CBS Mornings (and its predecessor CBS This Morning) has lacked serious journalistic ethics since its inception as, somehow, CBS has seen zero problems with co-host Gayle King, who’s had a past of not only donating to the Democratic Party but vacationed with the Obama family. This lack of ethics was on display Monday as King gushed over her time with Michelle Obama on Friday as part of the latter’s book tour that included Obama gifting her a jacket with her initials “G.K.”
King swooned during the show’s “Talk of the Table” segment:
Well, my Talk of the Table is Michelle Obama. On Friday, I got to moderate a conversation in Philadelphia, Friday night, about her new book. It’s called The Light We Carry. The Light We Carry is the former First Lady’s second book. It talks about coping with adversity. It deals with topics like prejudice, the pandemic, and the future of our country. In Mrs. Obama’s words, the goal is to give readers a glimpse inside my personal toolkit or the strategy she uses to be more comfortable, less paralyzed inside of uncertainty.
Adding they “had a great conversation on stage,” King said they “chatted behind the scenes before going on stage.”
The tape then rolled featuring the two embracing each other, complimenting each other’s looks, and then Obama asking if they could talk about her hair braids because, in Obama’s warped dystopia, the world would have erupted in racism if she wore them while First Lady (click “expand”):
KING: Can I say, I love the braids.
OBAMA: Yes, me, too.
KING: I love the braids.
OBAMA: I am loving them. I think it’ll be fun to talk about it.
KING: Okay.
OBAMA: I think this generation of young girls are, you know, they are owning their hair.
KING: I know. I know. I know, in a way we did.
OBAMA: The big — you know, it’s accepting who they are. I would have worn braids, but you know —
KING: In the White House?
OBAMA: — the White House, well, they freaked out when I had bangs, you know, just.
KING: When you got bangs?
OBAMA: Remember that when I.
KING: Oh, but I liked your bangs, yes. That was a great look.
OBAMA: Oh, there were stories about the bangs. It’s like, what does it mean? Like, she is changing her hair, and it is like — I can’t even do this.
KING: Okay, good, good.
Back live a few moments later, King gushed: “And then shortly after the appearance, she gave me a jacket as a ‘thank you.’ All the moderators got these. I love anything with my initials on it, but when I — I really do, I’m still 12 when it comes to that, Gayle or GK, I like it.”
This all made sense as, when it became public that King had vacationed with the Obamas, she brushed it off as harmless. “It was a great conversation,” King said to her co-hosts. Co-host Nate Burleson agreed, calling it “awesome” and “good stuff.”
CBS’s latest lack of concern for journalistic ethics was made possible thanks to the endorsement of advertisers such as Abbott (the maker of FreeStyle Libre 2) and Nissan. Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcript from November 21, click “expand.”
CBS Mornings
November 21, 2022
8:32 a.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Talk of the Table; Michelle Obama Book Tour]
GAYLE KING: Well, my Talk of the Table is Michelle Obama. On Friday, I got to moderate a conversation in Philadelphia, Friday night, about her new book. It’s called The Light We Carry. The Light We Carry is the former First Lady’s second book. It talks about coping with adversity. It deals with topics like prejudice, the pandemic, and the future of our country. In Mrs. Obama’s words, the goal is to give readers a glimpse inside my personal toolkit or the strategy she uses to be more comfortable, less paralyzed inside of uncertainty. So, we had a great conversation on stage. We chatted behind the scenes before going on stage. [TO OBAMA] Hey, buddy.
MICHELLE OBAMA: Hey, buddy. Hi, gorgeous.
KING: Oh, you look great.
OBAMA: Hi, so do you.
KING: You look good.
OBAMA: So do you.
KING: Can I say, I love the braids.
OBAMA: Yes, me, too.
KING: I love the braids.
OBAMA: I am loving them. I think it’ll be fun to talk about it.
KING: Okay.
OBAMA: I think this generation of young girls are, you know, they are owning their hair.
KING: I know. I know. I know, in a way we did.
OBAMA: The big — you know, it’s accepting who they are. I would have worn braids, but you know —
KING: In the White House?
OBAMA: — the White House, well, they freaked out when I had bangs, you know, just.
KING: When you got bangs?
OBAMA: Remember that when I.
KING: Oh, but I liked your bangs, yes. That was a great look.
OBAMA: Oh, there were stories about the bangs. It’s like, what does it mean? Like, she is changing her hair, and it is like — I can’t even do this.
KING: Okay, good, good. Because right before Becoming, you said, I was really nervous about it coming out.
OBAMA: Yes, yes.
KING: You don’t feel that this time do you?
OBAMA: There is still the initial kind of —
KING: Still?
OBAMA: — you know that, that you know caution about putting yourself out there.
KING: Are you aware of how many books Becoming sold, Mrs. Obama?
OBAMA: Yes, yes, but you know, well, you know, we can talk about it.
KING: Yes. [BACK LIVE] And then shortly after the appearance, she gave me a jacket as a “thank you.” All the moderators got these. I love anything with my initials on it, but when I — I really do, I’m still 12 when it comes to that, Gayle or GK, I like it. But when I greeted her with that, “Hey, buddy,” in her book, she’s got a great chapter about starting kind, and she talks about a friend of hers, a grown man who every morning looks in self in the mirror and says, “Hey, buddy. How you doing?” I tried doing that, I felt goofy doing it, but I think it’s such a good thing for people to start kind with yourself. And a whole chapter about you know, when they go low, we go high. So, a lot of people going, “How high — just how long do we have to stay high, Mrs. Obama?
NATE BURLESON: Right. Right.
KING: Does she still believe that? Yes, she definitely does.
BURLESON: She definitely does. That’s awesome.
KING: It was a great conversation.
BURLESON: You guys are talking about everything and including hair.
KING: Yes. People were glad to see her — yes, including hair.
BURLESON: That’s awesome That was good stuff.
