On the one year anniversary of the violent January 6, 2021 attack on Congress, CBS Mornings hosts spewed Democratic talking points as they attempted to pretend that only one party has election deniers. The network that cheered election denier Stacey Abrams, the show that regularly trashes conservatives, now wants to know why Americans don’t trust the press.
At one point in the show, co-host Tony Dokoupil asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer: “You're blaming Republican elected officials. Is the blame really with them or with the voters they're responding to?” Hard to imagine why people don't trust the media.
CBS Mornings devoted over 50 minutes of coverage to January 6. So here are the top 4 moments, the best of the worst.
4. Fact Denier Says You Can’t Deny Facts
Co-host Gayle King interviewed Maryland’s moderate Republican Governor, Larry Hogan. After hyping his possible presidential run in 2024, she compared being in the GOP to dysfunctional marital counseling and insisted, “You can’t deny facts.”
It reminds me when I was in marital counseling, how two people can look at the same thing and come up with two totally different views. The counselor would say, “But that's his reality, that's your reality.” And I would say, “But he's not telling the truth.” So what happens when people look at the -- you can't deny facts. What happens when you tell it like it is and you put out the facts and people still don't believe? How do you change that mind set? I'm very confused and scared.
You can’t deny reality? Back on November 10, 2020, CBS Mornings reporter Mark Strassmann gently asked failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Abrams: “[You] lost by 55,000 votes. So you've never conceded that race because you believe it was stolen from you?” How about, “You can’t deny facts?” No, that never came up.
In April of 2020, King coached Abrams on a possible vice presidential run, touting her “great answer.” In June of that year, the host pushed the vice presidency again, lauding, “Stacey Abrams I hope this is not our last conversation. Something tells me it isn't.” For more on CBS fawning over fact-denier Abrams, go here.
3. But Seriously, Blame Republicans
After talking to a far-left voter who thought that Bernie Sanders had his 2016 nomination stolen from him, as well as a Trump voter who thought that 2020 was stolen, Dokoupil made it clear where he stands: It’s the Republicans who are the real kooks.
I also want to point out that we're putting those two voters together, but there's not equivalence in the journey to that feeling, to that feeling of doubt. There's only one party who is responsible for the attack on the Capitol behind me. There's one party primarily responsible for undermining the faith in the 2020 results. But when you have voters on both sides distrusting the system, you put the country in a situation where we're going to be wobbling into the future, and I'm not sure we're going to stay afloat as a result.
2. Why Don’t People Trust Us?
During Wednesday’s show, Dokoupil and analyst Joel Payne lamented that no one trust the press anymore, that there’s no “referee.”
JOEL PAYNE: Belief in media, belief in government. Those things have all gone by the wayside over the last two decades.
...
DOKOUPIL: We're at a point where it doesn't seem there's a referee in American life. People don't trust Congress, they don't trust the courts, they don't trust the media. So, who can step in?
Americans don’t trust the press because the media has spent several decades attacking every Republican president and conservative as Nazi-loving monsters.
1. Maybe Just Blame Americans
Finally, Dokoupil interviewed Democratic Majority Leader Schumer and it went about how you’d expect. The co-host suggested, rather than blaming Republicans, maybe we should just point the finger at Americans in general.
You're blaming Republican elected officials. Is the blame really with them or with the voters they're responding to?
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A partial transcript is below. Click "expand" to read more.
CBS Mornings
1/6/20227:13 AM ET
DOKOUPIL: When you look at the polls, the doubts in our system exist on both sides of the aisle.
CHUCK SCHUMER: Correct.
DOKOUPIL: And polarization — we don’t come to this place with equal blame. But it does take two to get here.
...
DOKOUPIL: You're blaming Republican elected officials. Is the blame really with them or with the voters they're responding to?
...
DOKOUPIL: Both of those women you heard from to vote. So they have some hope that the system can recover. I also want to point out that we're putting those two voters together, but there's not equivalence in the journey to that feeling, to that feeling of doubt. There's only one party who is responsible for the attack on the Capitol behind me. There's one party primarily responsible for undermining the faith in the 2020 results. But when you have voters on both sides distrusting the system, you put the country in a situation where we're going to be wobbling into the future, and I'm not sure we're going to stay afloat as a result. It's a very dangerous line to walk, and how we get off it is a challenge of my time.
...DOKOUPIL: Joel, I want to begin with you. We're at a moment politically in this country where the two sides don't just think the other side is wrong, they think the other side is a threat, immoral even. How did we get to that point? How do we get out of it?
JOEL PAYNE: There's so many root causes. I think the interview with the two voters earlier I think indicate some of those institutional breakdowns, right? Belief in media, belief in government. Those things have all gone by the wayside over the last two decades.
...
DOKOUPIL: We're at a point where it doesn't seem there's a referee in American life. People don't trust Congress, they don't trust the courts, they don't trust the media. So, who can step in? We've had people say we've had political violence before, how is this different?
...GAYLE KING: Governor Hogan. As you said, we just have to keep telling it like it is. Sometimes when you tell it like it is, people don't want to listen to you. So I know that, you know, people are already looking to 2024. I'm wondering -- I'm not going to ask you if you're going to run, but I am asking you if you're thinking about running.
...
KING: It reminds me when I was in marital counseling, how two people can look at the same thing and come up with two totally different views. The counselor would say, “But that's his reality, that's your reality.” And I would say, “But he's not telling the truth.” So what happens when people look at the -- you can't deny facts. What happens when you tell it like it is and you put out the facts and people still don't believe? How do you change that mind set? I'm very confused and scared.
