It is one thing for the media to discuss the Vice Presidential Debate on Wednesday and give its analysis. It is another thing to openly complain about the lack of attack by one candidate on the other. This is exactly what both NBC and CNN did after the cutoff. On Thursday morning, CNN New Day co-host John Berman feared that Kamala Harris’s coronavirus attacks were not harsh enough: “That was a choice for the pandemic and the head of the coronavirus task force. She didn’t talk about the White House outbreak. She has spoken about the government’s disagreement with the American people. “
White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins was annoyed: “I found it interesting that she didn’t bring up what the president has been saying about the FDA in the past few days. The Senator wasn’t discussing this with the Vice President the way he was talking about how she was talking about vaccines. ”
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman attacked the president, listing other possible lines of attack Harris could have taken:
There were a couple of times, John, where she didn’t chase Pence for the coronavirus during the evening. And I was a little surprised. She didn’t mention the president’s video yesterday talking about how he discovered a clinical cure in an experimental antibody cocktail. Somehow, he described that it was a blessing in disguise to get the virus because he found out about this cocktail and what he thinks it could do. There were moments when she made it clear to the heart of what she was saying, but she didn’t choose to go any further.
This was a coordinated effort not only by CNN but also by the left media to get points for their favored Democratic candidates.
Immediately after the Wednesday night debate, NBC Nightly News host Lester Holt similarly complained during an NBC News special report: “I felt like the coronavirus, a lot of the talking points stayed on the table, especially what we saw the last four, five days in which the president was involved. “
Instead of giving the American people an honest assessment of the candidates’ responses and the guidelines being discussed, like their CNN counterparts, they instead gave advice on how Harris could attack the Trump administration. Correspondent Andrea Mitchell replied to Holt by saying:
I also thought, Lester, that the President said so many things in the video tonight when he came back without a mask for the first time. I was surprised that the whole issue of the masks didn’t come because the Vice President was talking about mandates, but it’s the advice of their own public health officials and their refusal to wear masks and all the things for which they were rightly criticized. He took off the mask when he first returned to the White House. I was surprised that it didn’t show up and that she didn’t score on those points.
With all of their debates on Senator Harris, it is not clear which side the media is on.
These left-wing complaints were sponsored by Liberty Mutual and Direct TV. Click the links to share your thoughts.
A transcript of the October 7th and 8th coverage is included below:
NBC’s 2020 Vice Presidential Debate: NBC News Special
07.10.20
10:33 ET
[…]
LESTER HOLT: I’ll tell you one of the things that impressed me. I felt like the coronavirus, a lot of the topics of conversation stayed on the table, especially given what we’ve seen with the president over the past four or five days. I don’t know if anyone else –
CHUCK TODD: You know Lester, I had a feeling that – I think – I felt like there was a little bit of eggshell running on it. I think that – because I’m so personal – I noticed that too and this was part of me that thought you know what, they don’t want to go there now.
ANDREA MITCHELL: But I also thought, Lester, that the President said so many things in the video tonight when he first came back and wasn’t wearing a mask. I was surprised that the whole issue of masks didn’t come up because the Vice President was talking about mandates, but it’s the advice of their own health officials and their refusal to wear masks and all the things that they have been rightly criticized for that he took off the mask when he first got back to the White House. I was surprised that it didn’t show up and that she didn’t score on those points.
New day
08/10/20
7:00 ET
JOHN BERMAN: … And the pandemic, as it should have been, was the first question in this debate last night. And Mike Pence was the head of the coronavirus task force, which is why it became even more important. And this is where Senator Harris may have scored some of her cleanest hits. Let’s listen
KAMALA HARRIS: The American people witnessed what is the greatest failure of presidential administration in the history of our country. And here’s the thing, on January 28th, the Vice President and President were briefed on the nature of this pandemic. They have been informed that it is subsequently fatal, that it is in the air, that it affects young people and that it will be contracted because it is in the air. And they knew what was going on and they didn’t tell you.
BERMAN: That was interesting to hear. That was a choice of the path after the pandemic and the head of the coronavirus task force. She didn’t talk about the White House outbreak. She talked about the government disagreeing with the American people. How do you think it landed
MAGGIE HABERMAN [CNN Political Analyst]: I think Kamala Harris’ goal for the night was not to rock the boat. All the polls show that she and Biden are ahead. Once you win, you don’t want to do anything that changes that. I believe she has tried to provide lines and lines of attack without appearing overly aggressive or as if she were taking advantage of a situation in the White House that involves the health of the President of the United States. So I think this is where she probably had her most effective moments in the debate. There were a couple of times, John, where she didn’t chase Pence for the coronavirus during the evening. And I was a little surprised. She didn’t mention the president’s video yesterday talking about how he discovered a clinical cure in an experimental antibody cocktail. Somehow, he described that it was a blessing in disguise to get the virus because he found out about this cocktail and what he thinks it could do. There were moments when she made it clear to the heart of what she was saying, but she didn’t choose to go any further.
ALISYN CAMEROTA: We’ll get to that video in a moment, but Kaitlin, let’s first look at a moment where Mike Pence turned the tables.
MIKE PENCE: You continue to undermine public confidence in a vaccine. If the vaccine shows up during the Trump administration, I think that is incomprehensible. And Senator, I just beg you, stop making politics in people’s lives. The reality is we will have a vaccine before the end of this year we believe. And it will have the ability to save countless American lives, and your constant undermining of confidence in a vaccine is easy – it’s just unacceptable.
CAMEROTA: Okay, Kamala Harris then went on to say, Kaitlin, I trust the scientists. I’ll take the vaccine when the scientists tell you. I don’t trust President Trump. Her thoughts?
KAITLAN COLLINS: [CNN White House Correspondent]: I found it interesting that she didn’t address what the president said in the last few days about the FDA, where he said that it is a political success that they introduced this mandate that every vaccine has, Who is going through a study? Wait two months before giving participants their final dose to make sure there are no harmful side effects. That’s something the President complained about. The White House initially stopped before it was finally approved and that’s not what the Senator was discussing with the Vice President at the moment when he was talking about how she was talking about vaccines. She didn’t mention that the president himself claimed that the FDA was making a political hit against him by delaying a vaccine. what they say is outside of safety standards. She did not use this opportunity. I think their other hits were on the defensive at the beginning of this debate. She didn’t hit him all the time about what her aides expected her to do. In fact, I think he was preparing for much worse and more sustained attacks on their coronavirus response. And we haven’t seen much longer than when the debate began.
Comments are closed.