BROADCAST BIAS: Reporters treat Obama’s Chicago celebration like a star-studded tribute
The dramatic tilt to the left on the broadcast networks starts with their relentless loathing of President Donald Trump. It was obvious in their lying prostrate at former President Barack Obama's feet from the moment he announced his first campaign for president on Feb. 10, 2007. They didn’t sound like reporters. They sounded like paid butlers and maids.
All that fervor returned this week at the dedication and opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. There was no controversy over whether it's ugly, whether there were local fights over its construction or the current question of whether all the minority subcontractors have been paid. There are no scandals in the warm glow of Obama Land.
ABC morning anchor Robin Roberts interviewed Barack and Michelle Obama and gave them the equivalent of movie star treatment. Her questions were open-ended: "What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?" He said the so-called "Affordable Care Act," with no pushback.
Then she asked: "Is there anything in looking back that you would do differently as President?" He claimed he probably made a "mistake a day," but took comfort: "I always felt that when we made decisions, we were making decisions with the American people in mind." That gaseous answer drew no follow-up.
TOM HANKS, OPRAH, STEVEN SPIELBERG LEAD A-LIST GUESTS AT OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER UNVEILING
Roberts noted Obama left office saying he would want to be "quiet a little bit" and not be so prominent. "But you also said when core values may be at stake, it would merit you speaking out. How have you been able to find that balance?" Obama then compared himself to George Washington, saying that "I’ve done my stint" and now I’m going home.
Obama can compare himself to Washington or Lincoln, and nobody blinks at his gaudy comparisons. Just as ABC's Terry Moran proclaimed on his first Inauguration Day in 2009:
"Barack Obama is the first president since George Washington to be taking a step down into the Oval Office. I mean, from visionary leader of a giant movement, now he’s got an executive position that he has to perform, in a way."
OBAMA KNOCKS FOUNDERS AT PRESIDENTIAL CENTER DEBUT BEFORE AMERICA’S 250TH: ‘FELL TERRIBLY SHORT’
Roberts wanted to paint the Democrats as pro-democracy, and the Republicans as anti-freedom: "And walking the halls here, the museum really, it's about the promise of democracy. And it's very difficult for people right now when they feel a lot of their freedoms are being taken from them. They're very familiar now with Project 2025, many of your policies are being rolled back. How do you, when you see these things happening, how do you deal with that?"
The obvious joke here is the last time Robin Roberts conducted an interview this soft and embarrassing in Chicago, it was with racial hoaxster Jussie Smollett in 2019.
All of this was a dramatic contrast with how ABC’s "The View" constantly interrupted Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday with rude questions about racist attempts to "stigmatize" Blacks and how deportations aren’t Christian. The two parties get two dramatically different interview methods.
OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER SLAMMED FOR PROMOTING ‘FAR-LEFT' AGENDA ON PUBLIC LAND
On the evening newscasts, the stories didn’t address Obama’s legacy so much as celebrated the "star-studded event" with a little presidential emotion. ABC anchor David Muir touted, "The moment Michelle Obama brought her husband to tears. And tonight, former president Obama and his hope for a divided country."
CBS reporter Caitlin Huey-Burns noted the three ex-presidents on the stage, and that Trump was not invited. "Obama seemed emotional as his wife, Michelle, recounted his legacy and said she hopes the center brings optimism to the country."
NBC reporter Kelly O’Donnell touted how Michelle Obama, "spoke of her husband's accomplishments. Emotion filled his eyes. All while delivering a gentle yet pointed defense against unnamed critics." Mrs. Obama said: "How absurd it is to imagine you might have done anything but make our family and this entire country proud." Liberals love to pretend "the entire country" supports them.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION
On NPR’s "All Things Considered," White House reporter Tamara Keith was dazzled by the show: "[T]his was really more like a concert or a star-studded awards show than a stuffy presidential event, which makes sense. This was very on brand with the Obamas, who brought that cool factor to the White House." She oozed, "The whole event is like an alternate reality where the last 10 years never happened."
The late-night comedians mocked Trump, who couldn’t get A-list guests for his 250th anniversary party, and Seth Meyers cracked, "He hasn’t been this mad at a library since he found out they were for books."
On Friday’s "CBS Mornings," host Gayle King sounded just like the woman who donated thousands to Democrats and vacationed with the Obamas. "What got me yesterday were the performances, and Michelle Obama and Barack Obama’s speeches. We all know what great speakers they are, but I think it all came flooding back to so many people how much their words and how powerful they are. Barack Obama said that the most important words in the English language are ‘we.’ And I think that speaks volumes for who they are and what they represent, ‘we.’"
All of these people pretend the Obamas were uniters, not dividers, and that during Obama’s presidency, it was an idyllic time of unity. That’s not true at all. But the Obamas could sound less negative about their opponents because they trusted other Democrats and their allies in the media to be the attack dogs for them. The butlers and maids never tired of their service.