During their appearance on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, Mary Bruce and Cecilia Vega, the network’s Congressional and White House correspondents respectively, built narratives using Democratic talking points designed to place the blame for a failed immigration deal and possible government shutdown solely on the Republicans.
“Remember, a bipartisan group of lawmakers went to the White House thinking they had a deal that met the parameters outlined by the President himself earlier in the week,” Bruce explained to the rest of the so-called “powerhouse roundtable,” which was made of mostly liberals except for Rich Lowry of the National Review.
“They get in the room, they're essentially ambushed, we're told, by these hardline anti-immigration Republican members of Congress and it all blows up. Look, they really thought they had something here,” Bruce lamented. She chided Republican leadership for not condemning the President’s criticism of some other countries, which he reportedly described as “sh*tholes.”
Bruce mocked House Speaker Paul Ryan for only saying Trump’s comments were “unfortunate and unhelpful.” “I think for a lot of people that’s how they would describe a parking ticket. Not exactly a strong condemnation,” she chided.
A short time later, Vega went off and began to call Trump’s supporters “bigots” and lumped them in with the small radical fringe groups. “That this will help him in some ways when the media are in hysterics will whip us into a frenzy. And they see that as a good thing,” she stated. “Here’s the problem: This has been a dog whistle for bigots. For David Duke. For Richard Spencer. For The Daily Stormer, that neo-Nazi site. They're all applauding this right now.”
Bruce then went on to link the immigration deal to the impending vote on a budget and warned that the evil Republicans threatening that as well. “[Immigration negotiations have] now all been completely upended because of the President’s comments. And now raised the risk of a government shutdown,” she exclaimed. She also hyped Democratic confidence that the GOP would get stuck with the blame for a government shutdown:
Look, Democrats have long wanted to any action on this to this must-pass spending bill that they have to get done on Friday. And Democrats now feel they feel they have the upper hand, to say the very least. Sources say they will, if they reach a shutdown, sources tell me Democrats are confident they can have the president own the fallout of this.
“And privately, they feel like if a shutdown does happen, it’s going to be President Trump and the Republicans who will take all of the blame,” Vega blurted out to back up her colleague. And according to her, that was a new feeling for the Democrats because they were worried about getting stuck with the blame themselves.
But let’s be honest, they really didn’t have such a fear because the liberal media would place the blame solely on Republicans just like they did the last time. According to a Media Research Center study from October 2013, despite the Democrats having control of the Senate and White House: “The broadcast networks invariably blamed Republicans for the impasse; spotlighted dozens of examples of how Americans were being victimized … even as they ignored examples of how the Obama administration and Senate Democrats were working to make the shutdown as painful as possible.”
Back then, the liberal media placed nearly no blame on Democrats. In late 2017, before Congress passed a continuing resolution on the budget, they were hinting at similar coverage. And with the start of 2018, they were clearly setting up to make such perversions of the truth yet again.
The relevant portions of the transcript are below:
ABC
This Week
January 14, 2018
9:40:34 AM Eastern(…)
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Mary Bruce, you were on Capitol Hill that afternoon. It shot across the capital.
MARY BRUCE: Remember, a bipartisan group of lawmakers went to the White House thinking they had a deal that met the parameters outlined by the President himself earlier in the week. They get in the room, they're essentially ambushed, we're told, by these hardline anti-immigration Republican members of Congress and it all blows up. Look, they really thought they had something here. And it puts Republicans now in this credibly tricky position, once again by their own president. And while you have many Republicans coming out condemning the President's statements. Where is leadership on this? You have heard nothing from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McDonnell, not a peep from many Republican leaders, Paul Ryan has come out; described the comments as unfortunate and unhelpful. I think for a lot of people that’s how they would describe a parking ticket. Not exactly a strong condemnation.
(…)
CECILIA VEGA: What I was struck by in talking with people inside the White House is: How unfazed the people around the President were by this remark. There is no question, among any of us who have been reporting this story, that he said that in that meeting. And in some conversations we’ve had, aides feel like this will be a boom for his base. That this will help him in some ways when the media are in hysterics will whip us into a frenzy. And they see that as a good thing.
Here’s the problem: This has been a dog whistle for bigots. For David Duke. For Richard Spencer. For The Daily Stormer, that neo-Nazi site. They're all applauding this right now. And the problem is, this is starting to look like a pattern for this presidency. And it is starting to define this presidency for many people of color in this country who feel like these words make them not belong in this country.
(…)
9:47:51 AM Eastern
BRUCE: This outlines why this is such a difficult debate to have and why there was such optimism earlier in the week that they thought they were finally making some headway on this. That has now all been completely upended because of the President’s comments. And now raised the risk of a government shutdown. Look, Democrats have long wanted to any action on this to this must-pass spending bill that they have to get done on Friday. And Democrats now feel they feel they have the upper hand, to say the very least. Sources say they will, if they reach a shutdown, sources tell me Democrats are confident they can have the president own the fallout of this.
VEGA: And privately, they feel like if a shutdown does happen, it’s going to be President Trump and the Republicans who will take all of the blame.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Which has flipped since Thursday. They were more worried about that before Thursday.
VEGA: Exactly. They were very fearful that this would look like this was their fault.
(…)
