ABC, NBC Cheer Democrats Scolding Republicans in Debates as Trump Stooges

On Wednesday, ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today waved the proverbial pom-poms for Democrats who took to debate stages Tuesday night against key Republican candidates, heralding them for “pushing back” and “tying” Republican Senator Susan Collins (ME) and gubernatorial candidates John James (MI) and Rick Jackson (GA) to Trump, seemingly as wholly-owned subsidiaries.

Sorry this sounds like a broken record, but once again, Good Morning America led from the front. Senior political correspondent Rachel Scott celebrated the Democrats not letting Republicans succeed in “trying to distance themselves from [Trump], and core issues that he supports as voters are grappling with the war with Iran and that ongoing trade war with Canada.”

“Overnight, several Republicans in tight races distancing themselves from President Trump as he faces record-low poll numbers amid the war with Iran and surging fuel prices,” Scott huffed.

She gushed over Benson and Bottoms, coming off like an unofficial spokeswoman for their camps, placing them as candidates with the wind at their backs (click “expand”):

SCOTT: In Michigan, Republican Congressman John James is facing off against Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson for governor. James, who was backed by Trump, breaking with the President on trade, saying, “we need to stop acting like children and insisting the war needed to end yesterday.

JAMES: I applaud the administration for using every economic and every diplomatic resource at their disposal. Iran cannot have a nuke, but we need to wrap this thing up, like, yesterday.

SCOTT: But James has voted against several efforts in the House to end the war. Benson pushing back.

BENSON: So, if you like gas pushing $5 a gallon or mortgage rates over seven percent, or tariffs taxing just about everything we pay for, then John James is your guy.

SCOTT: In Georgia, a similar scene playing out. Trump-endorsed Republican Rick Jackson running for governor against Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms.

BOTTOMS: I will stand up to Donald Trump when necessary. I’m not running to be his favorite governor.

SCOTT: Jackson once vowed to be like Trump, then quietly removed a reference to the President from his campaign website, never once mentioning him by name on the debate stage.

JACKSON: Nobody’s ever told me what to do. My number one priority is Georgians. It’s you, and I will stand up to anybody.

When it came to Collins, Scott called her a “vulnerable” candidate “distancing herself from Trump, who lost the state in 2024” and “[e]ven boasting about splitting from Republicans.”

Scott argued the latter point was foolhardy because Jackson “repeatedly [tied] her to the administration” and “fir[ed] back” over Collins pointing out she successfully had removed concrete, road salt, and pulp imports from next-door-neighbor Canada in Trump’s trade war.

ABC’s leftist shill conceded Collins “voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, rebuk[ed] the Iran war, and call[ed] the President’s trade war with Canada a mistake,” but sided with Jackson because he “repeatedly press[ed] Collins on her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who later joined the conservative majority to overturn Roe vs. Wade.”

Later, she concluded by boasting of Texas Democrat James Talarico’s chances:

Trump is heading back to Texas today for the third time in just one month, the second time in just a week here. President Trump won that state by double digits back in 2024, but polls are showing a very tight race for Senate between Democrat James Talarico and the Republican Ken Paxton, much tighter than Republicans are hoping for[.]

NBC’s Today also brought up the three debates, but made sure to wrap it in plenty of Trump-centric talk.

Senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez started where ABC’s Scott ended by mentioning Trump’s Wednesday stop in the Lone Star State, adding Trump had “rais[ed] eyebrows” Tuesday “by saying that he does not know the top issue for voters.”

“Candidates across the country now facing off ahead of the crucial midterm elections, with polls showing voters worried about affordability, Democrats are trying to tie Republicans to the economy, and President Trump,” Gutierrez continued, ahead of a clip from former Atlanta Democratic Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms insisting she’ll fight Trump.

Of course, Gutierrez left out the parts when she addressed the Black Lives Matter riots in her city during the Summer of Love.

As for that Trump comment, here’s how he played it:

GUTIERREZ: The President, meanwhile, has been trying to downplay concerns about the cost of living.

UNIDENTIFIED WHITE HOUSE REPORTER [TO TRUMP]: What do you say is the number one issue for American voters in the midterms?

TRUMP: I don’t know, exactly, when you look at the American voters, we’re doing better, we’re taking in trillions of dollars of investment. We have more jobs.

Gutierrez went last to the debates, telling viewers: “Some Republicans in close races scrambling to distance themselves from the President...In Maine, incumbent Senator Susan Collins facing off against Democrat Troy Jackson, who repeatedly tried to tie her to Trump in their first debate, dropping his name more than 20 times.”

Addressing Michigan, Gutierrez noted former President Obama would be campaigning this weekend with (Islamist) Abdul el-Sayed, who’s “locked in” a “tight race” with Republican Mike Rogers, who “recently saying some oil costs driven up by the Iran war are coming down, but urging the White House to finish the conflict.”

All that being said, at least all three networks moved on from their latest hoax campaign, claiming Trump supports Iran nuking Los Angeles and San Diego, California.

To see the relevant transcripts from October 7, click here (for ABC) and here (for NBC).