Tuesday marked 100 years since the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Shockingly, ABC’s World News Tonight ignored the occasion entirely. And while NBC Nightly News noted the date, they intentionally omitted how President Trump had celebrated the historic achievement for America by finally pardoning women’s suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony.
Giving credit where it’s due, CBS White House correspondent Ben Tracy closed out his CBS Evening News segment (which bashed Trump on his opposition to mail-in voting) by touting the President’s action.
“Now, while President Trump continues to attack mail-in voting, he's also celebrating voting by pardoning Susan B. Anthony,” he told viewers. “Now, she died back in 1906, but she was never pardoned for illegally voting before women had the right to do so. Today is the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment which gave women that right.”
On Fox News Channel’s Special Report, chief White House correspondent John Roberts added some more historical context to the President’s historic move. “It's also known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment in honor of the women's suffrage leader. In a surprise move, President Trump today issued a posthumous pardon to Anthony, something 27 previous presidents never got around to,” he said.
“It was a monumental victory for equality, for justice, and monumental victory for America,” Trump said about the amendment in a soundbite Roberts shared.
In surprising the female leaders of such groups as Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser, Concerned Women of America President Penny Nance, and former Oklahoma State Rep. Cleta Mitchell, Trump told them:
As we fight to deliver a better future for all women and for all Americans, we remember the wonderful victory, one century ago. While I am President, America will always honor its heroes, and we will always celebrate the patriots who secured women’s right to vote. So this is an incredible document that I’m signing.
And I wanted to just add something because this was brought up a week ago, and I was so surprised that it was never done before. Because later today, I will be signing a full and complete pardon for Susan B. Anthony.
“That’s right. She was guilty for voting. And we are going to be signing a full and complete pardon,” Trump reiterated.
It’s unfortunate that ABC decided to ignore the anniversary of women’s suffrage and Trump’s pardon. Instead, they gushed about Jill Biden speaking at the Democratic National Convention.
This blackout of Trump’s historic and long overdue pardon was possible because of lucrative sponsorships from HomeAdviser on ABC and Consumer Cellular on NBC. Their contact information is linked if you want to tell them about what they’re funding.
The transcript is below:
CBS Evening News
August 18, 2020
6:35:50 p.m. Eastern(…)
[Cuts back to live]
BEN TRACEY: Now, while President Trump continues to attack mail-in voting, he's also celebrating voting by pardoning Susan B. Anthony. Now, she died back in 1906, but she was never pardoned for illegally voting before women had the right to do so. Today is the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment which gave women that right.
