On Saturday evening, shortly after President Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, NBC Nightly News let the ideological labels fly as the nominee was repeatedly identified as a “conservative” who was popular with the “religious right” and “instantly controversial.” By contrast, the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was never given any left-wing political label in the report.
“The President nominating Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, an accomplished judge with conservative credentials,” anchor Jose Diaz-Balart declared at the top of the broadcast. In the report that followed, correspondent Hallie Jackson emphasized: “From President Trump, a move to cement a more conservative Supreme Court for a generation.”
As if those labels weren’t enough, Jackson further proclaimed:
Unlike Ginsburg, Barrett is a committed conservative. The federal appeals court judge well liked by the President, key Republicans, and many on the religious right. Her Catholic faith, a core value, and central to questions about how she’d rule on issues like abortion.
After a soundbite ran of Barrett promising to serve the interests of all American on the high court, Jackson sneered: “Barrett’s nomination instantly controversial, in part for it’s timing. A Supreme Court justice has never been put on the bench so close to an election.”
In addition, the reporter also seized on nasty partisan rhetoric coming from left-wing lawmakers: “Democrats working to cast the process as illegitimate.”
Wrapping up the piece, Jackson decided to toss in a few more labels just in case viewers still weren’t sure what side of the political spectrum Barrett represented: “For President Trump, a legacy moment. During his term, appointing more than 200 federal judges, and if Barrett is confirmed, three Supreme Court justices, a record reshaping the federal judiciary and tilting the high court to the right with a six to three conservative majority for years to come.”
Whenever a Republican president has the chance to nominate a highly qualified jurist to the Supreme Court, the leftist media immediately label them conservative and controversial. Whenever a Democrat nominates a left-wing judge to the high court, the same press gush over their credentials and routinely try to portray them as centrist.
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Here is a full transcript of the September 26 report:
6:31 PM ET
JOSE DIAZ-BALART: Good evening, we begin with breaking news. The President nominating Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, an accomplished judge with conservative credentials. If approved, she will be the youngest Supreme Court Justice, able to affect major decisions for decades to come, and the only one in history to be the mother of school-age children, seven in all. The nomination setting the stage for what will be a fierce and accelerated confirmation battle. Republicans vowing to confirm her before the election. Democrats vowing to fight it. Our correspondents are covering this from every angle, and we begin with Hallie Jackson at the White House.
HALLIE JACKSON: From President Trump, a move to cement a more conservative Supreme Court for a generation.
DONALD TRUMP: Today, it is my honor to nominate one of our nation’s most brilliant and gifted legal minds to the Supreme Court – Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
JACKSON: Amy Coney Barrett joined in the Rose Garden by her husband and their seven children.
BARRETT: While I am a judge, I’m better known back home as a room parent, carpool driver, and birthday party planner.
JACKSON: She’s now set to fill the seat left vacant by Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death.
BARRETT: Justice Ginsburg began her career at a time when women were not welcome in the legal profession. But she not only broke glass ceilings, she smashed them.
JACKSON: Unlike Ginsburg, Barrett is a committed conservative. The federal appeals court judge well liked by the President, key Republicans, and many on the religious right. Her Catholic faith, a core value, and central to questions about how she’d rule on issues like abortion.
BARRETT: If confirmed, I would not assume that role for the sake of those in my own circle, and certainly not for my own sake. I would assume this role to serve you.
JACKSON: Barrett’s nomination instantly controversial, in part for it’s timing. A Supreme Court justice has never been put on the bench so close to an election.
TRUMP: I’m sure it’ll be extremely noncontroversial.
JACKSON: Now with Republicans controlling the Senate, the question’s not so much if Barrett will be confirmed, but how soon, with confirmation hearings expected mid-October.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM [R-SC]: We need a full court, and I think that’s possible before the election.
JACKSON: Democrats working to cast the process as illegitimate.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER: Tell them to abide by Justice Ginsburg’s last honorable wish, and that is, let the next president decide.
JACKSON: For President Trump, a legacy moment. During his term, appointing more than 200 federal judges, and if Barrett is confirmed, three Supreme Court justices, a record reshaping the federal judiciary and tilting the high court to the right with a six to three conservative majority for years to come.
DIAZ-BALART: And Hallie, Joe Biden has just weighed in on the nomination.
JACKSON: He has, Jose. The former Vice President is focusing on the implications for ObamaCare. He’s pointing to Barrett’s past critique of the Court’s landmark 2012 ruling on the Affordable Care Act. You’re seeing other top Democrats taking a similar strategy too, focusing specifically on health care, in the hopes that’ll motivate voters who benefit from the law. Jose?
DIAZ-BALART: Hallie Jackson at the White House, thank you.
