The Sunday morning after the so-called March for Our Lives rally where hundreds of thousands of anti-gun kids parroted liberal chants and slogans, the liberal network news outlets of ABC and NBC were eager to throw heaps of praise on them. It was the first story that they got to that morning and each one of them was focused on where the “movement” was going and what change they could possibly bring on the issue.
“But we are going to start here with the March for Our Lives. And here's the big question on this morning after: what next,” asked Dan Harris, co-anchor for ABC’s Good Morning America. “After all the dramatic speeches by the young survivors of gun violence, after all the celebrity appearances, and all the marches across the country and the world, can this movement produce any real change?”
Fill-in co-anchor Adrienne Bankert declared that “there's no question, the images were searing” as she read from some the signs: “This little boy in New York City holding a sign that reads, ‘I can't even bring peanut butter to school.’” Which, was a ridiculous thing for his parents to put in his hands since guns are not allowed in schools either, and, of course, Bankert didn’t mention that.
During the ABC report, journalist David Wright gushed over the “powerful moment” when “Parkland survivor Emma Gonzalez silently demonstrating the amount of time it took the gunman to turn her world upside down.” The silence at the rally lasted for six minutes and 20 seconds, but Wright failed to mention that the only reason it took that long was that a Broward County school resource officer was reportedly hiding outside the school like a coward.
Wright also touted the kids’ morbid smears of Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) for accepting donations from the National Rifle Association. “Many wore Marco Rubio price tags. The millions in campaign contributions Senator Rubio has accepted from the gun lobby divided by the millions of young people in Florida, $1.05,” he gleefully reported.
Meanwhile, on NBC’s Sunday Today, fill-in anchor Hallie Jackson began the program with what appeared to be a slam against adults who didn’t side with the radical kids. “Look at that, hundreds of thousands of students and the adults who love them taking to the streets with a rallying cry: enough is enough when it comes to gun violence in our schools,” she chided.
“Let's this morning begin with the dramatic scene in Washington, D.C., across the country and around the world. As people marched for their lives to support stricter gun laws,” Jackson hyped, as if the opinions about our laws from counties like communist Vietnam and Mexico (both of which NBC highlighted on a map) actually mattered. “The biggest one, the march in Washington. An estimated 800,000 people were there.”
“The placards tell the message, a demand for new gun laws. Even gun owners who staunchly defend the Second Amendment here say some weapons are just not needed,” NBC reporter Kerry Sanders noted. Unlike ABC, Sanders didn’t care to speak with any of the pro-gun counter-protesters who were at the rally.
But Sanders and ABC did note the liberal celebrities that turned out and performed at the event. “The young survivors were at the center of much of the attention but there were plenty of celebrities on hand lending their name, voices, and checkbooks to the cause,” Bankert celebrated.
The relevant portions of the transcripts are below, click expand to read:
ABC
Good Morning America
March 25, 2018
8:02:27 AM EasternDAN HARRIS: But we are going to start here with the March for Our Lives. And here's the big question on this morning after: what next? After all the dramatic speeches by the young survivors of gun violence, after all the celebrity appearances, and all the marches across the country and the world, can this movement produce any real change?
ADRIENNE BANKERT: There's no question, the images were searing. This little boy in New York City holding a sign that reads, “I can't even bring peanut butter to school.” And in Montgomery, Alabama, a little girl asks, “am I next?”
HARRIS: They're calling this the largest youth led protest since the Vietnam War era but these young activists are taking a stand in a country that is deeply divided over guns.
(…)
DAVID WRIGHT: Good morning, Adrienne and Dan. The huge crowds have now moved on and the question is, can this powerful moment become a movement? That's now up to the lawmakers and the voters in the midterms.
[Cuts to video]
This is what democracy looks like.
(…)
WRIGHT: Pennsylvania Avenue, packed from the doorstep of the U.S. Capitol almost to the doorstep of the White House. A generation that's lived their whole lives with the threat of mass shootings.
(…)
WRIGHT: And there was this powerful moment. Parkland survivor Emma Gonzalez silently demonstrating the amount of time it took the gunman to turn her world upside down.
(…)
WRIGHT: Hope it's the start of a political movement. Message to politicians: do something or else. Many wore Marco Rubio price tags. The millions in campaign contributions Senator Rubio has accepted from the gun lobby divided by the millions of young people in Florida, $1.05. Rubio issued a statement saying in part, “I respect their views and recognize that many Americans support certain gun bans, however, many other Americans do not support a gun ban.” Some gun right supporters held counter protests Saturday.
(…)
[Cuts back to live]
WRIGHT: You really did get the sense out here that this was a coming of age rally. A lot of the young people participating not even old enough to vote but that isn't stopping them. In fact, you get the sense they're just getting started. The big question now, how is that likely to change the debate here on Pennsylvania avenue? Dan and Adrienne.
BANKERT: Yeah, and it's important to remember this is only a month after that dreadful school shooting. David, thank you so much.
HARRIS: And they will be able to vote soon.
BANKERT: That's true. In a very short time. The young survivors were at the center of much of the attention but there were plenty of celebrities on hand lending their name, voices and checkbooks to the cause.
HARRIS: Stars from Ariana Grande to George Clooney to Paul McCartney getting involved and ABC's Kenneth Moton is also in Washington this morning covering that angle for us. Kenneth, good morning to you.
(…)
NBC
Sunday Today
March 25, 2018
8:00:41 AM Eastern [Tease]HALLIE JACKSON: Good morning. Welcome to Sunday Today on this March 25. I'm Hallie Jackson in for Willie Geist with a lot of news to cover including the massive March on Washington Saturday. Look at that, hundreds of thousands of students and the adults who love them taking to the streets with a rallying cry: enough is enough when it comes to gun violence in our schools.
(…)
8:01:53 AM Eastern
JACKSON: Let's this morning begin with the dramatic scene in Washington, D.C., across the country and around the world. As people marched for their lives to support stricter gun laws. The biggest one, the march in Washington. An estimated 800,000 people were there. NBC's Kerry Sanders was too. He’s in Washington, D.C. now, with more. Kerry good morning.
KERRY SANDERS: Well, good morning Hallie. Five weeks, three days after the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school the student survivors from Parkland, Florida, joined student survivors here from across the country demanding a change to federal gun laws. Even those who participated say they were surprised by the huge turnout here and around the country.
[Cuts to video]
SANDERS: A gathering unlike any other in Washington.
(…)
SANDERS: The so-called mass shooting generation, inspiring 800,000 to rally down Pennsylvania Avenue. And from the nation’s capital---
(…)
SANDERS: The placards tell the message, a demand for new gun laws. Even gun owners who staunchly defend the Second Amendment here say some weapons are just not needed.
(…)
SANDERS: Aria Grande, raised just 15 miles from Parkland, here. As was 25-year-old Miley Cyrus…
(…)
SANDERS: To a powerful 6 minutes 20 seconds of silence. The amount of time it took a gunman to slaughter 17 in Stoneman Douglas. This generation, with its own agenda.
(…)
[Cuts back to live]
SANDERS: The kids who gathered here say they recognize now to keep the pressure on they need to use their vote at the ballot box. If every graduating high school senior in the United States were to register, that would be about 3.6 million new voters this coming graduation season. But traditionally, kids don't register and if they do, they typically don't vote. But the student leaders from Stoneman Douglas say that will now change.
