Eric Bradner touted in a Sunday article on CNN.com that the "Republican presidential contenders condemned" the man who murdered three people at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado, but "largely stood by their fierce criticism of the organization." Bradner played up that "Ben Carson...was the only Republican candidate to call on anti-abortion activists to alter their approach" in the wake of the deadly shooting.
The correspondent continued in his item, "Republicans condemn Planned Parenthood attacker, not rhetoric," that "several candidates called the shootings in Colorado Springs a tragedy, but one out of step with the values of the anti-abortion movement." He consistently referred to pro-lifers as "anti-abortion" throughout his write-up.
Bradner focused on four of the GOP presidential candidates — Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump, and Ben Carson — who appeared on networks' Sunday news programs earlier in the day:
"What I would say to anyone who tries to link this terrible tragedy to anyone who opposes abortion or opposes the sale of body parts is, this is typical left-wing tactics," Carly Fiorina said on "Fox News Sunday."
On CNN's "State of the Union," former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee called the shootings "domestic terrorism."
He also drew a comparison between shootings and abortions.
"There's no excuse for killing other people, whether it's happening inside the Planned Parenthood headquarters, inside their clinics where many millions of babies die, or whether it's people attacking Planned Parenthood," Huckabee said.
Donald Trump, appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," called the shooter "a maniac" and "a sick person."
The CNN journalist also noted that Trump was "disturbed by undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing fetal body parts as 'parts of a machine or something.'"
Near the end of his article, Bradner pointed out how Dr. Carson was apparently the "only Republican candidate to call on anti-abortion activists to alter their approach," and cited how the former neurosurgeon stated that "both sides should tone down their rhetoric and engage in civil discussion....No question the hateful rhetoric exacerbates the situation. And we should be doing all we can to engage in intelligent, civil discussion about our differences."
The correspondent concluded by pointing out that "in the wake of the attack, Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley tweeted their support for the nonprofit organization." While he did mention the "undercover videos," Bradner didn't mention the ongoing controversy over the hundreds of millions of dollars that Planned Parenthood receives every year from the federal government.
