This past November President Trump instructed the Pentagon to, "prepare for possible action in Nigeria", saying the U.S. could go in "guns-a-blazing" and halt aid if the government there "continues to allow the killing of Christians." He also refused to rule out the possibility of U.S. troops boots on the ground, and declared Nigeria, "a country of particular concern" for violating religious freedoms, all of which sent the left into a frenzy, with many questioning if Trump's warnings were warranted.
Many in the left wing media like MSNBC's Al Sharpton and CNN's Abby Phillip had major issues with Trump shining a light on Christians being killed. And on November 20th, all three major TV Network Newscasts skipped coverage of a House hearing on the very issue of Christians being killed in Nigeria. Fast forward to Christmas Day, and the U.S. bombing of ISIS in Nigeria, and the coverage provided by the three Network Newscasts. The in depth reporting occurred on Friday December 26th. Over on the CBS Evening News, correspondent William James Inman began his report this way.
INMAN: The U.S. Military fired more than a dozen tomahawk cruise missiles at ISIS targets in Nigeria, and the timing was deliberate, President Trump told a radio interviewer.
TRUMP: I said hit them on Christmas day. It'll be a Christmas present. We hit ISIS, who are terrible, they are butchers.
INMAN: People could be seen carrying debris away from one target site. The Pentagon's initial assessment indicated multiple ISIS militants were killed. Trump warned last month the U.S. Would go into Nigeria with guns a-blazing if the government failed to protect Christians from ISIS attacks.
TRUMP IN NOVEMBER: They are killing the Christians, and killing them in very large numbers. I'm not going to allow that to happen.
INMAN: But Nigeria denied those accusations. So far this year nearly 12,000 people have been killed.
Inman never tells us how many of the 12,000 were Christians. It would have been an opportune time to inform his audience that in September, Senator Ted Cruz introduced the 'Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025'. The bill protects Christians and other religious minorities being persecuted in Nigeria. Cruz has pointed out that since 2009, 52,000 Nigerian Christians have been murdered by Jihadists and over 20,000 Christian churches and religious-based institutions have been destroyed. That all went unreported by Inman, who did find time to play a clip from CBS National Security Contributor Samantha Vinograd.
VINOGRAD: Violence by insurgent groups, criminals, and others in Nigeria doesn't just target Christians. It also targets Muslims. And where and when these strikes occur will certainly be scrutinized by analysts to see who exactly is hit and whether the violence stops.
Again, minimizing the significance of the Christians who have been killed. Over on NBC Nightly News the agenda-driven reporting continued, with reporter Julie Tsirkin who had the help of an official from the Nigerian government, which as always denied that Christians are being targeted.
TSIRKIN: ..Nigeria's government now confirming it worked directly with the United States to carry out the mission. But the Foreign Minister also pushing back against President Trump's claim that Christians alone are being targeted by the Islamic State.
YUSUF TUGGAR Foreign Minister Nigeria: This is not about religion. It is about Nigeria's innocent civilians and the wider region as a whole.
Tsirkin could have pointed out that this has been the position of the Nigerian government all along, despite numbers to the contrary. She could have easily pointed to Senator Cruz's telling statistics, referenced above, but of course did not.
Friday on ABC's World News Tonight, it was more of the same. Anchor Linsey Davis led into a report on the attack from correspondent Selina Wang this way.
DAVIS: President Trump says it was to protect Christians in that country. But Nigerian officials say the strikes were aimed at protecting all religions, not just Christians.
WANG: ..President Trump saying he ordered the strikes against terrorists who, quote, have been targeting and viciously killing primarily innocent Christians... U.S. And Nigerian officials confirming they worked together on this operation. Analysts tell ABC news the reality on the ground in Africa's most populous country, home to millions of Christians and Muslims, is complex.
DARRELL BLOCKER, Former Chief, CIA Africa Division: Christians are not the sole target of ISIS, in Nigeria, they have been indiscriminate in their violence.
WANG:: Nigeria's government responding to the strikes overnight, saying terrorist violence in any form, whether directed at Christians, Muslims, or other communities, remains an affront to Nigeria's values and to international peace and security.
I don't believe that Donald Trump or anyone else would argue with the above statement. The President has acknowledged that not only Christians have been killed, but that doesn't change the facts. None of the three networks made any mention of Trump designating Nigeria as "a country of particular concern", or the "Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act" or the number of Christians who have actually been killed in Nigeria over the last several years. That is not journalism.
