Continuing their use of Orwellian tactics, NBC Nightly News featured hypocrisy that jumped out from the pages of Animal Farm: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” That notion was on full display during Monday’s newscast as anchor Lester Holt immediately pivoted from a segment bashing President Trump’s upcoming rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to boosting the “crowded” Seattle “Autonomous Zone,” now renamed the Capitol Hill Occupy Protest (CHOP).
Their hypocrisy was stunning. Even just listening to Holt’s introductions to the segments showed that NBC didn’t care about how blatant it was. “The spread of the virus is also a concern as the Trump campaign gets set to resume large scale rallies this coming weekend in Oklahoma,” he decried; only to turn around at the top of the following segment and boast: “In Seattle this evening, protesters continue occupying part of the city and demanding police reform.”
Turns out, some people’s ability to exercise their First Amendment rights were more equal than others.
In his report decrying Trump’s scheduled rally, White House correspondent Peter Alexander whined: “[Trump] says, to accommodate ticket requests, they will fill the 19,000 seat arena and the convention hall next door. The type of gathering the CDC classifies as highest risk of spreading coronavirus. And just as Tulsa's public health director says it is too soon for this size of a crowd.”
He also wasn’t happy with how Trump’s campaign director planned to hand out masks and hand sanitizer. “The President's campaign manager tonight announcing that all attendees will get a temperature check, hand sanitizer, and a mask. But it is not clear whether they will be required to wear it,” Alexander huffed.
For correspondent Jo Ling Kent’s part, she touted how “[p]rotesters [were] showing no signs of leaving this six-block area, after taking it over a week ago. Now, festive, crowded, and peaceful, demonstrators pitching tents and planting gardens this weekend in the newly reclaimed Capitol Hill Occupied Protest.”
Besides turning a blind eye to the street fights, gunpoint shakedowns of businesses, and the general lawlessness of the zone, Kent also downplayed their radical list of demands. “Their demands? Reduce funding for the Seattle Police Department, invest in the black community, and release arrested protesters,” she cherry-picked.
Kent didn’t utter a single word about the coronavirus.
Perhaps if the Trump supporters took over a portion of downtown Tulsa so they could pitch tents and plant gardens, then NBC would be okay with it. Just kidding. We already know NBC would still be against it since they were staunchly against desperate protesters demanding states reopen so they could feed their kids.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
NBC Nightly News
June 15, 2020
7:09:37 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: The spread of the virus is also a concern as the Trump campaign gets set to resume large scale rallies this coming weekend in Oklahoma.
(…)
PETER ALEXANDER: It comes as President Trump is eyeing a return to his favorite stage, those massive campaign rallies; now set to relaunch at an indoor arena in Tulsa, Oklahoma Saturday night.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We expect to have, you know, a record-setting crowd. We've never had an empty seat, and we certainly won't in Oklahoma.
ALEXANDER: He says, to accommodate ticket requests, they will fill the 19,000 seat arena and the convention hall next door. The type of gathering the CDC classifies as highest risk of spreading coronavirus. And just as Tulsa's public health director says it is too soon for this size of a crowd.
BRUCE DART (Tulsa Health Department, executive director): My preference would be it be postponed until it's safe to actually have such an event where people could come together and be a part of the political process.
ALEXANDER: Coronavirus cases and deaths are low in Oklahoma, but the numbers are now rising. The President's campaign manager tonight announcing that all attendees will get a temperature check, hand sanitizer, and a mask. But it is not clear whether they will be required to wear it.
President Trump is also bracing for an upcoming book from his ousted National Security Adviser John Bolton, that the President says will reveal “classified information.”
(…)
HOLT: Peter Alexander at the White House tonight. Thank you. In Seattle this evening, protesters continue occupying part of the city and demanding police reform. Jo Ling Kent is there with late details.
[Cuts to video]
JO LING KENT: Seattle is on edge. Protesters showing no signs of leaving this six block area, after taking it over a week ago. Now, festive crowded and peaceful, demonstrators pitching tents and planting gardens this weekend in the newly reclaimed Capitol Hill Occupied Protest.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: We're here in peace and solidarity for a cause that needs to change.
KENT: Their demands? Reduce funding for the Seattle Police Department, invest in the black community, and release arrested protesters. The President doubling down on local officials.
TRUMP: But if they don't do the job, we will do the job.
KENT: The Seattle police union blames the situation on local leaders.
MIKE SOLAN (Seattle Police Officers Guild, President) When you voluntarily surrender a police facility and you acquiesce to unreasonable activism, criminal activity for political gain, to me that's unconscionable.
KENT: Mayor Jenny Durkan did not give specifics on what she'll do next.
MAYOR JENNY DURKAN (D): We're working with all people right now to move forward to find a way we can accommodate first amendment, but also make sure we have a vital area for our businesses and residents.
[Cuts back to live]
KENT: And since this occupied area spans several city blocks, police now say it takes three times longer to respond to 911 calls, putting even more pressure on leaders and protesters to resolve this as quickly as possible. Lester?
