On Wednesday, it was reported that former Tallahassee Mayor and one-time Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum along with his associate Sharon Lettman-Hicks, were indicted on 21 counts of federal fraud charges. While this would be widely reported if Gillum was a Republican, all three evening newscasts ignored the story. The only evening news program to cover the Gillum indictment was Fox News Channel’s Special Report.
Instead of covering the Gillum indictment, ABC’s World News Tonight, CBS Evening News & NBC Nightly News decided to waste their viewer’s time on local weather reports, a shark attack off the coast of California, and newly released bodycam footage of a woman falling off a subway platform in New York City.
According to a report from The Daily Caller’s Nicole Silverio, “The 21 count indictment, filed on June 7, alleges that Gillum and Lettman-Hicks conspired to commit wire fraud by obtaining funds from ‘various entities’ and individuals through ‘false and fraudulent promises’ between 2016 and 2019.”
The report adds that “The funds were allegedly diverted to a company owned by Lettman-Hicks through third parties, then disguised as payments to Gillum for personal use.”
During Special Report’s coverage of the indictment, anchor Bret Baier summarized the indictment after reporting on a poll that shows Florida Governor Ron DeSantis edging out former President Donald Trump in a hypothetical 2024 New Hampshire GOP presidential primary matchup:
Speaking of Florida, former Tallahassee Mayor and Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum is facing a 21-count indictment on federal fraud charges tonight. Gilliam and an associate are charged with unlawfully soliciting and obtaining funds through false promises they are accused of diverting a portion of the funds to a company owned by that associate who then funneled money to Gillum. His attorney says Gillum is innocent. Gillum, you’ll remember lost to Republican Ron DeSantis in the 2018 race by just four-tenths of a percentage point.
It only took Baier 35 seconds to inform viewers of Gillum’s legal troubles. All the three networks had to do is cut out a segment on the local weather report and they would’ve had plenty of time to cover this news.
But they would rather cover for their allies in the Democrat Party.
This latest example of bias by omission from the three networks was made possible by Capital One on ABC, Prevagen on CBS, & Progressive on NBC. Their information is linked.
The transcript of the Fox News segment is below:
FNC’s Special Report
6/22/2022
6:33:33 p.m. EasternBRET BAIER: Speaking of Florida, former Tallahassee Mayor and Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum is facing a 21-count indictment on federal fraud charges tonight. Gilliam and an associate are charged with unlawfully soliciting and obtaining funds through false promises they are accused of diverting a portion of the funds to a company owned by that associate who then funneled money to Gillum. His attorney says Gillum is innocent. Gillum, you’ll remember lost to Republican Ron DeSantis in the 2018 race by just four-tenths of a percentage point.
