First Lady Michelle Obama is wrapping up her tour of China today and even though the American press was shut out from her trip, the First Lady has received glowing coverage of her taxpayer-funded visit.
Despite the already over-the-top praise, NBC’s “Today” had a unique take on the trip. Appearing on Sunday, March 23, CNBC’s Eunice Yoon commented that both Mrs. Obama and the wife of the communist president of China were a “hip fashion icon from a small town who happens to be married to a very powerful man who’s running a country.”
The segment itself was fairly brief, but the CNBC correspondent hyped how “With her daughters and mother in tow, Mrs. Obama’s winning over Chinese. Visiting tourist sites, school, trying her hand at traditional calligraphy and creating the most buzz, her first meeting with China's First Lady.”
After comparing Mrs. Obama to the communist first lady, Ms. Yoon tried to claim that the China trip was “not a political mission” before promoting how “Mrs. Obama addressed the importance of freedom of speech for the Internet as well as for religion.”
As NewsBusters has documented, none of the networks have mentioned the fact that the White House prevented American journalists from traveling with the First Lady to China, even though Mrs. Obama spoke about the importance of government not censuring information during her trip.
See relevant transcript below.
NBC
Today
March 23, 2014
8:15 a.m. Eastern
JENNA WOLFE: Before leaving Beijing later today, First Lady Michelle Obama hosted an educational roundtable and visited the Great Wall with her mother and her two daughters. CNBC’s Eunice Yoon is in Beijing with details of the First Lady’s trip. She joins us now. Eunice good morning.
EUNICE YOON: Good morning, Jenna. Well today Michelle Obama visited a Chinese historical meant to keep the world out, the Great Wall. But her weeklong tour this time has been meaning to break down the barriers between the U.S. and China. With her daughters and mother in tow, Mrs. Obama’s winning over Chinese. Visiting tourist sites, school, trying her hand at traditional calligraphy and creating the most buzz, her first meeting with China's First Lady. Peng Liyuan is seen here similarly here as Mrs. Obama is in America. She's a hip fashion icon from a small town who happens to be married to a very powerful man who’s running a country. Even though the trip is not a political mission, Mrs. Obama addressed the importance of freedom of speech for the Internet as well as for religion. Now she's going to be heading south after Beijing to see other sites and a center for pandas rounding out her three-city tour. Jenna?
WOLFE: Alright Eunice Yoon. She's got a busy schedule ahead. Thank you very much.
