CBS This Morning journalist Major Garrett on Friday could not resist an arrogant tone as he recapped Thursday’s presidential town hall events. He mocked Donald Trump as “desperate” and returning “on bended knee” to get on NBC.
Talking to Gayle King, Garrett jeered, “President Trump did not agree to do the second debate, and then he realized he would be without a television audience to rival Joe Biden. So what did he do? He went on bended knee to that thing he hates the most in American journalistic life, the mainstream media.”
The mocking continued: “Yes, he went back to his old familiar network NBC. He had to go back there to basically get an audience to compete with Joe Biden.”
Offering Democratic talking points, Garrett moved to declare preemptive victory for Biden on the final debate — or at least claim that it won’t matter.
But if you look back at the history of presidential debates, the third debate has typically the lowest television audience and moves the fewest number of viewers. So the President's missed an enormous opportunity by opting out of the second debate. Jumping back into the third may not give him the momentum he needs and now Joe Biden has essentially two of these debates upped his belt. He'll go in with much more confidence. Looking at the polling data he'll be more relaxed.
In contrast, an unconcerned Ed O’Keefe on CBS This Morning, Friday, seemed uninterested that Joe Biden opened the door to court packing. Instead, the journalist reiterated that the Democrat claims to be “not a fan,” as if that means anything definitive.
ED O’KEEFE: Under questioning by ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos Biden admitted he's not a fan of expanding the number of seats on the supreme court. An idea growing in popularity among Democrats as Republicans push through Amy Coney Barrett weeks before the election.
JOE BIDEN: I'm not a fan. It depends on how this turns out. Not how he wins, but how it's handled. How it's handled. I mean, it depends on how much they rush this.
O’KEEFE: But when pressed he said he'd have more to say on the subject before election day.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: So you'll come out with a clear position before election day?
BIDEN: Yes. Depending on how they handle this.
The Democratic hackery on CBS This Morning was sponsored by Liberty Mutual and Toyota.
A transcript of the segment is below. Click “expand” to read more.
CBS This Morning
10/16/2020
7:10:33 to 7:13:39GAYLE KING: We're joined now by chief Washington correspondent major Garrett. Major, we all know last night was supposed to be the second of the two debates. We got dueling town halls. It was a clear case of two different men, two different philosophies. What do you make of the contrast between the two events and the two men?
GARRETT: Well, if you'll allow me, Gayle, the big picture. President Trump did not agree to do the second debate, and then he realized he would be without a television audience to rival Joe Biden. So what did he do? He went on bended knee to that thing he hates the most in American journalistic life, the mainstream media. Yes, he went back to his old familiar network NBC. He had to go back there to basically get an audience to compete with Joe Biden.
That tells you part of the strategic place the president finds himself in this campaign. He is desperate for eyeballs. He is desperate for some kind of audience and he had to go back to a mainstream media to find it last night. Only for an hour. Joe Biden did it for an hour and a half. So Biden gets 30 minutes of extra points in terms of availability to the audience and availability to questioners. But that is in itself a big takeaway. The President knows that rallies themselves can't get him back in the race. He's got to try to find a way to do that, and last night in a town hall was one kind of attempt.
KING: He again, Major, though, repeated the false claims about the coronavirus. Kudos to Savannah Guthrie who really did fact check him in real time. Why do you think he keeps continuing to do that? What is his thinking or strategy there?
GARRETT: The President has had an opportunity since he came down with the virus to say, “You know what? Having experienced it, I now have some very real term and real life understanding of this, and I was probably too cavalier earlier. I want to have a different conversation with the country about it.” He's had that opportunity for now the better part of a week. He has not taken it. What does that tell you? That he is completely reliant upon a base mobilization strategy telling Trump supporters precisely what they want to hear over and over about the coronavirus, even if it is not true and not medically factual for them or for anyone else.
And that tells me that strategically he believes the only thing that prevents him from a complete wipe out in this election is to mobilize his base, but not add to it which he could have, at least in theory if he said, “You know what, having experienced coronavirus, I have a new appreciation for it and I'm going to have a new dialogue with the country about it.”
ANTHONY MASON: Major, there is one more debate on the schedule. Joe Biden said last night he intends to be there. Do you expect Trump to be there and how critical do you think that debate is?
GARRETT: For now, based on what we know, I expect the President and the former Vice President to be there. But if you look back at the history of presidential debates, the third debate has typically the lowest television audience and moves the fewest number of viewers. So the President's missed an enormous opportunity by opting out of the second debate. Jumping back into the third may not give him the momentum he needs and now Joe Biden has essentially two of these debates upped his belt. He'll go in with much more confidence. Looking at the polling data he'll be more relaxed. That will be a plus for the Biden campaign.
MASON: Major Garrett. Thanks, Major.
