On Monday, all three network morning shows read from the same script as they tried to preempt President Trump’s State of the Union address with dour coverage of “controversies looming” over the speech and the President’s “record-low approval rating.” The broadcasts also touted how “deeply divided” the nation was on the eve of Trump’s remarks.
“It is a critical moment here at the White House,” correspondent Kristen Welker announced on NBC’s Today show, noting that “Mr. Trump will aim to sound unifying as he tries to reach a still deeply divided country.” Minutes later, she proclaimed: “The President will deliver Tuesday’s speech with a number of controversies looming.”
The reporter proceeded to helpfully list the “controversies,” including Casino mogul and GOP Finance Chair Steve Wynn stepping down from that position amid sexual harassment allegations as well as “the Russia probe.”
At the top of the 7:30 a.m. ET hour, co-host Hoda Kotb reminded viewers: “President Trump touts his own intellect as he prepares for his first State of the Union address tomorrow night with multiple controversies, from Russia to immigration, looming over the speech.”
Leading off the 8 a.m. ET hour with another report on the upcoming speech, correspondent Hallie Jackson observed: “And despite a year that’s been marked really by divisive partisan politics, senior administration officials say in that speech, the President is going to try to hit a note of bipartisanship.” She concluded: “All of this comes, of course, as the President is in the middle of record-low approval ratings, the Russia investigation continues to stretch on.”
Following a preview of the State of the Union from White House Correspondent Jon Karl on ABC’s Good Morning America, co-host George Stephanopoulos fretted: “You said it’s gonna be optimistic and inclusive, according to White House aides. I think one of the big questions is gonna be, does the President have bipartisan policies that go with that inclusive message?”
Karl shared the same fears and warned that the President must appeal to Democrats:
Well, He’s going into a chamber that is as deeply divided as we have ever seen Congress, George. There is a bottom-line reality in the President will not be able to get anything done this year if he cannot do it in a bipartisan way. Remember, that majority in the Senate is now a single-vote majority. He needs Democrats if he’s going to get anything done at all.
In a follow-up report at the top of the 8 a.m. ET hour, Karl worried that “the White House hasn’t really given us many details about what he will be including or how he will reach out to Democrats in this speech.” He then predicted that Trump would probably ruin any positive reaction to the address: “And we’ve seen the President in the past give optimistic speeches on Teleprompter only to take some of it back or all of it back with divisive or controversial tweets.”
Opening CBS This Morning, co-host Gayle King announced: “President Trump prepares to deliver his first State of the Union address. The stakes are high for the White House dealing with the Robert Mueller investigation and record-low approval ratings.” Correspondent Major Garrett piled on minutes later by repeating: “It will come against the backdrop of historically-low approval ratings. Then there’s the Russia investigation and steps Mr. Trump took last June to sideline it.”
In the 8 a.m. ET hour, King dismissed any notion that Trump would deliver a unifying speech: “He says his State of the Union will be – his message will be a unifying one. He also said at the Inauguration, a lot of people term that very differently.” She turned to The Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe and wondered: “What does he [Trump] need do? Does he need to reset the table here?”
O’Keefe replied: “It wouldn’t hurt.”
The Post reporter also warned the President against making any mention of the Russia investigation: “If he brings up what’s going on with him, that could sour the mood and set the tone in a bad way for the year ahead.”
If this the tone of the coverage before the speech has even happened, just imagine what analysis will be like after the President finishes speaking Tuesday night.
