For the second straight day Wednesday, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley was grilled by congressional Republicans (this time, it was the House's turn) regarding the withdrawal from Afghanistan and his reported promise to China to warn them if the U.S. attacked. But that was of no interest to ABC’s World News Tonight as they chose to only cover his comments about threats in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the CBS Evening News scoffed with Milley and touted Republican Liz Cheney (WY) coming to his defense.
When it came to reporting on Milley getting a rough reception from the House Armed Services Committee, the closest ABC came was anchor David Muir noting that “top U.S. military leaders facing tough questions in the House today after the chaotic and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan.” This also included Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Kenneth McKenzie.
Muir and chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz were only interested in sharing Milley’s warning about the threat of Al-Qaeda rebuilding in Afghanistan:
They certainly were very sobering comments today from General Milley. He said that while we are safe right now, conditions are more likely than not for Al-Qaeda and ISIS to reconstitute in Afghanistan and that could happen in as little as six months. Adding that Al-Qaeda could once again have aspirations to attack the United States.
And with no U.S. forces in Afghanistan and the Taliban in charge, the General acknowledged that countering that threat will be much harder, David, but not impossible. David.
The grilling of Milley came second to CBS, as White House correspondent Weijia Jiang joined Milley in scoffing at the opposition.
“Republicans grilled Milley about the U.S. military withdrawal in Afghanistan and over his phone calls to China after the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6. Milley reassured Beijing that the U.S. was not going to attack amid concerns that former President Trump would engage in erratic behavior,” she said.
Jiang followed up with a soundbite of Milley going at it with Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson (R):
JACKSON: Will you now resign?
MILLEY: [Scoffs] I serve at the pleasure of the president.
One of the few times Jiang has had a positive tone when talking about Republicans came reporting how, “Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney, also a Republican, rushed to Milley's defense.” “I want to apologize for those members of this committee who’ve done so, and I want to thank you for standing in the breach when so much, including many in this room, failed to do so,” Cheney said.
And of course, Jiang closed out with a statement from the White House saying they supported Milley:
JIANG: The White House said President Biden's view of Milley has not changed.
PSAKI: I would say, first, he absolutely has confidence in chairman Milley.
Meanwhile, NBC Nightly News and military affairs correspondent Courtney Kube took a more balanced approach to highlight Republican criticism of Milley. She started with a soundbite of Congressman Mike Waltz (R-FL) declaring: “Frankly they're being slaughtered right now as we speak with our weapons. With our damn equipment, our allies are being slaughtered.”
“Milley was challenged about his phone call during the Trump administration with a Chinese general who he reportedly told, ‘if we're going to attack, I'm going to call you ahead of time,’” she added. Only after a series of critical GOP soundbites did Kube bring up Cheney’s defense.
This omission of GOP grilling and touting of Milley’s defense was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Consumer Cellular on ABC and Fidelity on CBS. Their contact information is liked so you can tell them about the biased news the fund.
The relevant portions of the transcript are below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s World News Tonight
September 29, 2021
6:41:51 p.m. EasternDAVID MUIR: Now to top U.S. military leaders facing tough questions in the House today after the chaotic and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan. And tonight, what the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General mark Milley said today about the potential terror threat in Afghanistan now that the U.S. is out and how soon that threat could come.
So, let's get right back to our chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz following this again tonight, Martha. And those words were sobering today.
MARTHA RADDATZ: They certainly were very sobering comments today from General Milley. He said that while we are safe right now, conditions are more likely than not for Al-Qaeda and ISIS to reconstitute in Afghanistan and that could happen in as little as six months. Adding that Al-Qaeda could once again have aspirations to attack the United States.
And with no U.S. forces in Afghanistan and the Taliban in charge, the General acknowledged that countering that threat will be much harder, David, but not impossible. David.
MUIR: All right, Martha Raddatz with us tonight. Martha, thank you.
CBS Evening News
September 29, 2021
6:38:30 p.m. Eastern(…)
WEIJIA JIANG: Republicans grilled Milley about the U.S. military withdrawal in Afghanistan and over his phone calls to China after the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6. Milley reassured Beijing that the U.S. was not going to attack amid concerns that former President Trump would engage in erratic behavior.
REP. RONNY JACKSON (R-TX): Will you now resign?
GEN. MARK MILLEY: [Scoffs] I serve at the pleasure of the president.
JIANG: Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney, also a Republican, rushed to Milley's defense.
REP LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): I want to apologize for those members of this committee who’ve done so, and I want to thank you for standing in the breach when so much, including many in this room, failed to do so.
JIANG: The White House said President Biden's view of Milley has not changed.
PRESS SEC. JEN PSAKI: I would say, first, he absolutely has confidence in chairman Milley.
(…)
