Normally if a movie/TV star endorsed a Democrat and made a blockbuster claim about a prominent Republican, journalists and network outlets would be anxious to repeat and promote the claim. But when actor and activist Rose McGowan endorsed Larry Elder and the recall effort against Gavin Newsom, there was a collective media yawn from ABC, CBS and NBC.
In addition to the endorsement, McGowan also accused Newsom’s wife of being in on the effort to protect convicted sex rapist Harvey Weinstein. Yet there has been no network coverage of her Sunday appearance with Republican Elder. MSNBC on Monday allowed a scant 47 seconds with Hallie Jackson trying to “both sides” the blockbuster claim: “You've got both sides trying to bring out some star power and some last-minute allegations coming from some.”
Showing video of the Scream and Charmed star endorsing Elder, Jackson quickly ran through McGowan’s claims:
This is the guy who is the leading Republican challenger, conservative talk radio host Larry Elder. He has got a couple of campaign stops. Sunday, you see him here joined by former actress Rose McGowan who repeated some of the recent claims Newsom's wife tried to persuade her in 2017 not to go public with allegations against Harvey Weinstein. The First Partner calls the claims a complete fabrication, with the governor adding that it’s desperate.
Here’s one of McGowan’s tweets about Jennifer Siebel Newsom:
The Los Angeles Times at least covered the endorsement, saying:
McGowan, a vociferous personality in the #MeToo movement and a longtime listener of the Republican frontrunner’s show, appeared Sunday in Brentwood at a campaign rally for gubernatorial hopeful Elder. She claimed that Newsom’s wife allegedly tried to bribe her to “suppress” McGowan’s allegations against convicted movie mogul Harvey Weinstein in 2017.
Siebel Newsom’s team has said that McGowan’s allegations are “a complete fabrication.”
The “Charmed” star said she left the Democratic Party “because everyone who has harassed, stalked and stolen from” her during her Hollywood career has been a Democrat. And although she said she doesn’t agree with Elder on every issue, she thinks “he is the better candidate” and “the better man.”
The scant coverage on MSNBC was sponsored by T-Mobile. Click on the link to let them know what you think.
A transcript of the MSNBC segment is below.
Hallie Jackson Reports
9/13/2021
10:03 AM ET
48 seconds
HALLIE JACKSON:. We're going to talk about what's happening on the west coast. This is the final sprint in the California recall election. You've got both sides trying to bring out some star power and some last-minute allegations coming from some. Right now you have got President Biden in the air, on Air Force One, headed out west right now, later today he's going to campaign with Governor Gavin Newsom in his final get out the vote push ahead of tomorrow's very closely watched election, an election, by the way, that has national consequences. That's why we're talking about it.
This is the guy who is the leading Republican challenger, conservative talk radio host Larry Elder. He has got a couple of campaign stops. Sunday, you see him here joined by former actress Rose McGowan who repeated some of the recent claims Newsom's wife tried to persuade her in 2017 not to go public with allegations against Harvey Weinstein. The First Partner calls the claims a complete fabrication, with the governor adding that it’s desperate.
