In order to build up the “acclaimed” Mikhail Gorbachev’s “monumental” role in ending the Cold War, the networks on Wednesday dismissed Ronald Reagan. On CBS Mornings, foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer huffed, “In the end, the East Germans tore down the wall for themselves, but Gorbachev didn't stop them.”
The journalists were effusive in their praise for the communist, who passed away on Tuesday at 91. Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos cheered, “Now to the death of one of the most monumental figures of our time, Mikhail Gorbachev. Tributes poured in for the last leader of the Soviet Union who presided over the end of the Cold War and steered his country towards democracy.”
Stephanopoulos described Gorbachev as “acclaimed by the world, but disliked and soon ousted at home, forced to resign in 1991.”
Over on CBS Mornings, Palmer heaped on the praise: “Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev set out to reform the Soviet Union, and he ended up changing the world.” She then dismissed the role Reagan, pretending as if the end of the Cold War simply happened on its own:
REAGAN: Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
PALMER: In the end, the East Germans tore down the wall for themselves, but Gorbachev didn't stop them. And that was the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
On NBC’s Today, Craig Melvin echoed his colleagues at the other networks: “Remembering Mikhail Gorbachev. Tributes pouring in for the late leader of the soviet union who changed world history, helping to lift the iron curtain and end the Cold War.” NBC's Andrea Mitchell played the famous clip of Reagan imploring, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” But then she gave the credit to the communist for not brutally repressing his people in 1989:
Gorbachev was widely credited with ending the cold war and overseeing the end of the Soviet Union. Maybe his greatest moment was letting the Berlin Wall come down in 1989, without sending in Soviet tanks, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
To read about the historic fawning over Gorbachev by the media, see former MRC Research Director Rich Noyes’s flashback study. To read about the networks on Tuesday night falsely claiming Gorbachev “took down the Iron Curtain,” check out NewsBusters associate editor Nick Fondacaro's write-up.
The revisionist history on ABC was sponsored by Dell, on CBS, it was Progressive insurance. On NBC, it was Citi. Click on the links to let them know what you think.
Partial transcripts are below. Click “expand” to read more.
Good Morning America
8/31/2022CECILIA VEGA: Remembering Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union who helped end the Cold War, passing away at 91 years old. This morning, the tributes pouring in from around the world.
...
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Now to the death of one of the most monumental figures of our time, Mikhail Gorbachev. Tributes poured in for the last leader of the Soviet Union who presided over the end of the cold war and steered his country towards democracy. The last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, played a complicated and unique role in history, he became president of the USSR in 1985 and oversaw the breakup of the country, the collapse of communism, more peaceful relations with the west and the end of the Cold War. He was outgoing and charming, Meeting with world leaders like Fidel Castro, Margaret Thatcher, Pope John Paul II. Even seen driving President George H.W. Bush in a golf cart at Camp David. He grew close with President Ronald Regan, who on June 12th, 1987 called on Gorbachev during his historic Berlin wall speech.
RONALD REAGAN: Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Six months later, the two signed the INF treaty helping to end the Cold War. He was awarded the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize, acclaimed by the world. But disliked and soon ousted at home, forced to resign in 1991.
...STEPHANOPOULOS: He is a man who proves the point individuals can change the course of history. You know, President Biden said overnight he called Gorbachev “a man of remarkable vision,” he also recalled the acts of a great leader.
CBS Mornings
8/31/20222
7:13AM ETTONY DOKOUPIL: The world is remembering the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, who died at the age of 91. He will be remembered for helping try to end the Cold War and introduce reforms that ultimately led to the breakup of his country, the Soviet state. Liz Palmer, who was a CBS News correspondent in Moscow and interviewed Gorbachev, looks back at his place in history.
ELIZABETH PALMER: Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev set out to reform the Soviet Union, and he ended up changing the world.
RONALD REAGAN: Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.
PALMER: In the end, the East Germans tore down the wall for themselves, but Gorbachev didn't stop them. And that was the beginning of the end of the Cold War. Born into a farming family in the Soviet Union in 1931, Gorbachev went to Moscow to study law and joined the communist party. In the 1980s, as the youngest ever secretary general of the party, he set out to reform an inflexible, inefficient Soviet system. He engaged with the U.S. And in 1987, he signed a momentous nuclear reduction treaty.
Today
8/31/2022
7AM teaseCRAIG MELVIN: Remembering Mikhail Gorbachev. Tributes pouring in for the late leader of the soviet union who changed world history, helping to lift the iron curtain and end the Cold War.
...
7:14
ANDREA MITCHELL: Mikhail Gorbachev was a transformational Soviet leader who saw the need for change. That vision led to historic summits with a most unlikely partner, then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who once called the Soviet Union the evil empire. Mikhail Gorbachev was a new kind of Soviet leader, decades younger than his Kremlin predecessors, he took a radically different approach. When he and president Ronald Reagan first met in Geneva they somehow connected, agreeing on an historic joint statement, that a nuclear war cannot be won and must not be fought. But summit in Iceland the following year broke down in anger. On a trip to Berlin, a city still divided by that infamous wall, Reagan famously challenged Gorbachev.
RONALD REAGAN: Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.
...
MITCHELL: Gorbachev was widely credited with ending the cold war and overseeing the end of the Soviet Union. Maybe his greatest moment was letting the Berlin Wall come down in 1989, without sending in Soviet tanks, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
