News broke Tuesday via the Associated Press that, “At least 85 of 154 people from private interests who met or had phone conversations scheduled with Clinton while she led the State Department donated to her family charity or pledged commitments to its international programs.” But that didn’t seem important enough for ABC who only gave the story a total of one minute, 44 seconds between two segments, while giving the conspiracy theory about Clinton’s health two minutes, 43 seconds that same evening on World News Tonight.
ABC correspondent Jon Karl discussed the Clinton Foundation scandal during his report, but it was talked about as a new line of attack for her rival Donald Trump. “Opening up a sharp new line of attack, Donald Trump is now calling for a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton's dealings with Clinton Foundation donors while she was Secretary of State,” Karl led off, “She met with 85 donors who gave a combined $156 million to the foundation.”
In comparison, ABC’s David Wright’s report played along with Clinton and made light of the talk about her health. “On Jimmy Kimmel, Hillary Clinton laughs off Donald Trump's attacks on her health,” Wright reported while playing clips from Jimmy Kimmel Live, “Clinton dismisses it all as conspiracy theories.” Although, he did dive into a little bit of Clinton’s known medical history:
It notes that in 2012, Clinton did suffer a concussion after fainting. Weeks later, she claimed to have fully recovered but reporters noticed she wore special glasses. Her aides then explained they were for “lingers issues stemming from the concussion.”
Also in Karl’s report was a one minute 38 second bit on Donald Trump’s flip-flop on immigration. “But now Trump is fielding tough questions on whether he is softening his hard line stance on immigration,” Karl stated, “And backing away from his pledge to deport all of the undocumented immigrants living in the United States.”
The network seemed to be doing everything in their power to talk about other things in the political arena that had little to do with the Clinton Foundation. This is something Media Research Center has noted I the past about coverage of Clinton. For instance when CBS’s Nancy Cordes admitted that Trump made it easy for the media to talk about other things besides Clinton’s many scandals.
Transcript below:
ABC
World News Tonight
August 23, 2016
6:31:19 PM Eastern [1 Minute 16 Seconds on Clinton Foundation]DAVID MUIR: And we begin tonight with Donald Trump and his new line of attack on Hillary Clinton. Trump and his new team looking to cut into Clinton's lead with questions about her health and about the Clinton Foundation. And tonight, Trump getting some new fuel a new report from the Associated Press looking at who got to visit Hillary Clinton while she was Secretary of State. The AP reporting many of those visitors were donors to the Clinton Foundation. Will the new strategy for Donald Trump work? With polls showing Clinton's strength in some key battlegrounds. A new poll out tonight showing Clinton opening a 16-point lead in Virginia. ABC's Jonathan Karl, leading us off.
[Cuts to video]
JON KARL: Opening up a sharp new line of attack, Donald Trump is now calling for a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton's dealings with Clinton Foundation donors while she was Secretary of State.
DONALD TRUMP: The Clintons made the State Department into the same kind of pay-for-play operation as the Arkansas government was.
KARL: And tonight, an eye-opening new report by the Associated Press. When Clinton was Secretary of State, more than half of the meetings she had with people outside of government were with big donors to the Clinton Foundation. She met with 85 donors who gave a combined $156 million to the foundation.
6:32:36 PM Eastern [20 Seconds on Trump and Women]
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As Trump attacks Clinton's actions as Secretary of State, his new campaign manager has launched a sharp personal attack in a new documentary out tonight.
KELLYANNE CONWAY: Her husband's problem is that he had casual relationships with other women. Hillary's problem is she has a causal relationship with the truth.
KARL: Trump, married three times himself, has often bragged about his own casual relationships with women.
6:32:56 PM Eastern [1 Minute 38 Seconds]
But now Trump is fielding tough questions on whether he is softening his hard line stance on immigration. And backing away from his pledge to deport all of the undocumented immigrants living in the United States.
BILL O’REILLY: Are you really rethinking your mass deportation strategy?
TRUMP: I just want to follow the law, what I'm doing is following the law.
KARL: Trump even seemed to praise President Obama, who some Hispanic groups have criticized as the, quote, “deporter-in-chief.”
TRUMP: Obama got tremendous numbers of people out of the country. Bush, the same thing. Lots of people were brought out of the country with the existing laws. Well, I'm going to do the same thing and I just said that.
KARL: Trump once said he would create a system to deport all undocumented immigrants, even families.
TRUMP: You're going to have a deportation force. And you're going to do it humanely.
KARL: Now, Trump says he will only work with the laws already in place.
TRUMP: We're going to go through the process like they are now, perhaps with a lot more energy.
[Cuts back to live]
MUIR: And Jon Karl with us live tonight from Austin, Texas. And Jon, you know a lot of questions about whether Donald Trump will now pivot on immigration, after once saying he would have a deportation force. And Jon, you have new reporting on what Trump just said?
KARL: Yeah, this is just in, David. In a town hall meeting that is scheduled to air tonight on Fox News, Trump was asked specifically if there could be some accommodation for undocumented immigrants who are in the country, and have children here and who otherwise law-abiding, and he said this. Quote "There certainly can be a softening, because we're not looking to hurt people." In other words, there could be some softening of his position that those people need to be deported.
...
ABC
World News Tonight
August 23, 2016
6:34:37 PM Eastern [2 Minutes 43 Seconds]DAVID MUIR: Meantime this evening, Hillary Clinton fighting back on those questions about her health. Clinton dismissing claims by Trump and his surrogates that there's something we do not know. Trump also questioning her stamina. Hillary Clinton is 68, Donald Trump is 70. And tonight, we ask ABC's David Wright what both candidates have revealed about their health.
[Cuts to video]
DAVID WRIGHT: On Jimmy Kimmel, Hillary Clinton laughs off Donald Trump's attacks on her health.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Are you in good health?
HILLARY CLINTON: Well -- this has become one of their themes. Here. Take my pulse while I'm talking to you.
KIMMEL: Okay.
CLINTON: So -- make sure I'm alive.
KIMMEL: Oh my god, there's nothing there!
CLINTON: There's nothing there. What can I say?
WRIGHT: Trump insists it's no joke.
DONALD TRUMP: She also lacks the mental and physical stamina.
WRIGHT: His top advisers are sowing doubts.
RUDY GIULIANI: Go online and put down Hillary Clinton illness, take a look at the videos for yourself.
STEVE BANNON: I'm not saying that she's had a stroke or anything like that, but this is not the woman that we're used to seeing that would come at you and get in your grill.
WRIGHT: Clinton dismisses it all as conspiracy theories.
CLINTON: Back in October, the National Enquirer said I would be dead in six months.
KIMMEL: Oh wow. Oh boy.
CLINTON: So, with every breath I take, I feel like it’s a–
KIMMEL: You have a new lease on life.
CLINTON: A new lease on life.
KIMMEL: Why is it –
CLINTON: I don't know why they are saying this. I think, on the one hand, it's part of the wacky strategy.
WRIGHT: Here's a reality check -- Trump is 70. Clinton, 68. Either one would be among the oldest presidents ever elected. Both refuse to release their full medical records. Last year, Clinton's campaign released a detailed two-page letter from her doctor, saying, "She's in excellent physical condition and fit to serve as president of the United States." It notes that in 2012, Clinton did suffer a concussion after fainting. Weeks later, she claimed to have fully recovered but reporters noticed she wore special glasses. Her aides then explained they were for “lingers issues stemming from the concussion.”
The only information Trump has released about his health is a four-paragraph letter from his gastroenterologist, describing the billionaire's test results as "astonishingly excellent." Adding that trump would be, "The healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency."
Today, Clinton was at a Hollywood fund-raiser, posing in a photobooth with hosts Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel. Now out to prove she's ready for the fight.
KIMMEL: Can you open this jar of pickles? This has not been tampered with. This is –
CLINTON: [Groan while opening jar]
KIMMEL: Oh, oh, she did get it!
[Cuts back to live]
MUIR: That was Hillary Clinton's late-night answer to questions about her health.
6:37:20 PM Eastern [28 Seconds Clinton Foundation]
David Wright with us live tonight, and is there any response from the Clinton team tonight about that new headline involving visitors to the State Department while Hillary was Secretary of State?
WRIGHT: David, the Clinton campaign is dismissing that report, saying the story relies on utterly flawed data, cherry picked to give a distorted portrayal. They've been characterizing the work of the Clinton Foundation as noble, doing good in the world, saying that Trump's business is, by contrast, only in rich himself. David?
