It’s been almost two months since the White House pulled former ATF official David Chipman’s nomination to lead the bureau after he was sunk by evidence of racist actions against black agents during a previous tenure there. Ignoring those facts, the CBS Evening News thought Wednesday was the perfect time to have a sit-down interview with Chipman, lament that he wasn’t the director, and let him spew lies and misinformation about gun laws, gun dealers, and gun owners.
Anchor Norah O’Donnell set the tone of the segment as she lamented how President Biden’s promise of “new gun safety measures … suffered a major setback last month after his top choice to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms was blocked in the U.S. Senate.” Adding: “Well, tonight, that nominee, David Chipman is speaking out in a CBS News exclusive.”
The video portion began with Chipman touting his work against gun rights and pompously declaring: “To oppose me must mean that you're not for preventing gun violence.”
Together, O’Donnell and Chipman misrepresented why his nomination stalled in the Senate, suggesting it was solely because those who opposed him were beholden to the gun lobby (Click “expand”):
O’DONNELL: I mean, Republicans said that you oppose the Second Amendment, that you're radical, that you're anti-gun.
CHIPMAN: I'm a concealed carry owner in Virginia who swore an oath to our Constitution. And I don't mean a desk job. I mean I was on the SWAT team. I was in dangerous and perilous situations all the time.
O’DONNELL: But it wasn't just Republicans who opposed Chipman. The final blow was delivered by Senator Angus King, an independent.
CHIPMAN: The resistance I met, senators like King in Maine, was I'm concerned you will not play nice with the gun industry that you regulate. And that was shocking to me.
At no point, did O’Donnell admit that the White House had pulled his nomination, she just made it seem as though he was voted down by those senators.
She also failed to mention the real reason his nomination failed. Stephen Gutowski, founder of The Reload, exposed how Chipman had official complaints filed against him by black agents alleging “Chipman denigrated black ATF agents up for promotion.” Republican Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley demanded that Chipman’s file be released to the Judiciary Committee for review.
Chipman would later admit to smearing one of the black agents who accused him, though he denied race was a motive.
Beyond misleading her audience about why Chipman’s nomination failed, O’Donnell let him get away with suggesting federally licensed gun dealers wanted to profit “from selling them to criminals and terrorists.” He also falsely claimed: “The reality is in much of America it's easier to buy a gun than a beer,” without any pushback from O’Donnell.
The only pushback came when Chipman attacked those same federally licensed dealers for profiting off of death.
CHIPMAN: The problem is the gun industry profits by gun violence itself because it's the fear that you're going to get shot that you run out and buy a gun.
O’DONNELL: But that's pretty sinister.
He then lashed out at law-abiding gun owners and asserted that they didn’t care enough about stopping gun violence:
O’DONNELL: Don't you think that lawful gun owners want to get rid of trafficked guns and gun violence in America?
CHIPMAN: Not enough of them.
Ironically, these comments proved Chipman to be the anti-gun radical he and CBS suggested he wasn’t. O’Donnell also failed to mention Chipman’s time working for the anti-gun organization, Giffords.
CBS’s misrepresentation of Chipman’s nomination failure and allowing his lies was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Amazon and Prevagen. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they fund. CBS Evening News has also asked people to “text Norah” at this number: (202) 217-1107.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CBS Evening News
October 27, 2021
6:41:21 p.m. EasternNORAH O’DONNELL: Well, we want to turn now to a nationwide increase in violent crime. The FBI has reported that homicides rose at their fastest rate in at least six decades last year. The vast majority committed with a gun. President Biden promised new gun safety measures, but that promise suffered a major setback last month after his top choice to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms was blocked in the U.S. Senate. Well, tonight, that nominee, David Chipman is speaking out in a CBS News exclusive.
[Cuts to video]
DAVID CHIPMAN: I have, from 25 years as an ATF Agent, and largely for 10 years after that, committed myself to one thing: preventing gun violence in this country. To oppose me must mean that you're not for preventing gun violence.
O’DONNELL: I mean, Republicans said that you oppose the Second Amendment, that you're radical, that you're anti-gun.
CHIPMAN: I'm a concealed carry owner in Virginia who swore an oath to our Constitution. And I don't mean a desk job. I mean I was on the SWAT team. I was in dangerous and perilous situations all the time.
O’DONNELL: But it wasn't just Republicans who opposed Chipman. The final blow was delivered by Senator Angus King, an independent.
CHIPMAN: The resistance I met, senators like King in Maine, was I'm concerned you will not play nice with the gun industry that you regulate. And that was shocking to me.
O’DONNELL: What is the job of the ATF?
CHIPMAN: Protect this country from gun trafficking and domestic terror, period. This is, you know, a unique agency that has to regulate the firearms industry, regulate the explosives industry, and really is on the front line of the greatest threats to our country at this time.
O’DONNELL: And that's the word that scares people: "Regulate." That by regulating the gun industry, that means you're going to make it harder for lawful owners to buy guns, or you're going to go and take their guns away.
CHIPMAN: The fear is it's going to be harder for people who sell guns to sell guns absent any accountability for profiting from selling them to criminals and terrorists. The reality is in much of America it's easier to buy a gun than a beer. [Transition]
The problem is the gun industry profits by gun violence itself because it's the fear that you're going to get shot that you run out and buy a gun.
O’DONNELL: But that's pretty sinister. Don't you think that lawful gun owners want to get rid of trafficked guns and gun violence in America?
CHIPMAN: Not enough of them.
O’DONNELL: Chipman told us he's worried the ATF, the lead agency to curb illegal use of firearms and target criminals, has not had a confirmed leader in six years.
What does the ATF need to succeed?
CHIPMAN: A leader, the funding to do their job, and the ability to support state and local law enforcement, which is why ATF was created in the first place.
[Cuts back to live]
O’DONNELL: Not even President Trump could get his nominee confirmed. You can see more of our interview at cbsnews.com.
