Not a bad word or embarrassing moment was mentioned by the broadcast networks Wednesday morning as they reported on the life and death of former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Instead, they showed him the greatest of reverence as they praised him as a Democratic “kingmaker,” “force of nature,” and a “powerbroker.”
From the get-go, ABC Good Morning America fill-in co-host and senior White House correspondent Mary Bruce made it clear, literally announcing they were going to be “honoring a giant of the Senate.”
“Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who served five terms and helped steer the passage of the Affordable Care Act as Senate majority leader, he died Tuesday at the age of 82 after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer,” she added.
White House correspondent MaryAlice Parks proceeded to let loose a torrent of glowing and gushing compliments. “He was soft-spoken but will be remembered as just a force of nature in Washington,” she declared. “And he was a masterful tactician, stubborn, dogged, a fighter, in absolutely every sense.”
Following Parks’ report, Bruce reminisced about her time as a congressional correspondent and covering Reid, also giving her praises:
Yeah, and I have to say, guys, I covered him in the Senate, MaryAlice, thank you. He was not always the loudest voice in the halls but he was an absolute force. Very stubborn, often shrewd, had a bit of a dry sense of humor too but what an amazing rise against all odds. His life truly an American success story.
Over on CBS Mornings, chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett said Reid “embodied what hard work and tenacity truly means. Harry Reid earned a reputation as one of the toughest lawmakers in Congress.”
While the liberal media would clutch their pearls and suggest tough words from Republicans were signs of violent intent against the country, Garrett boasted about Reid’s “willingness to draw partisan blood and famously carried the motto: I would rather dance than fight, but I know how to fight.”
And in another stark example of the double standard in outrage, where they would decry Republican “dark money” and influence peddling, Garrett bragged about Reid’s stranglehold on Nevada politics:
Also, he built the most important political machine in the state's history. For 20 years or more, anyone who made a political move in Nevada, Democrat or Republican, had to vector off Harry Reid and his political machine.
As with the previous two networks, NBC’s Today and chief Washington correspondent Andrea Mitchell lauded Reid’s rise from poverty to “powerbroker.”
“A Washington powerbroker from hard-scrabble roots, humble and compassionate, but tough as nails when he needed to be,” she touted. “A political gambler who took a freshman senator named Barack Obama to take a chance and run for the highest office in the land. Changing history.”
Where Reid a Republican, they might find it prudent to accuse him of benefiting from “white privilege.”
As the previous quote showed, they were also very thankful that Reid had given them their precious Barack Obama as president. They were also thankful he gave them ObamaCare:
MITCHELL: Reid working alongside Obama to push through his key legislative accomplishment, the Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare.
JON RALSTON (CEO The Nevada Independent): Barack Obama would never have passed the health care bill that bears his name, Obamacare, without Harry Reid. It should be called Reidcare as much as it should be called Obamacare.
And since they needed to hit their quota for January 6 references, NBC fill-in co-host and correspondent Jacob Soboroff noted: “You know you guys, often cited in this biography, he helped pass the Affordable Care Act, he rose from childhood poverty, but not often cited: he was a capitol police officer as well.”
This doting praise was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from McDonald’s on ABC, Cadillac on CBS, and Target on NBC. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they fund.
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s Good Morning America
December 29, 2021
7:13:08 a.m. EasternMARY BRUCE: Now to honoring a giant of the Senate. Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who served five terms and helped steer the passage of the Affordable Care Act as Senate majority leader, he died Tuesday at the age of 82 after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer. President Biden now among those paying tribute to the former Senator.
And ABC’s MaryAlice Parks is with the president in Delaware. MaryAlice, good morning.
MARYALICE PARKS: Mary, good morning. The former Senator from Nevada had been sick for some time.
He was soft-spoken but will be remembered as just a force of nature in Washington. He grew up in an extremely poor family in a tiny mining town in Nevada. His childhood home had no indoor plumbing. And yet, he rose through the ranks; he served in the Senate for 30 years, one of the longest-serving majority leaders in the nation's history. And he was a masterful tactician, stubborn, dogged, a fighter, in absolutely every sense. He was literally an amateur boxer known for taking on the mob back in Nevada and people always said he pulled no punches.
BRUCE: He certainly did not. And MaryAlice, he was also the driving force behind so much landmark legislation. He helped really cement President Obama's legacy turning his ideas into reality and overnight the former President also sending his tribute.
PARKS: Yeah, President Obama shared a personal letter he wrote to Reid recently saying, “I would not have been president had it not been for your encouragement and support.”
Together, like you said, the two of them passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010. And President Biden, writing last night, that Reid was a giant and wrote that, “for Harry it wasn't about power for power's sake but about the power to do right for the people.” Mary.
BRUCE: Yeah, and I have to say, guys, I covered him in the Senate, MaryAlice, thank you. He was not always the loudest voice in the halls but he was an absolute force. Very stubborn, often shrewd, had a bit of a dry sense of humor too but what an amazing rise against all odds. His life truly an American success story.
WHIT JOHNSON: His whole life story, exactly. Mary, thank you.
CBS Mornings
December 29, 2021
7:11:32 a.m. EasternVLADIMIR DUTHIERS: Retired Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has died at 82 after a fight with pancreatic cancer.
For more than three decades the Nevada Democrat was known as one of the toughest deal-makers in Congress during a time of immense partisan divisions. In a statement, President Biden, who served in the Senate with Reid for 22 years, said, “for Harry it wasn't about power for power's sake, it was about the power to do right for the people.”
Chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett has more on the legacy of the longtime Democratic leader.
[Cuts to video]
SENATOR HARRY REID (D-NV): I didn't make it in life because my athlete prowess, I didn't make it because of my good looks, I didn't make it because I'm a genius. I made it because I worked hard.
MAJOR GARRETT: Those words spoken to be the key to success by a man who embodied what hard work and tenacity truly means. Harry Reid earned a reputation as one of the toughest lawmakers in congress.
REID: The deal doesn't have to be a fight. There's a simple path forward, just put all four bills together, bring them to the floor.
GARRETT: A former amateur boxer, he brought a willingness to draw partisan blood and famously carried the motto: I would rather dance than fight, but I know how to fight.
(…)
7:13:03 a.m. Eastern
GARRETT: Reid was elected to the House in 1982, rising to the heights of power serving as majority leader in 2007. Over his 34-year congressional career, Reid was behind many landmark Democratic victories, pushing through a sweeping economic stimulus after the Great Recession, and Reid played a significant role in passing the Affordable Care Act, which he later described as his favorite but hardest fight in the Senate.
(…)
7:14:19 a.m. Eastern
GARRETT: Also, he built the most important political machine in the state history. For 20 years or more, anyone who made a political move in Nevada, Democrat or Republican, had to vector off Harry Reid and his political machine.
(…)
NBC’s Today
December 29, 2021
7:03:10 a.m. EasternKRISTEN WELKER: In the world of politics, former Senate Majority Harry Reid passed away after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. The Democratic kingmaker, as he was known for his deal-making abilities, being honored this morning on capitol hill and beyond.
(…)
7:14:58 a.m. Eastern
ANDREA MITCHELL: Today, Senator Harry Reid is described as one of a kind. A Washington powerbroker from hard-scrabble roots, humble and compassionate, but tough as nails when he needed to be. A political gambler who took a freshman senator named Barack Obama to take a chance and run for the highest office in the land. Changing history.
[Cuts to video]
Harry Reid was a kingmaker in it Washington, the one-time amateur boxer, brought that fighting spirit to Congress where he spent 30 years, including eight as the Senate majority leader.
(…)
7:16:13 a.m. Eastern
MITCHELL: A message President Obama emphasized in a recent letter to Reid which he made public overnight. Writing in part: “You were a great leader in the Senate, and early on you were more generous to me than I had any right to expect. I wouldn't have been president had it not been for your encouragement and support.”
Reid working alongside Obama to push through his key legislative accomplishment, the Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare.
JON RALSTON (CEO The Nevada Independent): Barack Obama would never have passed the health care bill that bears his name, Obamacare, without Harry Reid. It should be called Reidcare as much as it should be called Obamacare.
(…)
JACOB SOBOROFF: You know you guys, often cited in this biography, he helped pass the Affordable Care Act, he rose from childhood poverty, but not often cited: he was a capitol police officer as well.
WELKER: That is a great detail. And you just have to stop when you hear former President Barack Obama say he was one of the people who really encouraged him to get in the race for president.
PETER ALEXANDER: Yeah. Former amateur boxer, he’s a guy that never pulled punches politically.
