Mediaite touted some end-of-show braggadocio on Thursday's NBC Nightly News: "Lester Holt Delivers Powerful Monologue on Trump Impeachment Drama." It sounded like an advertisement as Holt promised NBC News would "examine the facts and demand nothing short of the truth." Just as they did over the years with Brian Williams?
This came after Holt's show skipped over Adam Schiff's completely phony summary of Trump's phone call with the president of Ukraine: "And I’m going to say this only seven times, so you better listen good. I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent, understand? Lots of dirt, on this and on that."
LESTER HOLT: We are once again witnessing history There has been a lot to absorb over the last 48 hours. A formal impeachment inquiry. The release of notes on that conversation between President Trump and Ukraine’s president — detailing that ‘ask.’ And finally today the release of the whistleblower complaint itself.
If history is any guide this will only get uglier. And louder. And yes, further lead to this country’s political divide. Which makes our collective challenge even more important: To listen. To ask. To examine the facts and demand nothing short of the truth. That’s what we endeavor to do here every night. And will continue to do as this story unfolds.
Our nightly analysis of NBC wouldn't say they have a "nothing short of the truth" standard. Let's consider a few recent lowlights, just from the last year:
-- Complained about a woman convicted of tax fraud being charged for voting illegally.
-- Touted their tough interview with 16-year-old Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann, completely ignoring that his accuser Nathan Phillips lied about being "surrounded" by the Covington kids and that Phillips lied about serving in Vietnam. His show aired clips calling the kids "Incredibly racist and disrespectful."
-- Wildly overstated there 307 "mass shootings" in America in the first 10 months of 2018.
-- Speaking of "uglier and louder," touted porn star Stormy Daniels called Trump's penis "tiny" and then promoted a video by a rapper mocking Melania Trump as a stripper: “The clip, part of a promotional rollout by rapper T.I., shows a fake Mrs. Trump in the Oval Office stripping off a replica of that infamous green jacket."
-- Touted Elizabeth Warren's disastrous Cherokee DNA test as an embarrassment for Trump, when she was possibly 1/1024th Native American.
-- Most egregiously, Holt's show aired uncorroborated smears on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh from Julie Swetnick.
Last October 1, Peter Alexander explained how unproven it was, as they spread it: "Tonight NBC News has not been able to independently corroborate Swetnick`s claims. And when we asked [Michael] Avenatti for any witnesses who could back up her account, he provided four names of friends Swetnick says went to parties with her. One of them says he does not recall anyone named Julie Swetnick, another of the friend she named is deceased. NBC News has reached out to the other two and has not heard back."
