On Tuesday night, CNN will host the first of six Democratic presidential debates, and one top official from the Democratic National Committee will not be allowed to attend, yet the “Big Three” (ABC, CBS, and NBC) networks have so far ignored the story on both their morning and evening broadcasts.
Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), who serves as the DNC’s vice chair, has been a vocal critic of Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s decision to have only 6 presidential debates and a result was told not to attend the debate in Las Vegas.
From the New York Times:
Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said she was disinvited from the first Democratic presidential primary debate in Nevada after she appeared on television and called for more face-offs.
Ms. Gabbard confirmed on Sunday that her chief of staff received a message last Tuesday from the chief of staff to Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the national committee, about her attendance at the debate. A day earlier, Ms. Gabbard had appeared on MSNBC and said there should be an increase beyond the current six sanctioned debates.
Instead of covering a top DNC official being banned from her party’s debate, during previews of tonight’s CNN debate ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today chose instead to tout Hillary’s debate prep and how she “has been debating since high school.”
While the “Big Three” networks have so far completely ignored the controversy within the DNC, CNN and MSNBC both interviewed Congresswoman Gabbard on Tuesday where she strongly pushed back against Debbie Wasserman Schultz who has denied that Ms. Gabbard was told not to attend.
Had the situation been reversed and a top official at the Republican National Committee been barred from attending one of their party’s debates would the networks have remained quiet or would that have rushed to declare the RNC as being in disarray?
