On Friday, ABC’s Good Morning America tightly clutched its pearls about former President Donald Trump deploying “dark language” to level “very personal attacks” and “grievances” on poor Vice President Kamala Harris at Thursday’s Al Smith Dinner that “crossed the line.”
In contrast, ABC showed no such concern about Harris going after Trump, swooning she “[took] Donald Trump to task” by “upping the pace and intensity of...her warnings about” him and making “a blistering rebuke of” Trump on abortion.
ABC's 'Good Morning America' and @RachelVScott need a fainting couches as they lost their minds over Donald Trump using "dark language" "grievances" to level "very personal attacks" at Kamala Harris during the #AlSmithDinner with little "off limits" pic.twitter.com/36vAl5TmHh
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 18, 2024
ABC channeled Howard Stern from last week, who told Harris that no one — not even far-left Saturday Night Live — should be allowed to make fun of her because American democracy depends on her victory.
Fervent Trump hater Rachel Scott had the ball placed on the tee for her by weekend co-host Whit Johnson fretting Trump turned the “usually...light” Al Smith Dinner into an evening full of “dark language.”
The thin-skinned Scott complained “not much was off limits for Donald Trump last night” as he “turned from making political jokes to launching very personal attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris and just hours before that he questioned her racial identity again and cast out on the integrity of the November election.”
Scott’s histrionics continued on, huffing about Trump “questioning Vice President Kamala Harris’s racial identity” in a separate interview and making clear she “was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus while serving in the Senate” and went to Howard.
“Overnight, Trump attending the Al Smith Charity Dinner in New York, traditionally attended by both nominees. Only Trump showing up in-person. The former President getting a mixed reaction from the crowd, turning from political jokes to airing grievances and launching personal attacks against his rivals, even acknowledging some of his jokes crossed the line,” she kvetched.
Scott saw no issue with Harris: “Harris addressed the event in a video featuring Molly Shannon, portraying her Saturday Night Live character, Mary Katherine Gallagher.”
She later boasted of “audible gasps in that room” over some of Trump’s jokes, adding he would be campaigning in the Detroit area and had to tell viewers the last time he was there he (correctly) called Detroit a mess.
ABC trotted out Mary Bruce — its North Korea news lady for the Biden-Harris regime — to sing Harris’s praises and voice issue concerns about her rhetoric (click “expand”):
BRUCE: Well, as we head into this final sprint now, Kamala Harris is upping the pace and intensity of her campaign and the intensity of her warnings about Trump second term overnight, with a blistering rebuke of his position on abortion. Overnight, with abortion front and center in this race, Kamala Harris taking Donald Trump to task for his shifting position.
HARRIS: Now, Donald Trump has a very different view on reproductive freedoms.
BRUCE: During a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Harris letting Trump speak for himself.
TRUMP: Every wanted it, and I did it. [SCREEN WIPE] For 54 years, they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated and I did it.
HARRIS: No, Donald, everybody did not want Roe v. Wade to be overturned. Women are dying of sepsis because they cannot get the health care they need. They did not want this.
BRUCE: Harris calling Trump out for trying to soften his stance on abortion after he told a town hall of all women voters this week that he’s the, “father of IVF.”
(....)
BRUCE: Harris upping her warnings about a second Trump term, hammering the message that he is a danger to democracy, going after Trump’s suggestion that he would use the military to go after his opponent —
(....)
BRUCE: — and slamming him for calling January 6 a “day of love.”
(....)
BRUCE: And next week, she’s bringing her heavy hitters, appearing for the first time on the trail alongside the Obamas.
On CBS Mornings, notice the verb choice by co-host Tony Dokoupil in the Eye Opener: “Vice President Kamala Harris hits Trump over January 6, while Trump attacks Harris at a fundraiser in New York.”
Dokoupil later in the actual segment said there was “tough talk” and “sharp attacks from both presidential candidates” before again contrasting the verbs with Trump “insult[ing]” Harris and Harris just “hit[ting] Trump[.]”
Chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes fretted the Al Smith Dinner features a “gentl[e] roast,” but Trump’s “jokes were not that gentle.”
Cordes went easy on Harris. Here was one example: “Harris did send in a video prerecorded a video with comedian Molly Shannon...and she did roasting of her own in Green Bay, mocking Trump’s new claim that he’s the father of IVF.”
NBC’s Today had Sunday host Willie Geist at least start on a more gentle note by saying Harris was “going after Donald Trump” while “Trump [made] jokes at her expense.”
Chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander said Trump “lobb[ed] insults at his rival” during the dinner since Harris sent “ in a prerecorded video alongside former SNL star Molly Shanahan, playing Catholic school girl Mary Katherine Gallagher.”
Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker dropped by for analysis and claimed it’s Trump who’s focused on abortion and January 6 and framed Harris’s rhetoric about Trump as a danger to the country as a “sharpening” of “her lines of attack” (click “expand”):
WELKER: Willie, look, voters have made it clear what they want to see in this election is a candidate who represents change and our latest poll really underscores that point. In September, Harris had a nine-point lead on representing change. That’s now down to a five-point lead. And remember, this week, Harris said to Fox News, my presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency. In talking to campaign officials overnight, they tell me they’re signaling at this point there won’t be a change in strategy. Still, some Democrats are hoping she’ll add a few more details about how her presidency will differ. For his part, Donald Trump is arguing that he will represent change. But allies of his that I speak with are concerned he hasn’t been focused on the issues that matter most to voters like the economy and immigration. They worry he’s been sidetracked by conspiracy theories, questions surrounding the last election, as well as an inconsistent messaging on abortion, which is, of course, Willie, going to be one of the key motivating factors in this election. One final note here, Willie, our new NBC News poll shows that 62 percent of voters believe the upcoming election makes a great deal of difference in their lives and in their family’s lives. So, it really gives you a sense people are looking at this seriously.
GEIST: Yeah, a lot of energy behind this election. Kristen, many observers have noted Vice President Harris getting much tougher in her rhetoric, more direct in her criticism of Donald Trump. Clearly, that’s strategic. What is she aiming for there?
WELKER: Well, it’s a great point. We are seeing Vice President Harris sharpening her lines of attack lately. Remember, she started out her campaign labeling Trump as weird, highlighted how she is going to bring joy back to the trail. Now she has shifted that, calling the former President unhinged and unstable. Harris campaign officials tell NBC News that describing him that way is an effective messaging tool to win over persuadable voters. As you saw in Peter’s piece, Trump is no stranger to darker rhetoric. He’s taken aim at the Vice President, trying to paint her at mentally incompetent, even questioning her race, which he did again overnight. But, Willie, with the country so deeply divided, the real question is will people turn away from what they see as more mudslinging or is this enough to get them energized to get out and vote. We’ll have to wait and see.
To see the relevant transcripts from October 18, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC).
