Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen’s shameless trip to El Salvador, to bring back illegal immigrant and accused MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia to his Maryland constituents, prompted the Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) networks to extend their exhaustive “mistakenly” deported “Maryland man” coverage.
From April 1 through the morning of April 23, ABC, CBS, NBC jammed their evening and morning shows with a total of 143 minutes, 24 seconds devoted to Abrego Garcia.
ABC spent the most time (52 minutes, 32 seconds) on Kilmar Abrego Garcia. CBS came in second with 49 minutes, 26 seconds. NBC aired 41 minutes, 45 seconds on the deported man’s case.
Over that same time period, another Maryland illegal immigration case — the trial and April 14 conviction of the murderer of Rachel Morin — was almost completely ignored by the networks.
So how much time did the networks devote to the Morin case?
A pathetic 12 seconds.
The sum total coverage of Morin came in a blink-and-you missed it mention on the April 16 NBC Nightly News.
ABC and CBS spent zero seconds on Morin.
Another way to look at it? The networks spent 717 times more coverage on Abrego Garcia.
Not even Rachel Morin’s mother’s condemnation of Sen. Van Hollen — in front of the White House press corps — could spike network coverage of her daughter’s tragic murder at the hands of an illegal immigrant.
However, Sen. Van Hollen’s political stunt did excite the networks.
The April 18 edition of ABC’s Good Morning America had an interview with Abrego Garcia’s wife. Co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos teased: “We’re going to get the latest now on the showdown over the Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador. Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia as he presses for the prisoner’s release and an appeals court weighs in.”
ABC chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce gushed it was “remarkable” to see “Kilmar Abrego Garcia seated across from Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, the first images of the wrongfully deported Maryland man since we last saw him, head shaved and shackled, held in that notorious prison in El Salvador.”
Over on the April 18 edition of NBC’s Today show, senior White House correspondent Garrett Haake played the sympathy card: “Garcia’s wife said overnight that her prayers have been answered now that she knows her husband is still alive, but he’s also still not coming back to Maryland.”
Sadly that same kind of sympathy has been hard to come by when it comes to the family of Rachel Morin on the networks.
While the Sunday roundtable shows were outside the study parameter, it should be noted that Sen. Chris Van Hollen made appearances on all three programs on on April 20.
Sen. Van Hollen was NEVER asked about Rachel Morin on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos or CBS’s Face The Nation.
However, NBC’s Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker did play a clip of Morin’s mother at the White House and asked Van Hollen to respond.
For this study MRC analysts looked at the broadcast evening (ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News) and morning news shows (ABC’s Good Morning America, CBS Mornings, CBS Saturday Morning, CBS Sunday Morning, NBC Today, NBC Sunday Today) from April 1 through the morning of April 23.
