Some MSNBC journalists identify a media double standard in coverage of McCain gaffe; others demonstrate it
SUMMARY: After Chuck Todd acknowledged a media double standard in coverage of Sen. John McCain's Al Qaeda-Iran gaffe, CNBC's John Harwood asserted on Morning Joe: "I think that at the end of the day, John McCain has got sufficient credibility on that issue that people are not going to look at that and say, 'Oh, John McCain is confused' or 'John McCain's too old' or 'John McCain doesn't get it.' ... But he obviously can't do that too many times or he's got a problem." Harwood was not alone in misrepresenting or excusing McCain's false claim on MSNBC; several MSNBC reporters and anchors have ignored or excused McCain's false claim.
A day after NBC News political director Chuck Todd said of Sen. John McCain's admittedly false claim, "[T]his just shows you how much bank -- how much of the foreign policy experience stuff he's got in the bank, because had [Sen. Hillary] Clinton or [Sen. Barack] Obama done something like this, this would have been played on a loop, over and over," CNBC chief Washington correspondent John Harwood asserted: "I think that at the end of the day, John McCain has got sufficient credibility on that issue that people are not going to look at that and say, 'Oh, John McCain's confused' or 'John McCain's too old' or 'John McCain doesn't get it.' ... But he obviously can't do that too many times or he's got a problem." During a March 18 press conference in Amman, Jordan, McCain falsely stated more than once that Iranian operatives are "taking Al Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back" into Iraq, after making the same misstatement the previous day. Appearing on the March 20 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, Harwood, who did not specify how many more times he thinks is "too many" before McCain is deemed to have "a problem" on national security matters, was not alone in misrepresenting or excusing McCain's false claim on MSNBC. In fact, several MSNBC reporters and anchors have ignored or excused McCain's false claim. By contrast, discussing McCain's misstatement during the March 19 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, MSNBC's Jonathan Alter stated of McCain: "[H]e's gotten a lot of breaks over the years for being imprecise from the press."
During the March 19 edition of MSNBC Live, anchor Amy Robach uncritically reported that "John McCain's campaign is downplaying his verbal gaffe on Iraq yesterday, saying he immediately corrected himself." She added, "McCain misspoke when he said Iran, a Shiite country, was helping Al Qaeda in Iraq, a Sunni organization." In fact, as Media Matters for America has noted, McCain made the misstatement repeatedly, including the previous day. Moreover, he did not "immediately correct[] himself"; it was not until after Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) whispered something in his ear that McCain admitted he had made a mistake. Robach's description of the events echoed the McCain campaign's false assertion that "John McCain misspoke and immediately corrected himself."
During the March 19 edition of MSNBC's Race for the White House, Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough suggested the misstatement was the result of McCain's lack of sleep, saying: "John McCain also doesn't know the difference between Sunnis and Shia after he's been awake for 48 hours," adding, "Boy, that's a winning platform."
By contrast, during the March 19 edition of MSNBC's Verdict, host Dan Abrams stated: "The problem is, when you're running for president and you're running on your foreign policy experience -- if it had happened to Obama or Clinton, I mean, I think it could have devastated -- if it happened to Obama, let's say, with this sort of lead that he's got, I think it might have even devastated his campaign." Later, The Hill's A.B. Stoddard said: "I agree completely. I think that if Barack Obama had confused Sunni and Shia, Al Qaeda, et cetera, it would have been a disaster. He would have been Mr. Green, wet behind the ears, can't find his way around." She added, "If Hillary Clinton had done so, it would have been, 'Oh, that poor first lady. She's just trying so hard to pretend that she could be president, but it's not going to work.' I think the problem for John McCain is that we assume that he knows his stuff, that he's Mr. National Security, so we say, 'It couldn't be an indication of his ignorance. He must be tired.' "
As Media Matters noted, during the March 19 edition of MSNBC Live, anchor Mika Brzezinski stated that McCain "had this little slip of the tongue on the Iraq war." After airing a condensed clip of McCain's misstatement, Todd said: "[T]his was not a one-time slip and so, you know, this just shows you how much bank -- how much of the foreign policy experience stuff he's got in the bank, because had Clinton or Obama done something like this, this would have been played on a loop, over and over, and would have absolutely hurt them politically."
From the March 19 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:
KEITH OLBERMANN (host): He insisted to [NBC Capitol Hill correspondent] Kelly O'Donnell in Jerusalem tonight: This was a slip. This is the quote: "To think that I would have some lack of knowledge about Sunni and Shia after my eighth visit, and my deep involvement in this issue, is a bit ludicrous."
So, how do you slip three times, get corrected by your friend Joe Lieberman, and then come back the next day and slip again?
ALTER: Well, first of all, this is something that John McCain and those of us who covered him for many years are familiar with. This kind of -- it's almost like out of the old SNL skit where Chris Farley goes, "I'm so stupid!" and he bangs himself on the forehead and gets kind of charm points for admitting having slipped up because of fatigue -- and it is very tiring during all this travel and all that kind of thing -- or just sort of human error. So, he's gotten a lot of breaks over the years for being imprecise from the press, in part because there's a lot of fatigue with playing gotcha games with all these politicians, and at a certain point, it does get a little bit silly.
But, having said that, what John McCain is clearly trying to do here is to conflate, again, all of the bad guys over there in a way to confuse Americans who are not paying close attention. When I asked them for evidence that Iranian Shia were supporting Sunnis inside Iraq, they referred me to an American Enterprise Institute study that was very old. The sourcing was old and not at all explicit.
This is not the main thrust of what's going on there and it's counterintuitive since the Shia and the Sunni don't like each other --
OLBERMANN: Right.
ALTER: -- for anybody who's been paying any attention. And so, what he's trying to basically do is say, "Look, they're all a bunch of bad guys. Trust me because I'm the one who has experience here." And Obama and Clinton are trying to call him on it.
OLBERMANN: Yeah, but he's saying -- he's saying all terrorists are Al Qaeda, all extremists are Al Qaeda. You're basically, then, offering the public two choices and neither of them seem to be very good for Mr. McCain, which is it's a senior moment -- it's not Chris Farley, it's Emily Litella -- a two-day-long senior moment interrupted by the second or two of clarity, or it's a conflation worthy of George Bush, which is to say, a bald-faced lie about it. It's one of those two things. It has to be one of those two things. It would seem that the Republicans, you know, have a rather large hole in their defensive line on this.
ALTER: I think it was some kind of combination. I mean, it wasn't a senior moment but a little bit of a slip. And he corrects it, then part of him is thinking, well, why make a big deal of correcting this since I want to conflate, as you say, and convey to the American public that, you know, there are people in Iran who want to do us dirty. And if we have to kind of mess a little bit with the facts in order to convey that impression, he's willing to do that.
From the March 20 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:
SCARBOROUGH: Hey, what's happening with John McCain? He's gotten -- he's been confused a couple of times, and this isn't a "gotcha" moment, but he's been confused a couple of times on an issue that he should have down -- and I've gotta believe he has down -- but twice, he talked about how Al Qaeda was getting trained -- Al Qaeda was getting trained in Iran. That is -- that's just not even close to being accurate. He should know better. What's going on?
HARWOOD: You know, I talked to [McCain campaign manager] Rick Davis about that. Certainly that was embarrassing for them. His point is, slip of the tongue, the guy's running around the Middle East doing a bunch of events in a bunch of different countries. I think, at the end of the day, John McCain has got sufficient credibility on that issue that people are not going to look at that and say, "Oh, John McCain's confused" or "John McCain's too old" or "John McCain doesn't get it." I think he's going to be able to withstand that argument. In fact, I think he would welcome the argument going in that direction. But he obviously can't do that too many times or he's got a problem.
From the March 19 edition of MSNBC's Verdict with Dan Abrams:
ABRAMS: It's time for our new segment: "Teflon John." Much of the media has been giving John McCain what sure feels like a free ride, barely going after him for flip flops and a host of issues from torture and taxes to abortion and gay marriage. The press just loves his image: the maverick from Arizona riding around on a bus called the "Straight Talk Express." That's why we're calling this segment, "Teflon John."
Tonight, the tepid response to a major McCain gaffe, the kind of mistake that would have devastated Clinton or Obama, and we would have called either of them out on it too -- but Teflon John walks away unscathed. It happened yesterday during McCain's Mideast trip, a press conference in Jordan, he needed fellow Senator Joe Lieberman to bail him out.
[begin video clip]
McCAIN: Well, it's common knowledge and has been reported in the media that Al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran. That's well known, and it's unfortunate.
[...]
[Lieberman whispers into McCain's ear]
McCAIN: I'm sorry. I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not Al Qaeda.
[end video clip]
ABRAMS: All right. So, McCain had made the same mistake twice before, earlier in that press conference and in a radio interview. But here's what's really bizarre: Even though McCain admitted that he was wrong, today his campaign issued this statement, quote: "Al Qaeda and Shia extremists -- with support from external powers such as Iran -- are on the run but not defeated."
"Such as Iran." He already admitted he was wrong. McCain's running on the strength of his foreign policy knowledge and judgment. So, how is this not a major story? Back with us is A.B. Stoddard, associate editor with The Hill, and Republican strategist Brad Blakeman.
All right, Brad, first, let me ask you this. If this had happened to Obama or Clinton, wouldn't the media have been all over it to the point that this would have been a huge issue for either candidate?
BLAKEMAN: I don't think so. I --
ABRAMS: Really?
BLAKEMAN: No, I don't. Let me tell you why. I think the press were all over McCain for his misstatements, as they should be. He misspoke, but what he was right about was the fact that Iran, a Shia state, is supplying aid and comfort and killing Americans in Iraq with --
ABRAMS: But that's not -- that's not the point here. I mean, look. I understand that you want to sort of help justify what he said. And look, I accept the fact that people make mistakes. The problem is, when you're running for president and you're running on your foreign policy experience -- if it had happened to Obama or Clinton -- I mean, I think it could have devastated -- if it happened to Obama, let's say, with this sort of lead that he's got, I think it might have even devastated his campaign.
BLAKEMAN: No.
[...]
STODDARD: I agree completely. I think that if Barack Obama had confused Sunni and Shia, Al Qaeda, et cetera, it would have been a disaster. He would have been Mr. Green, wet behind the ears, can't find his way around. If Hillary Clinton had done so, it would have been, "Oh, that poor first lady. She's just trying so hard to pretend that she could be president, but it's not going to work."
I think the problem for John McCain is that we assume that he knows his stuff, that he's Mr. National Security, so we say, "It couldn't be an indication of his ignorance. He must be tired."
From the March 19 edition of MSNBC's Race for the White House:
RACHEL MADDOW (MSNBC political analyst): That's exactly right. And that -- what we've got there is a situation between public actions and private actions. In Barack Obama's private life, he has a pastor. In John McCain's public life, in which he is running for office, he sought and received and said he was publicly honored by the political endorsement of two pastors who are really controversial.
SCARBOROUGH: All right, nice spin. It's just not going to work.
MADDOW: It's not spin. It's the truth.
MIKE MURPHY (Republican strategist): Aw, you got nothing here, Rachel.
[crosstalk]
MURPHY: You got nothing.
SCARBOROUGH: Good try, though.
DAVID GREGORY (host): All right, we're going to move on. We're going to move on.
SCARBOROUGH: Hey, and you know what? John McCain also doesn't know the difference between Sunnis and Shia after he's been awake for 48 hours. Boy, that's a winning platform.
From the 4 p.m. ET hour of the March 19 edition of MSNBC Live:
ROBACH: And John McCain's campaign is downplaying his verbal gaffe on Iraq yesterday, saying he immediately corrected himself. McCain misspoke when he said Iran, a Shiite country, was helping Al Qaeda in Iraq, a Sunni organization.
There is no comparison whatsoever between McCain's endorsement and Wright. None!!!
Wright was on Obama's staff. He was his spiritual advisor. He will have easy access to the White House. He baptized his children and married him.
Barack knew Wright for 20 years and attended his church.
Reverend Wright said we deserved 9/11, America gave blacks AIDS, he asked God to Damn America, he used the phrase Uncle Tom, he made pelvic thrusts in his sermons to describe how the people were f*&^ed by Bill Clinton. He visited Kadafi, and is a Black separatist among other terrible things. He said that Hamas' declaration which has a overt statement to destroy Jews around the world is equivalent to the declaration of independence.
Nevertheless, Obama compared this man to his Grandmother.
MMFA and the liberals on MSNBC are so bad at making comparisons they have lost all credibility.
I hate to double post but here you go Cope
I waited until I was blue in the face. I held it in as long as I could.
Reverend Jeremiah Wright said a few unpopular things, he said “God damn America,” a “country ruled by rich white people,” and that “we’ve nuked more than died in New York.” His words have been called racist and unpatriotic, and I’ve been silently watching the media repeat the who, endlessly loop the what, sketchily detail the when, positively harp on the where and still no one is talking about the why. There are many important whys in this story, the most important of which being why did Wright say what he said and why is the media painting so narrow a portrait of it?
Wright was born in 1941.
To put that in perspective, the first black Major League baseball player didn’t take the field for another six years, Jackie Robinson, ending roughly eighty years of segregation in the sport. Jim Crow laws, that allowed separate but equal treatment of black citizens after the thirteenth amendment abolished slavery, were enforced for another twenty four years of this mans life. He drank from separate faucets and ate at separate tables. His experience in America was a little different than that of his loudest critics; Wright grew up in a time many only hear about in history books, a time Americans are rightfully not proud of.
The retired Reverend, now in his late sixties, is witnessing the first black candidate for President of the United States with the potential of winning the general election. A United States citizen with First Amendment rights to freedom of speech is being told to watch his mouth by the main stream media. In true McCarthy fashion Wright is being labeled anti-American. White people have enjoyed a racial benefit in American society, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki did kill at least one hundred and ninety seven thousand more people than died in New York, he may be putting things bluntly but his basic facts are right. Even if they were not, in America he still has ever right to shout it on the mountain, its part of what makes our country great. Where was the media when Jerry Falwell on The 700 Club declared, "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen”??? How about Pat Robertson when he said “…you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Anti-Christ.”??? And McCain supporter Minister John Hagee, an endorser that the media seems reluctant to discuss. On Katrina the minister had this to say, "All hurricanes are acts of God because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that." Why was it alright for all those right wing preachers to say all that? A double standard? I was born in 1977. I hope that when I’m in my late sixties I can look back at all this and laugh about how primitive it all seems. The race gotcha games, the unbalanced media coverage, the denial of history. I hope I live to see the America that Martin Luther King Jr. saw in his dreams. And I hope I’m free to discuss it all, as loud as I want, in a free country. But I’m not holding my breath.This moral comparison is just disgusting. There are millions of Black people in America who detest what Wright said.
To cite historical segregation as a justification to profit off of pure hatred for America, Whites, and Jews is just plain wrong. In fact, it places these people in a state of perpetual victimhood and is more destructive than any racial prejudice than they could experience today.
There are no excuses for letting your children who were born post 1980s to hear this crap on Sundays; that goes to Barack Obama's judgment.
In terms of "Pastors on the Right." They will have little or no daily access to McCain. They are not his lifelong pastor. His children don't attend their sermons. They did not write the tittle to his book. There is no comparison.
Lastly, to suggest that I am engaged in McCarthyism by saying that Wright is Anti-American demonstrates the total brainwashing that is being done on today's American Universities. Did you listen to what Wright said?
Wright Hates America, he hates the country. he hates white people, he hates jews (not just anti-israel - he actually hates jewish people). He compared America to Al Qaeda. This is Anti-American in every sense of the word, and if you liberals do not see it, there is no hope for you.
To hold ones own country accountable is the mark of a true patriot, would that there were more vocal in Germany the Holocaust might have been avoided. Although the leaders lead they do so at the will of the people and thus the people are accountable for the actions of their country, in a free society.
We get the America we allow
Besides, you WANT Wright and therefore Obama to be anti-american, so your ability to see another point is dulled.
Temple,
He did too equate the U.S. to Nazi Germany even if he doesn't admit it.
You are making suppositions regarding motives that are not fact based.
Try again AA, reread and comprehend
Start with motive
That wasn't the point, but you knew that
And as always COPIOUS....... You still seem to have no real brain power to create an argument that makes any real sense!
You appearantly are only willing to see the world through the eyes of a white man and are simply unwilling to see through the eyes of an entire segment of our society that until recently have had any real power to do anything for themselves without the white man putting him down.
Are there blacks that detest what Wright has said?....... yes..... but I would argue that many of them were likely never taught the true history of how there ancestry was treated or the real meaning of MLK's words..... the other blacks that detest Wrights words...... either work at FOX Noise or have sold out there fellow black men and women for nothing more than $$ or hold a seat in the Supreme Court.....
CopiusCompliance whines that Wright criticises the government then stupidly accuses Wright of hating America and White people. Copious is a LIAR AND A FOOL. Cough up some quotes that show hatred for either America OR White people. NOT criticisms of GOVERNMENT which is NOT America nor white people or admit you are a liar and show yourself out in the disgrace you so richly deserve. All you ever do is propagate hivemind propaganda that only the most simpleminded could POSSIBLY take seriously.
Plus copious thinks that Wright will be on Obama's Fave Five list at the White House.
Let's see, wasn't that Colorado guy Haggard talking weekly to our fearless leader? Now he was a real moral, upstanding citizen, wasn't he copious? Doing meth and getting serviced by a male prositute while talking to the president of the United States.
Solon,
The quotes and the videos are out there for everyone to see. To say they don't exist is laughable.
Wright says the country is run by rich, white people and then goes on to blame the country's ruling class for any number of evils thereby promoting hate against whites.
Is America perfect, no. Is saying GD America repeatedly from the pulpit hate speech? Yes.
It is evident to all except those who refuse to see.
"Is America perfect, no. Is saying GD America repeatedly from the pulpit hate speech? Yes."
AA, he said that once.
And his words were not racist. Did he base his words on stereotypes? No. Did he say that whites were inferior? No.
But of course, it's your right to view these words through the prism of racism, however wrong that may be.
This moral comparison is just disgusting. There are millions of Black people in America who detest what Wright said.
And there are lots of people here at MMFA who detest every stupid thing you post here, Copious Ignorance.
"In terms of "Pastors on the Right." They will have little or no daily access to McCain."
Really...? And exactly how do you know this? An influential group of right wing evangelical pastors has long claimed to have at least weekly access to George W. Bush...and they are not his church pastors.
Wright Hates America, he hates the country. he hates white people, he hates jews (not just anti-israel - he actually hates jewish people). He compared America to Al Qaeda. This is Anti-American in every sense of the word, and if you liberals do not see it, there is no hope for you.
Copious - judging by your posts here, you hate truth, you hate facts, you hate liberals. Your rants here on MMFA are as anti-American as anything you accuse Rev. Wright of, because you're misusing your Freedom of Speech to spread lies. And as long as YOU fail to see THAT, there is no hope for YOU.
Besides dissentry
This is about McTorture not understanding that Iraqis come in many shapes, sizes and faiths. If Obama or Clinton made the same mistake it would be looped ad naseum all over the so called Liberal media.
I never thought I'd say this, but I miss CompliantConsent's incoherent 10 words and a cloud of dust cut & run bombs.
What an embarrassing load of paranoid crap.& not even original crap.
What an embarrassing load of paranoid crap.& not even original crap.
So sad - all Copious Plagiarism can do is re-crap other people's crap....
CD also is right on the ball. I went to his silly blogspot, and he has the photo of Bill Clinton shaking hands with Rev. Wright.I also found these words on his bog(edited for brevity);
"..My fantasy is to go on some mainstream talk show...Watching Chris Matthews orgasm in his pants"
Oh my, what a wonderful fantasy...I know we've all day-dreamed about Chris Matthews and how his "Ha!" entices all of us, arousing our sexual fantasies.
*Retch*
Boy,that spin has really worked.I thought we were going to discuss McCains gaffes,but we still or should I say some people are still carrying Reverend Wright into this conversation.
If Barack or Hillary for that matter had said the same thing let alone being in Iraq saying that,Man the loops would be running as I am typing this.
A. I provided context for what he said
B. The first amendment protects his right to say it
There is not argument to be made here other than why the MSM is ignoring the complexities of this story, it is gross incompetence
As for McTorture I think that story could use some detail as well, lets roll a loop of all the GOPers congflating Al Qaeda with Iraqis and not understanding the difference between a Sunni, a Shite and a Kurd. I bet that would make a great tape that explains where we are now in Iraq and the type of thinking and lack thereof that got us there
I agree, DB. While a small group of Foxfans is transfixed and terrified by Rev. Wrights comments, I don't find them nearly as interesting as the reaction by the ignorant and gullible crybabys like CD.
I could do without Copious' detailed Chris Matthews fantasies, though.
Dbeden posted:
"It is necessary, in the course of major change, that the voices of the ignorant come to the forefront before any actual change can occur."
____________________________________________
OK, I can agree with that, but that begs the question...
How will Wright's inflammatory remarks spark any Change?