegal and the Department of Homeland Security ordered it ended.
Today, by a vote of 5-4 with Chief Justice John Roberts joining the court's four liberals, the court said that was too much of a shortcut. Roberts wrote the opinion saying the government failed to properly evaluate as federal law requires how ending DACA would affect those who relied on it to stay here and get jobs.
In dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas called it “an effort to avoid a politically controversial but legally correct decision.”
(…)
