‘Throwing Money’; Networks SLAM GOP Midterm Convention, ‘Dubious’ $5k Dividend

On Thursday, the flagship broadcast network morning shows of ABC, CBS, and NBC panned the GOP’s midterm convention and President Trump’s Wednesday night speech, mocking the scene amid Trump’s “record-low” approval ratings, Trump “dismiss[ing] concerns about the cost of living,” and his “dubious” offer of $5,000 to every American if Republicans win in November as a case of “throwing money at a problem.”

ABC’s Good Morning America led the way, with co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos captaining the bias from the opening teases, whining Trump was “mak[ing] the midterms about himself” and scoffing at the dividend: “Trump...promising to pay every adult American $5,000 only if Republicans win the midterms. But is the promise legal? [Or] doable? As fighting escalates in the war with Iran, sending oil back above $100 a barrel.”

Stephanopoulos later cued up chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce: “We begin with President Trump telling supporters to pretend he’s on the ballot at the first-ever GOP midterm convention in Dallas last night, weeks from elections that will decide control of Congress. He also dismissed concerns about the cost of living and made a dubious promise to voters.”

Bruce called the proposed $5,000 payment “an unprecedented move that is sure to raise legal questions” near the end of a night when Trump placed “himself front and center.”

The Biden regime’s chief apple polisher, Bruce had only negative takes for the GOP: “Polls show more than two-thirds of voters disapprove of how Trump has handled their number one issue: the rising cost of living.”

She offered more dismissals of what would be seen as another stimulus check before pivoting to the war in Iran (click “expand”):

BRUCE: It’s unclear if the promise is legal, and Congress would have to authorize the payments, but the President did not say where and how he could come up with the estimated $1.3 trillion it would take to pay every American adult. And when it comes to the war with Iran, Trump insists the U.S. has the upper hand.

TRUMP: I think we should call the Hormuz Strait — we should call it the Trump Strait. I should get something out of it — the Trump Strait!

BRUCE: But fighting is escalating, and with no end in sight, oil is now back over $100 a barrel. Gas prices at $4.27 a gallon, up over $1.30 since the war began. Earlier, Trump telling me prices will plunge back down, but not until after the midterms.

(....)

BRUCE: And with the President’s approval rating at a record low 33 percent, some Republican candidates in competitive races are opting to skip this convention entirely.

Whereas CBS and NBC did both, ABC’s GMA never brought up Senator John Fetterman’s (D-PA) video appearance or the counter-programming by Texas Democrat senatorial candidate James Talarico.

Over at the supposed MAGA-ridden CBS News, CBS Mornings reminded those back in reality that they’re still anything but.

Co-host Gayle King said that the President “made a huge promise at the Republicans’ first-ever midterm convention...hoping to make this November election all about him at a time, we should say, when his approval ratings have never been lower.”

Campaign and White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe started off fairly level, saying the GOP are “hoping that this pep rally and show of support from the President will help Republican candidates in tight races across the country.”

But when it came to mentioning the $5,000, O’Keefe deemed it “a move that critics say may not be entirely legal, the President vowed to pay up, using taxpayer money if voters turn out for Republicans.”

Following a detour acknowledging there were other speakers, O’Keefe touted Talarico: “Anticipating the attacks [at the convention], Talarico met Wednesday in Dallas with volunteers to box up food for needy Texas families, saying he is focused on voters’ number one concern: the rising cost of living.”

Moments later, O’Keefe reiterated it’s “unclear” if the dividend would be “entirely legal” and suggested it’s curious because “Republicans have been in control of the House and the Senate for several years, and they’ve never proposed anything like this.”

Notice O’Keefe’s dig at the very end: “And this is the kind of thing that would give headaches to fiscal conservatives because, you add up 269 million or so adults in this country, times 5,000, it gets you, like, $1.3 trillion. Where does that money come from? Unclear. Seems like they might be throwing money at a problem and making a big campaign promise that may never pan out.”

Asked by co-host Norah O’Donnell how anything could work for the GOP given Trump’s poll numbers are at 36 percent, O’Keefe said the GOP hopes the convention will — wait for it — turn out the base.

Going to NBC’s Today, co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin had a pedestrian lead-in to chief White House correspondent Garrett Haake (click “expand”):

GUTHRIE: We will start, though, with politics. The President rallying Republican support in deep-red Texas at his party’s first-ever midterm convention. His speech lasted an hour and 45 minutes, and he urged supporters to vote as if it was his name on the ballot.

MELVIN: But a big headline: The President saying all Americans will get $5,000 if Republicans hold the House and Senate. This morning, though, no word on how that $1.3 trillion payment would be funded or if it is even legal.

GUTHRIE: There was also a big political surprise. Democratic Senator John Fetterman appeared on video at this Republican midterm convention to introduce his fellow senator from Pennsylvania, Republican Dave McCormick. He touted working with President Trump.

Appearing on both hours, Haake began the first report from inside Dallas’s American Airlines Center, declaring that Wednesday night “had many of the trappings of a traditional presidential convention, including the party’s leader giving that keynote speech late into the night” even though “President Trump won’t be on the ballot.”

“The two-day pep rally, designed to pump up the Republican base, with Mr. Trump urging voters to think of him when they cast their ballots this fall...and defending his decision to go to war with Iran, predicting that the conflict he first said would last only a few weeks now will continue a few more months,” he added.

Haake then said this about the $5,000 dividend: “[T]he White House has not said where that estimated $1.35 trillion would come from or how they could enforce where Americans spend the money. And the President has floated some similar payments in the past that have not come to fruition.”

Along with more bleak forecasts for the GOP, Haake pivoted to heralding a Talarico food drive (click “expand”): 

HAAKE: With just 54 days left until the November midterms, Republicans are facing many challenges, including high gas prices and the President’s growing unpopularity, with 64 percent in a new NBC News poll saying they disapprove of his job performance. The President repeating his pledge to hold rallies for GOP candidates in 35 key races, including in Texas, where GOP candidate Ken Paxton is locked in a tight race with Democrat James Talarico.

TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL KEN PAXTON (R): I will fight to preserve the American Dream. James Talarico is running to destroy it. 

HAAKE: We caught up with Talarico here in Dallas at a food drive he organized to counter program the convention. [TO TALARICO] What does it say to you about the shape of this campaign that the Republicans are having a midterm convention at all and that they’re doing it in Texas?

TALARICO: I think the fact that they’re doing it in Texas speaks volumes. They know that the movement we are building here is catching fire.

Haake also brought up the Fetterman appearance, but made clear the Pennsylvania Democrat has maintained he won’t change parties.

Speaking live with Melvin, he dove more into the GOP’s messaging across all the night one speakers (click “expand”): 

Well, look, it’s sort of politics 101 that, if you can’t make yourself more popular, you have to make the other guy less popular. In this case, that means trying to disqualify Democratic candidates around the country as too radical or too out of step with the American mainstream. We’re in Texas. We heard a lot about James Talarico from candidates, including many not running Texas, but also about other up-and-coming candidates associated with the far left, people like Abdul el-Sayed in Michigan, but we also heard about Democrats who are not on the ballot anymore ever. Joe Biden’s name was invoked quite a bit last night, as was former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is, of course, retiring from Congress. As for tonight, we’ll hear from Vice President Vance, thought by a lot of people to be the future of the party, but he won’t have the spotlight entirely to himself. President Trump is expected to speak again tonight. 

To see the relevant transcripts from September 10, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC).