CBS Evening News airs Donohue saying Sebelius nomination is “an insult to Catholics” without noting her Catholic support

Written by Adam Shah

Published

On the CBS Evening News, Randall Pinkston aired a clip of Catholic League president Bill Donohue saying that President Obama's selection of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be secretary of Health and Human Services “is an insult to Catholics.” But Pinkston did not mention the support Sebelius has received from Catholics United and numerous other Catholics, or that one of the Republican U.S. senators from Kansas, whose support of Sebelius Pinkston noted, is Catholic.

On the March 1 edition of the CBS Evening News, correspondent Randall Pinkston aired a clip of Catholic League president Bill Donohue saying that President Obama's selection of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be secretary of Health and Human Services “is an insult to Catholics.” But while Pinkston noted that "[b]oth U.S. senators from Kansas -- Republicans -- endorse her appointment," he did not note that one of those Senators, Sam Brownback, is himself a Catholic. Nor did Pinkston note the support Sebelius has received from Catholics United and numerous other Catholics.

Pinkston reported that the Sebelius pick “is not without controversy. Sebelius, a Catholic who supports abortion rights, has received harsh criticism from anti-abortion groups.” He then aired a clip of Donohue saying that Sebelius “is the champion of abortion rights right through term, and for Obama to choose somebody who has sown such division within the Catholic community to head HHS really is an insult to Catholics.”

But Pinkston did not note that several of Sebelius' supporters are Catholic, including Brownback. In a February 28 blog post, the nonprofit advocacy group Catholics United “announced a new initiative intended to educate Catholic leaders and laity on Governor Kathleen Sebelius' record and to stand behind her nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services.” On March 1, Catholics United released a statement of support for Sebelius from “26 Catholic leaders, scholars and theologians.”

Additionally, Pinkston did not note that Donohue has a history of controversial remarks regarding gays and lesbians, Muslims, Jews, and others. These included his statement that "[p]eople don't trust the Muslims when it comes to liberty," his reference to the "gay death style," his assertion that "[t]he gay community has yet to apologize to straight people for all the damage that they have done," his repeated reference to “gook jokes” in a 2002 debate with Columbia University student Andy Hao about purported anti-Catholicism, and his assertion that Hollywood “is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular.”

From the March 1 edition of the CBS Evening News:

PINKSTON: She is not without controversy. Sebelius, a Catholic who supports abortion rights, has received harsh criticism from anti-abortion groups.

DONOHUE: She is the champion of abortion rights right through term, and for Obama to choose somebody who has sown such division within the Catholic community to head HHS really is an insult to Catholics.

PINKSTON: But Governor Sebelius has at least two powerful GOP allies. Both U.S. senators from Kansas -- Republicans -- endorse her appointment and complimented President Obama for sending a Kansan to the White House. Randall Pinkston, CBS News, New York.