In the wake of the jury in the Derek Chauvin murder trial finding him guilty of all three charges Tuesday, ABC’s World News Tonight wasted zero time kicking things into a disgustingly political gear by suggesting that Republicans were against the Floyd family and police reform just because a bill with George Floyd’s name on it had stalled.
But as NewsBusters documented last year, ABC (and the rest of the broadcast networks) ignored the GOP rollout of South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott’s Justice Act, the racist messages and death threats he received for it, and Senate Democrats shooting it down with the filibuster.
Just before smearing Senate Republicans on Tuesday, Vega primed the pump by first praising President Joe Biden for reaching out to the Floyd family. “He has said all along, David, that he believes George Floyd was murdered and that he died in the hands of brutality. And he said in that phone call today that this verdict was justice,” she said to anchor David Muir.
From there, she framed the situation in the Senate as Republicans standing in opposition to the wishes of the Floyd family:
The family is hoping now for some reckoning here in Washington. They want to see the George Floyd justice in policing ability passed. It has passed in the House, but it is stalled in the Senate. This would ban chokeholds. It would create a national registry for police misconduct. But Republicans, David, here in Washington say that this bill would weaken law enforcement and potentially put officers at risk. So, right now, this hope for movement is stalled.
At no point did Vega, ABC, nor any other broadcast network for that matter, mention the fact that Scott, a black conservative, led the GOP effort for police reform.
“How does that work around the country when instead of getting 70 percent of what you wanted, today and tomorrow and next week you get zero? And you're going to wait until the election to get more,” Senator Scott declared on the Senate floor at the time. “Okay. Well, why wouldn't you take the 80 percent now, see if you can win the election, and add on the other 20 percent? You've got to be kidding me.”
The ridiculousness of the situation wasn’t lost on former South Carolina Congressman Trey Gowdy, who noted on the Fox News Channel’s Special Report that Vice President Kamala Harris was a part of the filibuster against Scott’s reform bill when she was a senator.
“And I hope that the gaggle of media at the White House will ask Kamala Harris why she killed police reform last summer,” he told anchor Bret Baier.
He added: “Keep in mind, Tim Scott met with her he didn't meet with Joe Biden he met with Kamala Harris. And he said, ‘what problems do you have with my bill? I’ll give you an amendment for every problem you have.’ And she got up and would not negotiate because the issue was more important to her than the solution.”
Ten months later, and ABC was still trying to keep Scott’s reform bill a secret.
ABC’s unfounded smears against Republicans were made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Dove and Ensure. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they fund.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s World News Tonight
April 20, 2021
6:45:26 p.m. Eastern(…)
CECILIA VEGA: He [President Joe Biden] has said all along, David, that he believes George Floyd was murdered and that he died in the hands of brutality. And he said in that phone call today that this verdict was justice.
The family is hoping now for some reckoning here in Washington. They want to see the George Floyd justice in policing ability passed. It has passed in the House, but it is stalled in the Senate. This would ban chokeholds. It would create a national registry for police misconduct. But Republicans, David, here in Washington say that this bill would weaken law enforcement and potentially put officers at risk. So, right now, this hope for movement is stalled.
