In a tweet following Joe Biden’s VP pick announcement Tuesday night, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield thanked the liberal media for their help. And during their Wednesday evening newscast, NBC Nightly News proved they were an arm of the Democratic campaign by floating a conspiracy theory that suggested President Trump was looking to boot Vice President Mike Pence off the Republican ticket, to make room for someone who could compete with Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA).
“Shoutout to all of our beat reporters for surviving some of the most painful news cycles of any presidential campaign. Virtual high five to all of you. We did it, guys,” Bedingfield proclaimed with a celebratory emoji. It wasn’t exactly clear what she was thanking them for, but it’s probable it was praise for helping the campaign with the rollout and gaslighting the country on Harris’s radical policies.
NBC did some heavy-lifting for the Biden campaign Wednesday when White House correspondent Kristen Welker floated the unfounded conspiracy theory. “Still, the Democrat's diverse ticket is fueling the question among some Republicans, is the President considering shaking up his own team,” she claimed, citing absolutely ZERO evidence.
The network also attempted to blunt the Trump campaign’s criticism of Harris. “From President Trump, there was new criticism of Kamala Harris today, but the President's attacks risk turning off some who supported him four years ago,” anchor Lester Holt claimed.
Referencing Holt’s claim, Welker suggested Trump was turning off voters with “personal attacks” against Harris. “And some advisers think the President should stay away from personal attacks like the one in this tweet, ‘the suburban housewife will be voting for me.’” But Welker was telling a blatant lie, that tweet didn’t make any reference to Harris.
And NBC’s evidence that it was costing Trump voters? One woman in Pennsylvania who thought Trump shouldn’t tweet (Click “expand”):
WELKER: That message aimed at disparaging fair housing rules already backfiring with some women in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, an area Mr. Trump won by 19 points in 2016.
Kristen Stanzik voted for candidate Trump but isn’t sure this year.
KRISTEN STANZIK: I don’t find myself in that suburban mom group that he’s referring to.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you think he could be hurting his chances with voters like you by tweeting things?
STANZIK: I mean, definitely. I think he needs to stop tweeting.
Further proving that Welker was suggesting the tweet was about Harris, she immediately followed up the soundbite by saying: “It is not the first time the President has struggled with how to talk about Harris.” Meanwhile, NBC had gushed about Harris blaming Trump for coronavirus deaths.
Meanwhile, on ABC’s World News Tonight, chief White House correspondent (and White House Correspondents Association president) Jonathan Karl huffed about Trump calling the Democratic ticket out for being radical. “And, in an indication of how he's likely to take on Biden and Harris as the campaign goes forward, he called both of them ‘socialists,’” he whined.
But in reality, Biden himself had claimed his candidates would be the most “progressive” in history. And Harris’s federal legislative rating from the American Conservative Union was a whopping 3.03 percent, which made her more radical than Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (6.54%).
Karl also purported that “team Trump has been all over the map in their attacks on Harris,” because they were simultaneously pointing out how Harris was an overzealous prosecutor when it severed her, and she’s now anti-cop.
Clearly, the media were working overtime to get that adulation from their 2020 ticket.
The spreading of conspiracy theories about Trump and lies about Harris’s radical policies were made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Progressive and Consumer Cellular on NBC, with GEICO advertising on ABC. Their contact information is linked if you’re interested in telling them about what they’re funding.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
NBC Nightly News
August 12, 2020
7:08:23 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: From President Trump there was new criticism of Kamala Harris today, but the President's attacks risk turning off some who supported him four years ago. NBC's Kristen Welker is at the White House.
[Cuts back to live]
KRISTEN WELKER: Tonight, as President Trump sharpens his attacks against Senator Kamala Harris--
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I watched her poll numbers go boom, boom, boom, down to almost nothing, and she left angry. She left mad.
WELKER: Some allies are sounding alarm bells about his mixed messaging. On the one hand, the President and his campaign are trying to label the former California attorney general as being too tough on crime, while also arguing she's an anti-police leftist.
KELLYANNE CONWAY: She left nobody happy when it came to law and order, which is the number one job she had.
WELKER: And some advisers think the President should stay away from personal attacks like the one in this tweet, “the suburban housewife will be voting for me.” That message aimed at disparaging fair housing rules already backfiring with some women in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, an area Mr. Trump won by 19 points in 2016.
Kristen Stanzik voted for candidate Trump but isn’t sure this year.
KRISTEN STANZIK: I don’t find myself in that suburban mom group that he’s referring to.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you think he could be hurting his chances with voters like you by tweeting things?
STANZIK: I mean, definitely. I think he needs to stop tweeting.
WELKER: It is not the first time the President has struggled with how to talk about Harris. When she first launched her primary campaign --
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): We can reclaim the American dream.
WELKER: -- President Trump praised her, telling The New York Times, “I would say, the best opening so far would be Kamala Harris.” But quickly taking aim on the campaign trail.
TRUMP: Kamala. Kamala is falling.
WELKER: And when asked about Harris as a potential running mate just a few weeks ago --
TRUMP: I think she would be a fine choice, Kamala Harris, fine choice.
WELKER: Still, the Democrat's diverse ticket is fueling the question among some Republicans, is the President considering shaking up his own team? A top campaign adviser addressed the issue today.
MERCEDES SCHLAPP: Our vice president has been a fighter. He has worked every single day for the American people.
[Cuts back to live]
WELKER: Now, President Trump is gearing up to counter-program the Democratic National Convention next week, planning campaign events in key battleground states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. Lester.
HIOLT: Kristen Welker, at the White House, thank you.
