In a disgusting closing lecture Wednesday in which NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt thought was an intellectual pontification, he told people to get angry at how the U.S. had surpassed 250,000 coronavirus deaths. And as he was telling them that, images of Trump supporters marching through Washington, D.C. and other anti-lockdown protesters flashed on the screen in grim black and white color manipulation.
“As we cross the quarter-million mark of those we’ve lost to COVID in this country, we find ourselves going through a familiar ritual, a shake of the head, a deep sigh, and a sense of helplessness. But after that, what's left? Maybe anger,” Holt asked as he came back from a commercial break.
As the video portion of the segment began, Holt began showing the grim, digitally manipulated images (pictured above) and asked: “Do 250,000 deaths give us permission to be mad over these super spreader moments? Surely we know better by now. How about anger at those who refuse to wear masks? Or still, cling to denial?”
Holt sought to blame those deaths on the Trump supporters he was showing:
HOLT: In Michigan, it makes Keith Gambrel mad.
KEITH GAMBREL: My grandfather passed from it. My dad died from it. They both died six hours apart from one another. My mother had it. She almost died from it. I had it and both my little brothers all had it. Like, it is very real, it is not a joke.
Let me ask you this Lester: Where were the images of the Black Lives Matter protests and riots that happened all across the country for months? How about the Biden supporters who swarmed the streets just a couple of weekends ago ahead of the massive spikes around the country? Sure, many were wearing masks but in many places, they were standing shoulder to shoulder, inches away with each person breathing in what the people around them were breathing out.
Of course, those weren't referred to as super spreader events.
Continuing with the idea that those people were responsible for making the pandemic worse, Holt talked about how we were losing “our collective strength” and causing misery in the medical profession:
HOLT: But anger isn't serving us well because Americans keep dying. We're losing people and our collective strength. When's the last time you heard – “we're all in this together?”
EMMA NOHR: I probably don't feel as supported as a whole by the community that I did then. And it's been hard for everybody but people knew that we were doing this for the greater good. You know? But I feel like people have grown tired of that. We’ve let our guard down and this is not the time to let our guard down.
For his final play in the blame game, Holt talked about how businesses were struggling because of new lockdowns and restrictions. “We are all clawing for equilibrium, our businesses, our schools, and, above all, our very lives. Maybe it's time to turn that mad into resolve, to beat this virus before it beats us,” he proclaimed.
But as NewsBusters reported just two days ago, NBC engages in what I described as despair porn. The network pushes and cheers for massively destructive lockdowns and then reaps the aftermath in the form of reports on starving families, failing businesses, and mental health crises.
Lester Holt’s hate fest against Trump supporters was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Prevagen and Pacific Life. Their contact information is linked so you can let them know about the biased news they’re funding.
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
NBC Nightly News
November 18, 2020
7:26:55 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: As we cross the quarter-million mark of those we’ve lost to COVID in this country, we find ourselves going through a familiar ritual, a shake of the head, a deep sigh, and a sense of helplessness. But after that, what's left? Maybe anger.
[Cuts to video]
[While showing images of Trump supporters] Do 250,000 deaths give us permission to be mad over these super spreader moments? Surely we know better by now. How about anger at those who refuse to wear masks? Or still, cling to denial? In Michigan, it makes Keith Gambrel mad.
KEITH GAMBREL: My grandfather passed from it. My dad died from it. They both died six hours apart from one another. My mother had it. She almost died from it. I had it and both my little brothers all had it. Like, it is very real, it is not a joke.
HOLT: But anger isn't serving us well because Americans keep dying. We're losing people and our collective strength. When's the last time you heard – “we're all in this together?”
EMMA NOHR: I probably don't feel as supported as a whole by the community that I did then. And it's been hard for everybody but people knew that we were doing this for the greater good. You know? But I feel like people have grown tired of that. We’ve let our guard down and this is not the time to let our guard down.
HOLT: And today we find ourselves wrestling with the same question of, what are we willing to give up, sacrifice?” Because this isn't just about lives we're losing. It's about livelihoods.
MICHELL GATON: We're watching this tidal wave but not running away and now we are sort of just dealing with the crash.
HOLT: Michelle Gaton, COVID survivor and New York restaurant owner, says changing rules and restrictions have left her business, like so many, fighting for survival.
Do you feel like the goalpost is being moved on you?
GATON: Constantly. I feel like if we understood why these changes are coming at us then it would help us because we really want to do it, we want to keep everyone safe and we want to take care of our community.
HOLT: We are all clawing for equilibrium, our businesses, our schools, and, above all, our very lives. Maybe it's time to turn that mad into resolve, to beat this virus before it beats us.
[Cuts back to live]
And by the way, we are still in this together.
