While MSNBC was decrying President Biden for not mentioning January 6 in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, CBS’s post-speech coverage featured something of a debate over whether or not Biden should have or needed to mention the Capitol riot at all.
CBS congressional correspondent Scott McFarland was the first journalist on the program to mention the lack of January 6 talk and seemed to hint that it really should have been a topic Biden touched on:
And one other note, Norah, the panel mentioned this, there were zero references to January 6 in the address tonight, even as the attorney general, Merrick Garland was sitting near the front, the man overseeing the prosecution of the January 6 rioters. And even as President Biden walked through those doors, they had furniture blockading, January 6, 2021 to keep the violent mob out.
“Scott McFarland, important to have your perspective from inside the chamber and your reporting that’s been centered around January 6,” CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell said in thanking him.
But CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King decided to chime in to wonder, “Is that so surprising though, guys, that he wouldn't mention January 6?” She then seemed to warn if he did talk about the riot, then he’d need to mention former President Donald Trump:
I don't think you could mention January 6 without going into former President Donald Trump territory. And I think he wants to stick with unity. The rare time he did say something about Donald Trump which appeared to be disparaging there seemed to be noticeable boos in the audience. Does that surprise you that he stayed away from January 6?
“I mean, not given what he needed to do. The President's approval ratings are in the tank,” argued O’Donnell in agreement. “He's facing a midterm election where his party is facing big losses, he needed to go for the middle big time, and I think he was doing that tonight.”
Then came an eyebrow-raising moment from John Dickerson where he seemed to tacitly admit that the media still needed their marching orders on how to spin the address, saying, “we’ll see what gets extruded into the public through the news system. Because who knows what people are going to pick up out of this once it gets through.”
Although, he did seem uninspired by the speech (much like NBC) when he said he was “not sure” he “heard anything in this speech that immediately goes and changes the conversation. That's a tall order but I'm not sure I heard it.”
Bringing things back to January 6, chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes highlighted the debate within the Democratic Party about how they should address it heading into the midterms:
And there's a real split within the party about how much time to spend on January 6. There's one faction that says, “look, this was an attack on democracy itself. We have to get to the bottom of who started it, how it happened, so we can prevent it from happening again.” But then there's another section of the Democratic Party that says, “you know what, we have to be forward-looking, we got to be putting forth a positive agenda if we want to win votes in November. We can't spend that much time focusing on the past.”
Judging by how CBS and MSNBC had different takes when it came to wanting the President to talk about it, it’s perhaps also a debate within newsrooms and media outlets. So, they’re just like the Democrats in yet another way. But they should have been more critical of Biden not mention his Afghanistan debacle.
CBS’s debate about id January 6 should have been mentioned in the State of the Union was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Xfinity.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CBS State of the Union
March 1, 2022
10:19:33 p.m. EasternNORAH O’DONNELL: I want to bringing in congressional correspondent Scott McFarland. He’s inside the House chamber. And Scott, as you know, much to have the President's agenda has been blocked by two Democrats, Senator Manchin and Senator Sinema. Tell us about what you saw with them tonight.
SCOTT MCFARLAND: I saw Senator Manchin sitting amid the Republicans next to Senator Mitt Romney, near senator Susan Collins and when he stood for the Democrats-only applause lines, he was standing on an island by himself.
All that being said, this just felt so different from prior years. There were no guests with the members of Congress with the upper levels. In fact, the members of Congress themselves were spread out in the upper levels. So, there was less cumulative noise, less cumulative energy, and revelry despite the strong applause lines. It's just a different feel this year with COVID restrictions still a cloud over this chamber even though the masks are gone.
And one other note, Norah, the panel mentioned this, there were zero references to January 6 in the address tonight, even as the attorney general, Merrick Garland was sitting near the front, the man overseeing the prosecution of the January 6 rioters. And even as President Biden walked through those doors, they had furniture blockading, January 6, 2021 to keep the violent mob out.
O’DONNELL: Scott McFarland, important to have your perspective from inside the chamber and your reporting that’s been centered around January 6. Thank you.
GAYLE KING: Is that so surprising though, guys, that he wouldn't mention January 6? I don't think you could mention January 6 without going into former President Donald Trump territory. And I think he wants to stick with unity. The rare time he did say something about Donald Trump which appeared to be disparaging there seemed to be noticeable boos in the audience. Does that surprise you that he stayed away from January 6?
O’DONNELL: I mean, not given what he needed to do. The President's approval ratings are in the tank.
KING: Yeah.
O’DONNELL: He's facing a midterm election where his party is facing big losses, he needed to go for the middle big time, and I think he was doing that tonight.
JOHN DICKERSON: Yes. And we’ll see what gets extruded into the public through the news system. Because who knows what people are going to pick up out of this once it gets through. Mostly we know from State if the Unions, it's watched by the president's party and we need to see what actually survives. And I’m not sure I heard anything in this speech that immediately goes and changes the conversation. That's a tall order but I'm not sure I heard it.
NANCY CORDES: And there's a real split within the party about how much time to spend on January 6. There's one faction that says, “look, this was an attack on democracy itself. We have to get to the bottom of who started it, how it happened, so we can prevent it from happening again.” But then there's another section of the Democratic Party that says, “you know what, we have to be forward-looking, we got to be putting forth a positive agenda if we want to win votes in November. We can't spend that much time focusing on the past.”
(…)
