With just a few hours until President Biden delivered his first address to Congress on Wednesday, CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News couldn’t hold back their excitement as they trumpeted Biden’s call for an additional $4 trillion in federal spending on mostly liberal pet projects. CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell kicked off the newscast by celebrating the return of big government, while NBC’s Lester Holt parroted Biden’s on-the-record comments attacking Republicans.
O’Donnell was arguably the most excited by the prospects of Biden’s massive spending spree, soon to be $6 trillion total. “25 years after Bill Clinton declared that the era of big government is over, President Biden will argue the opposite,” she cheered, “saying that ‘Government still works’ and can deliver for the people, as he attempts to sell trillions of dollars in new federal spending on everything from universal pre-K and free community college to elder care and infrastructure.”
As for Holt, he started his program with a tacit admission that he was working as a puppet of the administration as they fought against the congressional Republicans:
I met with the president for over an hour today as part of a small group of TV journalists. While mostly off-the-record, the President did share on-the-record his concerns about whether he can find bipartisan consensus on any of this, telling us he has to figure out if there's a Republican Party to deal, and not one splintered and fearful of one another. So how big will he, can he go? Peter Alexander previews tonight's address.
Their meeting was off-the-record, but he eagerly wanted to share the part Biden wanted them to share with their viewers. Hacks.
O’Donnell did the same but didn’t say where she was getting her orders from: “Mr. Biden acknowledged today he’ll need the help of Americans as well as Republican lawmakers to get his agenda passed. And tonight, GOP lawmakers say that's not going to happen; labeling his plans as, quote, ‘Washington schemes and socialist dreams.’”
CBS’s report was handled by senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe, who worked diligently during the 2020 election to protect Biden from negative stories. “The big items on his agenda: Touting the progress in fighting the pandemic, the rebounding economy, and nearly $4 trillion in proposed new spending,” he said.
O’Keefe then flaunted his ability to be a good spokesperson (click “expand”):
He calls it a “blue-collar blueprint to build America” that will create “millions of jobs and trillions of dollars in economic growth,” and he says that “90 percent” of the jobs created by his infrastructure plans “don't require a college degree.”
Mr. Biden is calling for free government-backed pre-kindergarten and community college, child tax credits, a new national paid family and medical leave program, and hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild roads, bridges, airports, electrical grids, and water lines.
It was a similar story on NBC with chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander, who lauded Biden for pushing “the biggest expansion of government programs in decades,” then rattled off the liberal big-ticket items like O’Keefe. “In all, the President will have called for roughly $6 trillion of new spending in 100 days, planning to pay for it all by raising taxes on big businesses and the wealthy,” he said.
Their excitements for massive new federal spending was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Prevagen on CBS and Ford Motor Company on NBC. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they fund. CBS Evening News has also asked people to “text Norah” at this number: (202) 217-1107.
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
CBS Evening News
April 28, 2021
6:32:08 p.m. EasternNORAH O’DONNELL: We’re going to begin tonight with President Biden's first address to a joint session of Congress and the ambitious plan he'll layout this evening to move the country from what he calls “peril into possibility” and “setback into strength.”
25 years after Bill Clinton declared that the era of big government is over, President Biden will argue the opposite, saying that "Government still works" and can deliver for the people, as he attempts to sell trillions of dollars in new federal spending on everything from universal pre-K and free community college to elder care and infrastructure.
And tonight's address is expected to outline Mr. Biden's vision of a country emerging from the pandemic even as he speaks to masked lawmakers sitting in a nearly-empty House chamber due to ongoing COVID restrictions.
Mr. Biden acknowledged today he’ll need the help of Americans as well as Republican lawmakers to get his agenda passed. And tonight, GOP lawmakers say that's not going to happen; labeling his plans as, quote, “Washington schemes and socialist dreams.”
(…)
ED O’KEEFE: The big items on his agenda: Touting the progress in fighting the pandemic, the rebounding economy, and nearly $4 trillion in proposed new spending.
He calls it a “blue-collar blueprint to build America” that will create “millions of jobs and trillions of dollars in economic growth,” and he says that “90 percent” of the jobs created by his infrastructure plans “don't require a college degree.”
Mr. Biden is calling for free government-backed pre-kindergarten and community college, child tax credits, a new national paid family and medical leave program, and hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild roads, bridges, airports, electrical grids, and water lines.
(…)
NBC Nightly News
April 28, 2021
7:01:44 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: President Biden's speech before Congress tonight will not have the usual trappings or even attendance. COVID shrinking the audience to just a few hundred. The big numbers of the night will be the President's proposals. $1.8 trillion earmarked for American families from childcare credits to free community college tuition. All on top of his recently announced $2.3 trillion jobs and infrastructure plan. Price tags Republicans are already balking at.
I met with the president for over an hour today as part of a small group of TV journalists. While mostly off-the-record, the President did share on-the-record his concerns about whether he can find bipartisan consensus on any of this, telling us he has to figure out if there's a Republican Party to deal, and not one splintered and fearful of one another. So how big will he, can he go? Peter Alexander previews tonight's address.
(…)
PETER ALEXANDER: He'll also push for the biggest expansion of government programs in decades, announcing a new nearly $2 trillion proposal to help American families including free universal pre-k, tuition-free community college, and tax credits for childcare. On top of his more than $2 trillion infrastructure plan that tonight he will cast as a blue-collar blueprint to build America.
In all, the President will have called for roughly $6 trillion of new spending in 100 days, planning to pay for it all by raising taxes on big businesses and the wealthy. Republicans slamming it as a massive tax and spending spree, saying president Biden promised to unify America but has no bipartisan achievements. They say, so far, he's only catered to Progressive Democrats.
(…)
