Not even a close brush with death could spare Donald Trump from the relentless barrage of negative coverage by the liberal media. Following Sunday’s assassination attempt, one would think the networks might show a little restraint. But no, ABC, CBS, and NBC were more interested in sticking to their anti-Trump narrative. In the first 72 hours of coverage after the incident, the networks delivered a 95% negative spin on the GOP candidate, barely acknowledging the gravity of the situation.
MRC analysts took a look at the coverage from September 15 through September 17. A total of 69 minutes of airtime was dedicated to campaign coverage, with a whopping 48 minutes focused on the assassination attempt. Yet, despite the shocking events, the networks didn’t miss a beat in continuing their usual routine of bashing Trump on anything and everything. Over three days, the evening newscasts racked up 21 evaluative comments about Trump, and surprise, surprise—20 of them were negative.
NBC’s Lester Holt didn’t even wait for the dust to settle before throwing Trump under the bus. Just hours after the assassination attempt, Holt decided to lecture Trump on his rhetoric, somehow linking the incident to “fierce rhetoric on the campaign trail.” CBS also joined the finger-wagging parade, with Skyler Henry scolding Trump for his so-called “baseless” claims about Haitian immigrants in Ohio. Meanwhile, ABC’s Perry Russom made sure to amplify the same narrative, calling out Trump for the “baseless claim” at the ABC debate.
Not content with just tearing down Trump, CBS’s Scott MacFarlane decided to throw in a completely unrelated hit piece about mail-in ballots, dragging Trump into it with a quick jab about “baseless conspiracy theories.” All of this, mind you, while the man had just survived an assassination attempt. The media’s priorities couldn’t be clearer.
By Monday, CBS’s Norah O’Donnell doubled down, lambasting Trump yet again for the “cats and dogs” meme, blaming him for allegedly inflaming political violence. And CBS’s Nikole Killion didn’t miss her chance to pile on, suggesting that Trump and JD Vance should apologize to a local Haitian restaurant manager for comments that were “amplifying unfounded claims.” The media couldn’t help but frame Trump as the villain while conveniently ignoring any possible responsibility from the Democrats or their rhetoric. As if that weren’t enough, Tuesday’s coverage brought more of the same. ABC’s David Muir and Rachel Scott both took shots at Trump, accusing him of spreading “false claims.” NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez used Harris’s appearance before a group of Black journalists as another excuse to repeat the same tired criticisms of Trump’s July appearance.
And what about the idea that maybe, just maybe, Democrats’ rhetoric could share some blame for the atmosphere that led to the attempted shooting? Well, the networks spared less than two minutes to explore that possibility. Out of 48 minutes of assassination-related coverage, just under two minutes were spent considering whether Democrats might have played a role in stoking the flames. Seems like pointing fingers at Trump is just easier for them.
After 2nd Assassination Attempt, Networks Still Blast Negative Coverage
