The theme of Monday’s CBS Evening News was ‘be afraid, be afraid of conservatives on the Supreme Court.’ And they weren’t subtle about it. It was the common thread throughout their four back-to-back segments about the battle to fill the vacant seat once held by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
In fact, stoking fear of conservatives was how anchor Norah O’Donnell kicked off the program in the opening teases:
Tonight, we're here at the Supreme Court. President Trump says he’ll name his nominee by the end of the week as the nation remembers Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Tributes pour in for the liberal icon as the President says he wants his pick confirmed before Election Day on November 3. Tonight, the two women who are frontrunners and how they could cement conservative control of the nation's highest court for a generation.
There was no such ideological fear-mongering and bigotry when President Obama tried to install a liberal in 2016 with Judge Merrick Garland. At the time, the media falsely claimed he was a moderate.
But as O’Donnell stood in front of the Supreme Court, she warned viewers that “what happens in the coming weeks will have sweeping consequences for the court and the country, possibly cementing a conservative majority for decades.”
Anti-Trump White House correspondent Weijia Jiang was up first with her report. She echoed O’Donnell by warning of “a 6-3 conservative majority ahead of November 3. And one that would shape the court for decades.”
She then turned her ire to Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the U.S. Court of Appeals. “48-year-old Barrett is a mother of seven who has won over religious conservatives for having antiabortion views,” Jiang chided.
In the follow-up report, where CBS railed against Senate Republicans for being ‘hypocrites,’ chief congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes took on a serious tone when telling viewers how “The looming fight could alter the court's balance of power and dictate the fate of the Affordable Care Act and abortion rights.”
She then played this soundbite of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) decrying the coming nomination:
For hundreds of millions of Americans, this vacancy on the Supreme Court puts everything, everything on the line.
Of course, Cordes didn’t point out how her fellow Democrats on the hill and in the media were hypocrites for suddenly being against filling a Supreme Court vacancy in an election year.
O’Donnell followed Cordes’ report with a segment featuring an exclusive interview with Vice President Mike Pence. For most of the interview, O’Donnell grilled Pence on Judge Barrett because she was “Catholic,” “conservative,” “pro-life” and “would restrict abortion rights further.” Here’s part of their discussion (Click “expand”):
O’DONNELL: I want to ask you about one of the frontrunners, Judge Amy Coney Barrett. She’s a Catholic, she’s a conservative, she’s a mom of seven kids, are you convinced that Judge Barrett would overturn Roe v. Wade?
VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: Well I’m convinced that Judge Barrett and the other finalists on the list will interpret the Constitution in a way that is consistent with the great tradition of Justice Antonin Scalia.
O’DONNELL: She is pro-life.
PENCE: President Trump has made it clear that it’s is our objective to appoint pro-life jurists to our federal courts at every level.
O’DONNELL: Judge Barrett gave a speech at Notre Dame on the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and she said it is very unlikely that the court will overturn Roe so why are you convinced that Judge Barrett would restrict abortion rights further.
After the interview, and leading into the final report on the subject, O’Donnell noted that both Democrats and Republicans would use “the possibility of a court dominated by conservatives” to energize voters. At least she was being honest about what CBS was doing.
CBS capped off their anti-conservative bigotry for the evening with political correspondent Ed O’Keefe directly pushing Democratic attacks. “For Democratic women, there are a range of critical issues that could come before the Supreme Court,” he declared as he played a soundbite of a Biden supporter claiming: “Women's rights, LGBTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, they're all on the line!”
Of course, O’Keefe concluded by giving the final word to his candidate, Democratic nominee Joe Biden. “Donald Trump is before the Supreme Court trying to strip health-care coverage away from tenses of millions of families,” Biden sneered.
For CBS, the stakes were so high that they could no longer pretend to be non-partisan or non-ideological. When push came to shove, they dropped the charade and got dirty for their side.
CBS’s anti-conservative bigotry was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Progressive and Amazon. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they’re funding. CBS has also asked people to “text Norah” their thoughts at this number: (202) 217-1107.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CBS Evening News
September 21, 2020
6:30:20 p.m. Eastern [Opening tease]NORAH O’DONNELL: Tonight, we're here at the Supreme Court. President Trump says he’ll name his nominee by the end of the week as the nation remembers Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Tributes pour in for the liberal icon as the President says he wants his pick confirmed before Election Day on November 3. Tonight, the two women who are frontrunners and how they could cement conservative control of the nation's highest court for a generation.
(…)
6:32:12 p.m. Eastern
O’DONNELL: The Republican leader of the Senate says said he’ll confirm the President’s choice by the end of the year and Democrats are vowing to stop that, arguing voters should pick the next president who will then fill the seat. Not since Abraham Lincoln has there been a Supreme Court vacancy so close to an election. And what happens in the coming weeks will have sweeping consequences for the court and the country, possibly cementing a conservative majority for decades.
(…)
6:34:04 p.m. Eastern
WEIJIA JIANG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death gives the President the chance to nominate his third Supreme Court justice, which could make it a 6-3 conservative majority ahead of November 3. And one that would shape the court for decades. Mr. Trump said he plans to meet with some of the candidates before making a choice.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Five women are being looked at and vetted very carefully.
JIANG: CBS News has learned U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who was at the White House today, and Judge Barbara Lagoa are the top two contenders. 48-year-old Barrett is a mother of seven who has won over religious conservatives for having antiabortion views.
JUDGE AMY CONEY BARRETT: I see no conflict between having a sincerely held faith and duties as a judge.
(…)
6:36:54 p.m. Eastern
NANCY CORDES: On the Senate floor, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed to hold a confirmation vote soon.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): The Senate has more than sufficient time to process the nomination.
CORDES: The looming fight could alter the court's balance of power and dictate the fate of the Affordable Care Act and abortion rights.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): For hundreds of millions of Americans, this vacancy on the Supreme Court puts everything, everything on the line.
(…)
6:40:31 p.m. Eastern
O’DONNELL: I want to ask you about one of the frontrunners, Judge Amy Coney Barrett. She’s a Catholic, she’s a conservative, she’s a mom of seven kids, are you convinced that Judge Barrett would overturn Roe v. Wade?
VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: Well I’m convinced that Judge Barrett and the other finalists on the list will interpret the Constitution in a way that is consistent with the great tradition of Justice Antonin Scalia.
O’DONNELL: She is pro-life.
PENCE: President Trump has made it clear that it’s is our objective to appoint pro-life jurists to our federal courts at every level.
O’DONNELL: Judge Barrett gave a speech at Notre Dame on the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and she said it is very unlikely that the court will overturn Roe so why are you convinced that Judge Barrett would restrict abortion rights further.
PENCE: I just know that Judge Barrett will follow the Constitution as will all the finalists. The reality is that the Supreme Court in this last session actually rejected a very moderate restriction on abortion from Louisiana, a bill that would have only required doctors in abortion clinics to have admitting privileges at neighboring hospitals.
O’DONNELL: And on that case, do you believe that someone like Judge Barrett would respect the state's rights on that issue.
PENCE: I'm proud to serve alongside the most pro-life president in American history, and I know that same standard will be met with his nominee to fill this vacancy on the Supreme Court.
(…)
6:43:05 p.m. Eastern
O’DONNELL: And that nomination battle will now be a central issue on the campaign trail with both sides using the possibility of a court dominated by conservatives in their appeal to a crucial voting bloc suburban women.
(…)
6:44:16 p.m. Eastern
ED O’KEEFE: For Democratic women, there are a range of critical issues that could come before the Supreme Court.
UNIDENTIFIED BIDNE VOTER: Women's rights, LGBTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, they're all on the line.
O’KEEFE: And with the justices set to hear the latest legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act a week after the election. It’s an especially urgent concern as Biden says Sunday.
JOE BIDEN: Donald Trump is before the Supreme Court trying to strip health-care coverage away from tenses of millions of families.
(…)
