The Sunday after Democratic nominee Joe Biden was declared the apparent president-elect, ABC’s Good Morning America was working really hard for their nominee. While ignoring Biden’s history of demonizing his opponents, they celebrated him as a great uniter that would end the rancor. They also trotted out Cindy McCain to urge the current president to concede to her nominee.
In the midst of the network’s celebration of Biden’s apparent victory (including multiple mentions of Biden’s “with the grace of God” writing), co-anchor Whit Johnson brought out McCain to talk about her husband’s (Sen. John McCain) concession to President Barack Obama.
“Speaking of putting country first, I want to go back to election night 2008, after Barack Obama defeated your husband, Senator McCain gave a very gracious concession speech,” he touted before playing a soundbite from the speech. “Senator McCain there, and he also mentioned that he called Obama to congratulate him. What do you expect and hope President Trump will do in this moment?”
McCain hoped Trump would work “with grace and dignity and in putting country first and helping to heal the divide by conceding in a gracious manner.”
From there, Johnson teed her up to tell viewers about how Biden would supposedly “heal this country.” “You know, Joe's ability to work across the aisle in a bipartisan fashion will help deal with a lot of this mistrust and everything else that's going on right now because he has that empathy and that compassion and the character, the integrity, the dignity,” she said.
Was it Biden’s “character,” “integrity,” or “dignity” that led him, in 2012, to claim Republicans under a possible Mitt Romney administration would put black American “back in chains?” Or perhaps those were what allowed him to lash out at Trump supporters protesting one his campaign rallies and call them “ugly.”
A few minutes later, co-anchor Dan Harris introduced anti-Trump book author and chief White House correspondent, Jon Karl to discuss Biden’s claim he would be “ending the grim era of demonization.”
“You covered Washington for many years. I don't want to out you about your age here, but does that notion strike you as doable, ending the demonization, and if it does strike you as doable, exactly how would it be doable,” he wondered.
Putting himself in a position to speak for the country, Karl declared: “Well, I do think that we are ready for a course correction, that people are ready for a course correction including partisans on Capitol Hill.”
Despite the fact the media and the Democratic Party spent the last four years suggesting Trump’s presidency was illegitimate, Karl decried how most Republicans had yet to congratulate Biden (Click “expand”):
I have to say, though, Dan, the initial signs are not all that promising. We haven't heard really any Republicans outside of Mitt Romney in Congress, come out and congratulate Joe Biden. It's quite stark when you see some of the President's closest foreign allies, people like Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson come out and congratulate Joe Biden, but nothing from Kevin McCarthy, who was actually a couple of days ago repeating some of those wild allegations about fraud.
“But Joe Biden has deep and meaningful friendships with Republicans in Congress, and I think it begins that way. I think it begins by what he said. He said in that speech, ‘we have to stop treating our opponents like enemies. They are not enemies. They are Americans.’ I think that's a start,” he boasted.
But for decades, the media have treated the right as the enemy. And there’s no sign of them stopping.
ABC’s glorification of Biden was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Humira and Panera Bread. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they’re funding.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s Good Morning America
November 8, 2020
8:11:17 a.m. Eastern(…)
WHIT JOHNSON: Speaking of putting country first, I want to go back to election night 2008, after Barack Obama defeated your husband, Senator McCain gave a very gracious concession speech, I want to listen to part of that.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ): I deeply admire and commend him for achieving. This is an historic election and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.
JOHNSON: Senator McCain there, and he also mentioned that he called Obama to congratulate him. What do you expect and hope President Trump will do in this moment?
CINDY MCCAIN: Well, I certainly hope that President Trump works with grace and dignity and in putting country first and helping to heal the divide by conceding in a gracious manner. Most importantly, we need that not just for the peaceful process for all this, but we need it for our country.
We saw the outpouring of love and excitement and hope from hundreds of thousands of people yesterday that took to the streets. That's not because they're putting their party first. That's because they want a new country. They want a new beginning and a new day, and I think that's what President-Elect Biden does.
JOHNSON: But on the other side here, all week long I was in Arizona, reporting from your home state talking to voters there where, frankly, people are still deeply divided. What advice do you think John McCain would have offered his close friend, Joe Biden, on how to heal this country?
C. MCCAIN: Sit down and listen. It's what Joe does really well, by the way. But to sit down, talk to people, listen to people and hear their grievances and work together most importantly.
You know, Joe's ability to work across the aisle in a bipartisan fashion will help deal with a lot of this mistrust and everything else that's going on right now because he has that empathy and that compassion and the character, the integrity, the dignity. That's what we're sorely missing right now, and I'm just so honored and so happy that this has taken place. And we have a new beginning.
(…)
8:15:17 a.m. Eastern
JON KARL: But people close to the President expect that he will eventually in the coming days come to accept, if not concede, accept his fate. It's more of a concession perhaps that the election was stolen from him than he lost outright. They don't expect him ever to come out and to acknowledge he lost, but he will accept a peaceful transfer of power. That's the full expectation from everybody I've talked to close to him.
DAN HARRIS: Overnight Joe Biden spoke and I'm quoting here. He spoke of “ending the grim era of demonization.” You covered Washington for many years. I don't want to out you about your age here, but does that notion strike you as doable, ending the demonization, and if it does strike you as doable, exactly how would it be doable?
KARL: Well, I do think that we are ready for a course correction, that people are ready for a course correction including partisans on Capitol Hill.
I have to say, though, Dan, the initial signs are not all that promising. We haven't heard really any Republicans outside of Mitt Romney in Congress, come out and congratulate Joe Biden. It's quite stark when you see some of the President's closest foreign allies, people like Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson come out and congratulate Joe Biden, but nothing from Kevin McCarthy, who was actually a couple of days ago repeating some of those wild allegations about fraud.
But Joe Biden has deep and meaningful friendships with Republicans in Congress, and I think it begins that way. I think it begins by what he said. He said in that speech, “we have to stop treating our opponents like enemies. They are not enemies. They are Americans.” I think that's a start.
(…)
