Despite all of the media hand-wringing over fake news lately, on Monday, NBC’s Today engaged precisely in that kind of shoddy journalism as the morning show deceptively edited a soundbite from Rudy Giuliani about President Trump’s immigration order.
During a report on protests against the executive action travel ban directed at seven Middle Eastern nations, correspondent Peter Alexander proclaimed: “Amid the chaos, President Trump is defending his actions. The statement reading, ‘To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting. This is not about religion – this is about terror and keeping our country safe.’ But Trump's argument is seemingly contradicted by one of his advisors. Rudy Giuliani telling Fox News Trump consulted him and others.”
A brief clip ran of the former New York City mayor telling Fox News host Jeanne Pirro on Saturday: “When he first announced it, he said Muslim ban. He called me up, he said put a commission together, show me the right way to do it legally.”
However, a longer clip of Giuliani aired just minutes earlier on MSNBC’s Morning Joe clearly showed there was no contradiction, as he repeatedly stated that the policy he helped develop was “not based on religion”:
When he first announced it, he said Muslim ban. He called me up, he said put a commission together, show me the right way to do it legally. I put a commission together and what we did was we focused on, instead of religion, danger. The areas of the world that create danger for us, which is a factual basis, not a religious basis. Perfectly legal, perfectly sensible, and that’s what the ban is based on. It's not based on religion.
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While NBC was dishonest in its editing, later that morning, the hosts of ABC’s The View played the full clip but willfully misinterpreted it to fit their narrative. A tease at the top of the talk show asked: “Did one of Trump's biggest confidantes admit they're targeting religion?” The answer, of course, is no. In fact, Giuliani said exactly the opposite.
Moments later, co-host Whoopi Goldberg ran with the talking point anyway: “The Trump team was quick to say it's not called a Muslim ban, but Rudy Giuliani must not have gotten that memo. Take a look.” Even after airing the full soundbite of Giuliani expressly saying the order was not about religion, Goldberg was undeterred: “So to be clear, he said Trump asked him about a Muslim ban. Right? Am I right?”
One network reports false information while another one ignores that information in order to stick to its liberal spin. Talk about fake news.
Here are the excerpts from Today and The View on January 30:
Today
7:04 AM ET(...)
PETER ALEXANDER: Amid the chaos, President Trump is defending his actions. The statement reading, “To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting. This is not about religion – this is about terror and keeping our country safe.” But Trump's argument is seemingly contradicted by one of his advisors. Rudy Giuliani telling Fox News Trump consulted him and others.
RUDY GIULIANI: When he first announced it, he said Muslim ban. He called me up, he said put a commission together, show me the right way to do it legally.
(...)
The View
11:00 AM ET TEASE:
ANNOUNCER: Ban backlash. Nationwide protests from airports to the SAG Awards.
JULIA LOUIS DREYFUS: This immigrant ban is a blemish and it is un-American.
ANNOUNCER: Did one of Trump's biggest confidantes admit they're targeting religion?
11:02 AM ET SEGMENT:
(...)
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: The Trump team was quick to say it's not called a Muslim ban, but Rudy Giuliani must not have gotten that memo. Take a look.
RUDY GIULIANI: I’ll tell you the whole history of it. So when he first announced it, he said Muslim ban. He called me up, he said put a commission together, show me the right way to do it legally. And what we did was we focused on, instead of religion, danger. The areas of the world that create danger for us, which is a factual basis, not a religious basis. Perfectly legal, perfectly sensible, and that’s what the ban is based on.
GOLDBERG: So to be clear, he said Trump asked him about a Muslim ban. Right? Am I right? Is that what –
JOY BEHAR: A legal one.
(...)
