On Thursday, the broadcast networks were singing President Biden praises, even portraying him as battling on despite having been hamstrung by the Supreme Court, because he was deploying military personnel to hospitals hard-hit by COVID-19 and experiencing staffing shortages. But at no point did they mention that Biden’s vaccine mandate was responsible for some of the shortages since unvaccinated staffers were fired or suspended.
“President Biden taking new steps to surge resources where they're needed most, deploying six more military medical teams to six hard-hit states. 1,000 personnel part of this effort,” boasted ABC’s World News Tonight anchor David Muir.
He was backed up by correspondent Kayna Whitworth, who reiterated that Biden was “deploying six more military medical teams to six hospitals in hard-hit states: New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Rhode Island, New Mexico, and Ohio.”
“At least 1,000 hospitals across the country are facing critical staff shortages. Dayton children's in Ohio says short-staffed and admitting more kids than ever since the omicron surge,” she added.
While many of the health care workers were out due to contracting COVID themselves, Whitworth failed to mention that just last September, ABC reported that “[h]undreds of health care workers across the country are being fired or suspended in droves for not complying with COVID-19 vaccine mandates.”
And the network was concerned about staffing shortages back then too:
But there are brewing concerns over staff shortages at already-overburdened hospitals still grappling with COVID-19 cases. Some hospital networks said they've ramped up hiring ahead of vaccine deadlines to stabilize their workforces.
Meanwhile, the CBS Evening News via correspondent Meg Oliver was bust portraying the Supreme Court as trying to intentionally stifle Biden’s COVID response.
"Tonight, a blow to the Biden administration as COVID cases careen out of control across the U.S. The Supreme Court blocking the president's bland to require employees at large private companies to be vaccinated or test weekly for COVID,” Oliver reported. “This as the President called in the military today to help overwhelmed hospitals in six states survive the surge.”
NBC national correspondent Gabe Gutierrez framed it the same way on Nightly News. After noting the SCOTUS decision, he suggested: “It all comes as the Biden administration scrambles to fight a frustratingly resurgent pandemic, vaccine disinformation, and a highly transmissible variant.”
Adding: “Now the President is sending in the military to hospitals in six hard-hit states, including the Cleveland Clinic, the University of New Mexico, and Rhode Island Hospital. And he says his administration will make higher quality masks available to Americans for free.”
This omission of President Biden’s roll in the hospital staffing shortages was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Verizon and ABC, Prevagen on CBS, and Liberty Mutual on NBC. Their contact information is linked.
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s World News Tonight
January 13, 2022
6:36:14 p.m. EasternDAVID MUIR: President Biden taking new steps to surge resources where they're needed most, deploying six more military medical teams to six hard-hit states. 1,000 personnel part of this effort.
Tonight, our Kayna Whitworth in one of those states. She's at Dayton's children's hospital in Ohio. What doctors are seeing there right now, as Kayna goes down the list of states tonight, where military medical personnel are now on the way.
[Cuts to video]
KAYNA WHITWORTH: Tonight, President Biden deploying six more military medical teams to six hospitals in hard hit states: New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Rhode Island, New Mexico, and Ohio.
At least 1,000 hospitals across the country are facing critical staff shortages. Dayton children's in Ohio say’s short-staffed and admitting more kids than ever since the omicron surge.
(…)
CBS Evening News
January 13, 2022
6:33:17 p.m. Eastern(…)
MEG OLIVER: Tonight, a blow to the Biden administration as COVID cases careen out of control across the U.S. The Supreme Court blocking the president's bland to require employees at large private companies to be vaccinated or test weekly for COVID. But the court is allowing the mandate for most healthcare workers. This as the President called in the military today to help overwhelmed hospitals in six states survive the surge.
(…)
NBC Nightly News
January 13, 2022
7:03:44 p.m. Eastern(…)
GABE GUTIERREZ: It all comes as the Biden administration scrambles to fight a frustratingly resurgent pandemic, vaccine disinformation, and a highly transmissible variant.
While the most recent data suggests that Omicron may be leveling off in some east coast cities, overall cases and hospitalizations remain high nationwide.
Now the President is sending in the military to hospitals in six hard-hit states, including the Cleveland Clinic, the University of New Mexico, and Rhode Island Hospital. And he says his administration will make higher quality masks available to Americans for free.
(…)
