The “big three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC largely greeted Jeb Bush’s entry into the 2016 Republican presidential field on Monday night with full reports that highlighted his announcement speech and jabs he leveled at Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and his fellow GOP candidates.
NBC Nightly News surprisingly led the way as fill-in anchor Savannah Guthrie described Bush as “fiery” with him “com[ing] out swinging against Hillary Clinton, President Obama, and his Republican rivals.”
Covering Bush’s kickoff event, senior White House correspondent Chris Jansing referenced the exclamation point in his campaign logo in stating that Bush “launch[ed] his 2016 campaign with an exclamation point” and having “said no when encouraged to run in 2008 and 2012.”
When Bush told supporters that he was indeed running, Jansing gushed that it was “an emotional moment that made him catch his breath.” Concerning immigration, Jansing cited it as “one of those issues” that Bush believes will determine whether or not the GOP can “win over young voters, Hispanic voters who typically vote Democratic.”
Jansing referenced the Bush dynasty, but noted that Bush “knows he'll have to come out from the shadow of his father and brother” as “[n]either came today and his logo is missing his famous last name, but his family lineage became an example of the American Dream.”
The sentiment was much the same on ABC’s World News Tonight as anchor David Muir trotted out an ABC News/Washington Post poll for a rare appearance to show how Bush fell within “just three points” of Hillary Clinton in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup.
Correspondent Tom Llamas reported from Miami that Bush is “a doer, not a talker, he says” and took “a subtle jab at the many U.S. senators he's competing against” when he said that: “There's no passing off responsibility when you're a governor. No blending into the legislative crowd.”
While Llamas asked a Bush supporter if “America is ready for a third Bush,” he also touted Bush’s “concrete promise” of “19 million new jobs and a commitment to the middle class.” Also, Llamas mentioned to Muir at the conclusion of his report that Bush slammed Clinton for having “a phone-it-in foreign policy and she’s left a legacy of crisis all over the world.”
Over on the CBS Evening News, correspondent Nancy Cordes was the lone network reporter to mention how “[i]f his aggressive early fundraising was meant to scare off competitors, it didn't work” as “Bush joins a GOP field of 10 that could grow to 16.”
Cordes addressed the legacy of his father and brother and explained that: “Bush argued today he should lead the nation, not because of his famous name, but despite it.”
Cordes also brought up how Bush “argued that the party needs to broaden its reach” and that his stance on immigration is “one of a couple areas where Bush unapologetically breaks with GOP orthodoxy.” Further, Cordes observed that Bush “emphatically describe[d] himself today as conservative and every single speaker he brought onto this stage used the same term.”
In contrast with the network evening newscasts, their morning counterparts chose to instead focus on the “stumbles” that surrounded Bush ahead of his presidential campaign launch but mostly ignored the problems and scandals that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton continues to face.
As the Media Research Center’s Geoffrey Dickens detailed on Monday, the liberal media have spent years prodding and urging the former Republican governor of Florida to go after conservatives ahead of his official presidential announcement.
When it came to examining how the network evening newscasts treated the announcements of fellow GOP candidates, they were less receptive. When Ted Cruz launched his campaign on March 23, the networks hyped that the Texas GOP Senator would be in for “some rough sledding” and fretted that he was for “no abortion, no gay marriage, no gun control,” and “no IRS.”
On April 14, Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio announced his White House bid, the networks focused on the lack of “experience,” “fame,” and “fortune” that Rubio possessed in comparison to Hillary Clinton.
After Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson joined the race on May 4, the network evening news shows gave scant coverage to the pair as ABC, CBS, and NBC declined to air full reports on either candidate and settled for three news briefs totaling one minute and 10 seconds.
With the way that the “big three” treated Bush on Monday, it’ll be worth watching to see how they cover him both as the campaign continues and if Bush wins the Republican nomination as to whether or not their treatment of him will change.
