One day after leading their flagship Sunday morning talk show with the inconvenient statistic, ABC's World News Tonight failed to cover their own poll showing an overwhelming majority of Americans disapprove of President Joe Biden limiting his search for a new Supreme Court Justice to just black women. ABC wasn't alone though, CBS Evening News didn't mention the poll or cover the upcoming Supreme Court battle at all. NBC Nightly News was the only one to mention the poll.
"President Biden vowed to make history, choosing the first black woman on the Supreme Court to better reflect the country, but some Republicans tonight say the field should not be limited and a new poll finds that Americans overwhelmingly, 76 percent, prefer the President consider all qualified nominees," Senior White House correspondent Kelly O'Donnell reported after taking the floor from anchor Lester Holt.
O'Donnell further added: "The White House responding that President Trump made a similar pledge when he promised to nominate a woman to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg."
Meanwhile, over on ABC World News Tonight, Congressional correspondent Rachel Scott decided to ignore her network's own poll and play political games:
Tonight, as President Biden narrows down his pick for a Supreme Court nominee, some Republicans are taking aim at his pledge to appoint the first black woman to the bench.
Scott then aired soundbites of Republican Senators Ted Cruz (TX) and Roger Wicker (MS) taking issue with Biden discriminating against every other race by only considering black female candidates for the Supreme Court. She then whined that "neither of those Senators objected when former President Donald Trump announced he would pick a woman to succeed Ruth Bader Ginsburg."
She then decided to go back over forty years and bring up Ronald Reagan's commitment to nominating the first woman Supreme Court Justice as a way to make Republicans seem hypocritical.
If you didn't know any better you would think this juvenile segment aired on MSNBC, not a supposedly "straight news" show like World News Tonight.
This latest example of bias by omission by the liberal networks was made possible by endorsements from Progressive on ABC, and QuickBooks on CBS. Their contact information is linked so you can let them know about the biased news they fund.
To read the relevant transcripts of each segment click "expand":
NBC Nightly News
1/31/2022
7:10:31 PMLESTER HOLT: Now to President Biden’s shortlist for the Supreme Court, the President looking for bipartisan support for a nominee, but faces new Republican criticism. Kelly O'Donnell is at the White House. And Kelly, we now know the names that are expanding.
KELLY O’DONNELL: Well Lester, White House officials tell me those three judges who got all that initial attention aren't alone. A list of black women legal scholars now numbers a dozen under consideration. President Biden vowed to make history, choosing the first black woman on the Supreme Court to better reflect the country, but some Republicans tonight say the field should not be limited and a new poll finds that Americans overwhelmingly, 76 percent, prefer the President consider all qualified nominees. The White House responding that President Trump made a similar pledge when he promised to nominate a woman to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Lester?
HOLT: Kelly, thank you.
ABC's World News Tonight
1/31/2022
6:41:32 PMDAVID MUIR: Back here at home tonight and to this political battle now brewing over the next Supreme Court Justice. President Biden, of course, promising to nominate the first black woman to the court. Some Republicans now calling that offensive, the promise. And tonight, what Republican Presidents have promised in the past. Ronald Reagan and his campaign promise before the 1980 election. And his argument back then that his promise was also long overdue. Rachel Scott on the hill tonight.
RACHEL SCOTT: Tonight, as President Biden narrows down his pick for a Supreme Court nominee, some Republicans are taking aim at his pledge to appoint the first black woman to the bench.
SENATOR TED CRUZ: The fact that he's willing to make a promise at the outset, that it must be a black woman, I gotta say, that's offensive. It's actually an insult to black women.
SCOTT: Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi comparing the President's pledge to affirmative action.
SENATOR ROGER WICKER: The irony is that the Supreme Court is at the very same time hearing cases about -- about this sort of affirmative racial discrimination.
PAUL GALLO (TALK RADIO HOST): Yes.
WICKER: And while adding someone who is the beneficiary of this sort of quota.
SCOTT: But neither of those Senators objected when former President Donald Trump announced he would pick a woman to succeed Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
DONALD TRUMP: It will be a woman, a very talented, very brilliant woman. Who I haven't chosen yet, but we have numerous women on the list.
SCOTT: When Ronald Reagan ran for President in 1980, he too campaigned on a promise to make history. In his case, by nominating the country's first female justice.
RONALD REAGAN: One of the first Supreme Court vacancies in my administration will be filled by the most qualified woman I can possibly find. It's time for a woman to sit among our highest jurists.
SCOTT: Of the 115 Supreme Court Justices in American history, 108 have been white men. Only five have been female. A black woman has never even been nominated.
WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY JEN PSAKI: He will choose and nominate someone who has impeccable credentials and is eminently qualified. There's no question in his mind that there is a wealth of qualified talented black women to choose from.
SCOTT: And a key Democratic Senator says it's about time.
SENATOR JOE MANCHIN: I don't look at it as being politicized. I look at it for being basically just a balance that needs to be done to represent who we are as a nation.
SCOTT: The President says this is long overdue, and some Republicans appear to be keeping an open mind, including Senator Lindsey Graham, praising fellow South Carolinian Judge J. Michelle Childs. She is on the President's shortlist. David?
MUIR: Rachel Scott on the hill for us tonight. Rachel, thank you.
