ABC journalist Terry Moran on Friday offered a sneering, dark take on Donald Trump’s inaugural address, comparing its “ugly echoes” to the rise of bigotry in the 1930s. Regarding the President’s assertion that, “From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first,” Moran slimed, “It carries with it overtones from the 1930s when an anti-Semitic movement saying, ‘We don't want to get involved in Europe's war. It's the Jews fault in Germany!’”
He added, “Charles Lindbergh led them. It is a term, as [Trump] defined it his way, but the words carry ugly echos in our history.”
Here is the section of the speech that so incensed the ABC journalist:
DONALD TRUMP: From this day forward, it's going to be only America first, America first. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our product, stealing our companies and destroying our jobs.
Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength. I will fight for you with every breath in my body, and I will never ever let you down.
In contrast, Moran delighted in Barack Obama’s 2009 inaugural, “He is a president renewed in office by the votes of 65 million Americans. He is a president with a purpose.... He was weaving the new tapestry of America as he sees it.”
Over on CBS, Gayle King complained:
<<< Please support MRC's NewsBusters team with a tax-deductible contribution today. >>>
GAYLE KING: We kept hearing that it would be a speech about unity and healing, and I kept waiting to hear something about unity and healing, and that never came. I think that's very surprising. And to say -- the way he slammed everything that has happened in the last eight years, with the President -- the former President of the United States, sitting there listening to that after they had just come from tea and coffee together, I think lot of people are very surprised by this tone today.
Bob Schieffer seemed bewhildered by the speech:
BOB SCHIEFFER: I'm telling you this was very strong stuff, very strong stuff. I did not see any outreach either across the aisle, or even to his own party. I mean, he basically took the hide off everybody sitting on that platform, telling him that politicians of Washington have prospered while the people out there had suffered and he said it's going to stop here and now.
He kept saying "Here and now," and just as you say, he talked about a more protectionist kind of trade policy. I would assume, we're going to buy American, we're going to hide -- we're going to hire American. He said "we have enriched other governments and defended other borders while we failed to do that for our own borders." That is part of all this, he's been talking about, is NATO obsolete? I mean, we're going to be unpacking this speech for -- it will take us the rest of the day to get around to this. I'm not quite sure I've ever heard any inauguration speech quite like this one.
On NBC, Nightly News anchor Lester Holt's thoughts were with Barack Obama: “It couldn't have been easy at times to hear some of the things said in that speech. But the president has -- former president [Obama] has taken the high road certainly in this transition.”
Partial transcripts are below:
ABC Live Coverage
1/20/17
12:31GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Terry Moran, as we see former Vice-President Cheney leave, students of history will take note of that slogan, America first.
TERRY MORAN: It's a loaded term in American history. Now, he defined it here as total allegiance to the United States of America, and it is something, as Cecilia said, this is why he was sent here by people who want to hear that message of America first. However, it carries with it overtones from the 1930s when an anti-Semitic movement saying, “We don't want to get involved in Europe's war. It's the Jews fault in Germany!” Charles Lindbergh led them. It is a term, as he defined it his way, but the words carry ugly echos in our history.
CBS News Live Coverage
1/20/17
12:32GAYLE KING: We kept hearing that it would be a speech about unity and healing, and I kept waiting to hear something about unity and healing, and that never came. I think that's very surprising. And to say -- the way he slammed everything that has happened in the last eight years, with the President -- the former President of the United States, sitting there listening to that after they had just come from tea and coffee together, I think lot of people are very surprised by this tone today.
NBC Live Coverage
1/20/17LESTER HOLT: There has to be a lot of emotions. A lot of -- certainly a lot of nostalgia. It couldn't have been easy at times to hear some of the things said in that speech. But the president has -- former president [Obama] has taken the high road certainly in this transition.
...
TOM BROKAW: Here's the lead paragraph in the Wall Street Journal today, "After eight years in office, Barack Obama has a market record and any red-blooded American capitalist could be proud of. U.S. shares have soared, oil prices have come down, borrowing is cheap, profits are up, along with the dollar. Even those who bet against President Obama made good money, with returns in their investment." Now, that's the investment group, but along with that came jobs. We know that there has been a recovery. It's imperfect, it's got holes in it, but the fact is, it's not nearly as grim as the speech we heard here today.
