When Donald Trump allegedly used the word “shithole” in reference to some African countries, media outlets went into hyper drive. CNN journalists on January 12 repeated the word, with no self-censoring, 195 times in a 24 hour period. Yet when Hillary Clinton on Friday night bizarrely mentioned “activist bitches supporting bitches,” the cable network ignored the remark.
In fact, ABC, CBS and NBC have skipped the story, as well as CNN and MSNBC. Only Fox News covered a very odd video that begins in a seemingly normal manner: “Hey everyone, I just wanted to say thanks. Thanks for your feminism, for your activism, and all I can hope is you keep up the really important, good work.”
After an off-camera voice whispered to her, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee stated: “And let me just say, this is directed to the activist bitches supporting bitches. So let’s go!” The video was first posted on Twitter by Huffington Post commentator Alex Mohajer.
In contrast, the MRC’s Tim Graham explained how CNN covered the “shithole” comments (which weren't caught on camera): “CNN staffers and CNN guests uncorked the profanity 195 times in one day.”
He added:
ABC, CBS, and the PBS NewsHour were also zero, and the NBC Nightly News uncorked one on January 11. FCC obscenity regulations apply only to broadcast TV stations between 6 am and 10 pm, so cable networks can let it fly without any fear of fines.
MSNBC's prime-time shows (the only ones in Nexis) used 14 S-words from 5 pm to 11 pm on Friday.
Though the big three networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) didn’t actually say the word Trump reportedly uttered, they certainly featured the story. Clinton’s “activist bitches” remark has yet to be covered.
The profanity came in the wake of the news that Clinton kept Burns Strider, the faith adviser for her 2008 campaign, on despite “repeatedly sexually harassing a young aide.” That story was covered over the weekend and mentioned by ABC and CBS on Monday. Considering that protecting an alleged sexual harasser might call in to question Clinton's feminist credentials, perhaps it would have been a good moment to mention the weird “activist bitches” remark.
