In a shocking press conference on Thursday, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley presented the press an Iran-constructed missile that was fired at the Riyadh airport deep inside Saudi Arabia by extremists in Yemen. The point of the press conference was to show just how much of a threat Iran was to the region with their supplies of military hardware to terrorists. But NBC’s Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell didn’t seem to buy it.
“Back home, the Trump administration took on Iran today claiming it is violating U.N. Security Council resolutions by exporting missiles and other military hardware. And U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley hauled out the evidence that she says proves it,” announced anchor Lester Holt with a skeptical tone at the start of the segment.
Mitchell began her report with an almost flippant dismissal of the point of Haley’s press conference. “Tonight U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley escalating the administration's war of words against Iran,” she claimed. “In an unprecedented step displaying parts of missiles brought to a U.S. military base, which she calls irrefutable evidence Iran violated U.N. resolutions…”
She then described the press conference as just an elaborate and “dramatic photo-op to build a case against Iran, to justify the President's larger goal, finally withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal…” Mitchell also whined that Trump pulling the U.S. out of the deal would be “despite widespread support for the agreement from European allies and the U.N.”
In an interview with Mitchell, national security contributor John McLaughlin told her: “I think Haley was trying to buy him a little political space by underlining for the world that Iran's behavior in the region is very bad, even though it's not directly related to the nuclear agreement.”
Mitchell wrapped up her report by enthusiastically parroting Iranian propaganda trying to discredit Haley: “And Lester, tonight Iran called Haley's evidence fabricated, setting the stage for a diplomatic showdown next month when President Trump has to again decide whether to withdraw from the nuclear deal further isolating him, if he does, from most of America's closest allies.”
Since President Trump took office, NBC has had a disturbing track record of siding with the Iranians over the U.S. Holt once conducted a sit-down interview with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani where he sympathized with the Iranian leader against Trump’s rhetoric. The network also ignored how an American citizen was sentenced to 10 years in prison on trumped-up charges of espionage.
On a side note, ABC’s World News Tonight was the only network evening newscast not to report on Ambassador Haley’s press conference.
NBC's bias was sponsored by Exxon Mobil, Lyrica, Liberty Mutual, and Alka-Seltzer.
Transcript below:
NBC Nightly News
December 14, 2017
7:12:17 PM EasternLESTER HOLT: Back home, the Trump administration took on Iran today claiming it is violating U.N. Security Council resolutions by exporting missiles and other military hardware. And U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley hauled out the evidence that she says proves it. NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell has details.
[Cuts to video]
ANDREA MITCHELL: Tonight U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley escalating the administration's war of words against Iran.
NIKKI HALEY: It's hard to find a conflict or terrorist group in the Middle East that does not have Iran's fingerprints all over it.
MITCHELL: In an unprecedented step displaying parts of missiles brought to a U.S. military base, which she calls irrefutable evidence Iran violated U.N. resolutions by supplying weapons fired last month at a civilian airport in Saudi Arabia launched by rebels in Yemen. The missiles stamped with the logo of an Iranian manufacturer.
HAYLEY: Just imagine if this missile had been launched at Dulles airport or JFK or the airports in Paris, London or Berlin. That's what we're talking about here. That's what Iran is actively supporting.
MITCHELL: A dramatic photo op to build a case against Iran, to justify the President's larger goal, finally withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal despite widespread support for the agreement from European allies and the U.N.
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN: I think Haley was trying to buy him a little political space by underlining for the world that Iran's behavior in the region is very bad, even though it's not directly related to the nuclear agreement.
[Cuts back to live]
MITCHELL: And Lester, tonight Iran called Haley's evidence fabricated, setting the stage for a diplomatic showdown next month when President Trump has to again decide whether to withdraw from the nuclear deal further isolating him, if he does, from most of America's closest allies.
