Following President Obama’s decision to delay any executive action on immigration reform, ABC’s Good Morning America did its best to hit the president from the left for failing to offer legal status to potentially millions of illegal immigrants currently living in this country.
On Sunday, September 7, co-host Dan Harris played up how “there is anger this morning in the Hispanic community over a decision made by President Obama. He had promised to take action soon on immigration reform, protecting families from the threat of deportation. But now he's saying he’s going to wait until after the elections in November.”
Harris then turned to reporter Jim Avila who lamented how President Obama’s decision to not pursue any executive action on immigration reform until has hurt his relationship with the Hispanic community:
A six-year string of promises to reform immigration delayed again. The White House confirming the latest promise made in June in the Rose Garden for the president to act on his own no longer in play...But soon is now after the November elections, way past the summer deadline promised. And Hispanic voters, so important for the president's two elections, are feeling betrayed again.
Rather than provide any soundbites of conservatives who object to the president threatening to issue executive actions on immigration reform, Avila played a clip of Christina Jimenez, an immigration activist bemoaning the president’s delay:
This very clearly tells us that both Democrats and the president are playing politics and they're picking their political interests first over immigrant families that have been waiting for the president to act.
As the segment wrapped up, the ABC reporter made sure to throw in one last criticism of Obama from the left:
In the end, the White House risking what it hopes is temporary anger of an ally, to avoid inciting the GOP base by acting alone on a hot button issue.
After the segment concluded, Harris turned to This Week moderator George Stephanopoulos to channel the sentiments of the left. Stephanopoulos insisted that President Obama had to delay his executive action but did his best to reassure the ABC audience that the Hispanic community would forgive him:
But the president really had no choice on this one by the end. I mean he was getting so much pressure from Senate Democrats who were telling him if you do this before the election, Democrats are going lose the Senate. He saw that and he said, listen I just can't go forward right now. And the White House is calculating, and I think as Jim was suggesting, if the president does go forward after the election, all the fences will be mended with the Latino community.
While ABC was quick to play up left-wing criticsm of Obama over immigration, neither segment bothered to mention GOP criticism that any executive action by the president would be overstepping his constitutional authority. Instead, GMA seemed more concerned with the growing unrest among many liberals that the president didn't take unilateral action and grant legal status to millions of illegal immigrants before the November elections.
See relevant transcript below.
ABC
Good Morning America
September 7, 2014DAN HARRIS: There is anger this morning in the Hispanic community over a decision made by President Obama. He had promised to take action soon on immigration reform, protecting families from the threat of deportation. But now he's saying he’s going to wait until after the elections in November. And ABC's Jim Avila is on the story.
JIM AVILA: A six-year string of promises to reform immigration delayed again. The White House confirming the latest promise made in June in the Rose Garden for the president to act on his own no longer in play.
BARACK OBAMA: Today, I'm beginning a new effort to fix as much of our immigration system as I can on my own. Without Congress.
AVILA: A vow reaffirmed as late as last Friday in Wales.
OBAMA: In the absence of action by Congress, I'm going to do what I can do within the legal constraints of my office. And I'll be making an announcement soon.
AVILA: But soon is now after the November elections, way past the summer deadline promised. And Hispanic voters, so important for the president's two elections, are feeling betrayed again.
CRISTINA JIMENEZ: This very clearly tells us that both Democrats and the president are playing politics and they're picking their political interests first over immigrant families that have been waiting for the president to act.
AVILA: The GOP, which warned the president against acting alone, now criticizing him for the delay. In the end, the White House risking what it hopes is temporary anger of an ally, to avoid inciting the GOP base by acting alone on a hot button issue. For “Good morning America,” Jim Avila, ABC News, Los Angeles.
HARRIS: It's a hot issue as Jim said. So let's bring in the host of ABC’s “This Week” George Stephanopoulos, Good morning.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Good morning.
HARRIS: So is this, this move by the president, is it a broken promise, smart politics, both?
STEPHANOPOULOS: It might be both. But the president really had no choice on this one by the end. I mean he was getting so much pressure from Senate Democrats who were telling him if you do this before the election, Democrats are going lose the Senate. He saw that and he said, listen I just can't go forward right now. And the White House is calculating, and I think as Jim was suggesting, if the president does go forward after the election, all the fences will be mended with the Latino community. But there's the real question, Dan. The president and the White House now saying they're committed to moving forward after the election. But if the Democrats lose the Senate anyway, after this, will the president be more constrained? Will he be able to do the kind of dramatic executive action that Latinos are calling for. That's a big, open question.
