During back-to-back hostile interviews on CBS This Morning and NBC’s Today on Friday, Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence attempted to force the networks to actually cover the controversy swirling around the Wikileaks release of thousands of Clinton campaign e-mails. However, every time he raised the topic, the morning show hosts promptly cut him off.
While being grilled about sexual assault allegations against Donald Trump during the appearance on This Morning, Pence pointed out the glaring media double standard in coverage of campaign controversies: “Donald Trump made it very clear yesterday, he has categorically denied these allegations and these kind of unsubstantiated claims being given so much focus in the media at the time we have hard evidence flowing out of the Clinton Foundation.”
He noted: “We had evidence this week, in fact, that while she was Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and her aides actually gave preferential treatment to friends of the Clintons for reconstruction contracts in Haiti.” Co-host Charlie Rose interrupted: “We would like to ask all of those questions....We would like to ask all of those questions of her, but – But we have Donald Trump's running mate here this morning.”
Pence observed: “That receives very little attention and these unsubstantiated claims are dominating the news.”
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Minutes later, Pence again tried to discuss the Clinton revelations:
And yet, to be honest with you, with all due respect, as this avalanche of e-mails continues to emerge – Hillary Clinton advocating open borders when she was giving a speech in Brazil, advocating socialized medicine when she gave a speech in Canada. But I have to tell you, this Haitian issue, to me, is the biggest one. $10 billion in aide contracts and now we see, despite her – despite her statements to the contrary, that while she was Secretary of State, the friends of the Clinton's were given preferential treatment for contracts for the reconstruction of Haiti after an earthquake. That’s kind of pay-for-play politics the American people are tired of.
Again, Rose stopped him: “Governor, I want to let my colleagues have a chance here. I want my colleagues to have a chance. Clearly these are important issues and we’d like to raise them with her and her running mate, but we have you here this morning.”
On NBC’s Today, Pence similarly called out co-hosts Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie: “...it’s astonishing to see – with all due respect – it's astonishing to see the enormous coverage of these – of these, you know, really, you know, unfounded allegations, unestablished allegations, compared to an avalanche of e-mails coming out of Hillary Clinton's years as Secretary of State.”
He demanded the Clinton scandals be covered: “...there is now an e-mail that shows that in the Haitian recovery effort after the earthquake, that the State Department was directed to remember businesses that were friends of the Clintons. That's exactly the kind of pay-to-play politics that she said never happened and now we see hard evidence, not unsubstantiated allegations, but hard evidence that that took place.”
Guthrie dismissed his request: “We have covered that story, and with respect, if she were here or Tim Kaine were here, we'd be asking her. You're answerable for your campaign, they're answerable for their campaign.”
In reality, the networks have barely touched the Wikileaks story when compared to the mountain of coverage devoted to the accusations against Trump.
Here are excerpts from the October 14 interviews with Pence on CBS and NBC:
CBS This Morning
7:09 AM ETCHARLIE ROSE: Republican vice presidential nominee and Indiana Governor Mike Pence joins us now. Good morning, Governor.
MIKE PENCE: Good morning.[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Defending Trump; VP Nominee Pence on Allegations Facing Trump]
ROSE: Listening to that, do you understand that if these accusations are true, and based on what Governor – what Donald Trump said on the bus, is very, very offensive to women?
PENCE: Well, let me say, first, as a father of two daughters and as a public person, we take these kind of allegations very seriously. But Donald Trump made it very clear yesterday, he has categorically denied these allegations and these kind of unsubstantiated claims being given so much focus in the media at the time we have hard evidence flowing out of the Clinton Foundation, the Clinton years. We had evidence this week, in fact, that while she was Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and her aides actually gave preferential treatment...
ROSE: We would like –
PENCE: ...to friends of the Clintons...
ROSE: We would like to ask all of those questions –
PENCE: ...for reconstruction contracts in Haiti.
ROSE: We would like to ask all of those questions of her, but –
PENCE: That receives very little attention and these unsubstantiated claims are dominating the news.
ROSE: But we have Donald Trump's running mate here this morning. Second question. Have you tried to find out from him in conversation whether any of this is true?
PENCE: Donald Trump has assured the public –
ROSE: But have you talked to him directly about this?
PENCE: Absolutely.
ROSE: And he –
PENCE: He’s told me that –
ROSE: And you believe him? Do you believe him?
PENCE: Donald Trump has asserted that all of these recent unsubstantiated allegations are categorically false and I do believe him.
ROSE: You believe him that they’re not true? That these women are liars?
(...)
ROSE: As well they should, but also character is an important issue. Is there a point in which you say, “My values, there is a red line, and we have passed this and I cannot stay on this ticket”?
PENCE: Well –
ROSE: Is there a red line for you?
PENCE: Charlie, I’m – we're in this campaign and we're in it to win this for the American people. I mean – but you speak about the issue of character. It really is extraordinary that in the wake of revelations – and last weekend Donald Trump made it clear, he apologized for what he said 11 years ago, he showed humility, he showed heart. He focused that national presidential debate back on the issues that really affect the American people at home and abroad.
And yet, to be honest with you, with all due respect, as this avalanche of e-mails continues to emerge – Hillary Clinton advocating open borders when she was giving a speech in Brazil, advocating socialized medicine when she gave a speech in Canada. But I have to tell you, this Haitian issue, to me, is the biggest one. $10 billion in aide contracts and now we see, despite her – despite her statements to the contrary, that while she was Secretary of State, the friends of the Clinton's were given preferential treatment for contracts for the reconstruction of Haiti after an earthquake. That’s kind of pay-for-play politics the American people are tired of.
ROSE: Governor, I want to let my colleagues have a chance here. I want my colleagues to have a chance. Clearly these are important issues and we’d like to raise them with her and her running mate, but we have you here this morning.
(...)
Today
8:10 AM ET(...)
MIKE PENCE: And the difficulty is that at this point in the campaign it’s astonishing to see – with all due respect – it's astonishing to see the enormous coverage of these – of these, you know, really, you know, unfounded allegations, unestablished allegations, compared to an avalanche of e-mails coming out of Hillary Clinton's years as Secretary of State. We found out this week, through one e-mail, that despite the fact that she said there was never a decision made at the State Department when she was Secretary of State to benefit their supporters or their donors, that there is now an e-mail that shows that in the Haitian recovery effort after the earthquake, that the State Department was directed to remember businesses that were friends of the Clintons. That's exactly the kind of pay-to-play politics that she said never happened and now we see hard evidence, not unsubstantiated allegations, but hard evidence that that took place.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: We have covered that story, and with respect, if she were here or Tim Kaine were here, we'd be asking her. You're answerable for your campaign, they're answerable for their campaign.
There's been a lot of talk, particularly by Donald Trump, but also sometimes by you, about the accusers in Bill Clinton's past. And I guess my question is voters are trying to figure this out and it's really difficult. And you have claims on all sides. Do you think, in fairness, that the Donald Trump accusers and the Bill Clinton accusers, who we saw at the debate the other night, that Donald Trump brought, do you think they're all entitled to the same presumption of believability, that they're telling the truth? All of them?
PENCE: Well, I think we should always take these kind of allegations seriously and respectfully. But in the case of Bill Clinton, Bill Clinton actually admitted to being involved with a 23-year-old intern at the White House named Monica Lewinsky when he was president. Bill Clinton actually paid a settlement of over $800,000 to one of those women.
GUTHRIE: Donald Trump has paid settlements.
PENCE: The claims against Bill Clinton now for decades have been quite well chronicled in books and history. They’ve been quite well substantiated and, frankly, those women have gotten scant attention this year or in previous years from many in the mainstream media.
(...)
GUTHRIE: I wanted to just end on a grace note and this issue of faith, because frankly at my church, I think people are truly divided. And we hear that message of forgiveness and mercy and grace. Would you agree that that forgiveness – the same measure of grace and forgiveness that many people are willing to extend to Donald Trump, that as Christians, people should also extend that to Hillary Clinton or to Bill Clinton? I mean, what would it look like? What would this campaign look like if all that grace were applied equally?
PENCE: Well, I think it's a wonderful question. But in the case of Hillary Clinton, with what we're seeing in these e-mails is a very different Hillary Clinton behind closed doors than we've seen in public and we've heard no apology for that. When she advocated for open borders at a speech in Brazil, when she advocated for socialized medicine at a speech in Canada. And now when we hear that they were directing contracts in the Haitian recovery effort to friends of the Clintons, all we get is silence, all we get is denials. So you know, the beginning of grace is an apology. And, frankly, you know, we're still waiting for Hillary Clinton to apologize for being a different person in private than she is in public.
LAUER: With all due respect, these –
PENCE: And Donald Trump and I are going to continue to speak boldly to the American people about this challenge.
LAUER: These women are claiming that Donald Trump is a very different person in private than he is in public, as well.
(...)
