CBS This Morning co-hosts on Thursday skipped questioning Virginia’s Terry McAuliffe about his debunked Charlottesville claims. Instead, the journalists offered softballs about whether the Democratic governor thinks Donald Trump is “unfit to be President.”
As noted by the Free Beacon’s Stephen Gutowski, McAuliffe “was contradicted by the Virginia State Police again on Wednesday after he claimed weapons were hidden around Charlottesville during a white supremacist rally turned riot.”
Gutowski wrote:
During an interview with Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson, McAuliffe explained why police were often hesitant to try and break up violent altercations between white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and Antifa factions. He said the white supremacists and neo-Nazis were heavily armed and prepared to commit violent acts from the start, and police were trying to avoid escalating the violence. He then claimed police had discovered weapons caches throughout the city.
"They had battering rams and, you know, we had picked up different weapons they had stashed around the city," McAuliffe told Mckesson. "This was a powder keg. This was a very volatile situation. And I'll once again say, I am very proud of our team on the ground. Nobody hurt except for those people hit by the car and you couldn't stop that."
However, Virginia State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller told Reason magazine that no such weapons caches were discovered.
Yet, THAT never came up in the CBS interview, despite an almost five minutes of air time for the segment. (The New York Times also avoided McAuliffe’s sketchy claims.) Instead, co-host Charlie Rose highlighted Trump’s reaction and demanded, “And does the President's response to this suggest that he's unfit to be President?”
Gayle King wondered if the Democrat even thought the President should still visit the state: “What does real leadership look like to you in this case, and do you still want him to come to Charlottesville?”
[This biased CBS segment was brought to you buy Safelite, the movie The Hitman’s Bodyguard and Bounce detergent.]
A transcript of the questions is below:
CBS This Morning
8/17/17
7:12am ETCHARLIE ROSE: Democratic Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe is with us now from Richmond for his first national television interview since last weekend's events in Charlottesville. Good morning, governor.
TERRY MCAULIFFE: Good morning, Charlie. It's good to be with you.
ROSE: Should all Confederate memorials and monuments be taken down?
MCAULIFFE: I think so.
...
MCAULIFFE: There’s hatred. There’s bigotry that has been unleashed in this country and we need to understand how it’s happened. Most importantly, what we can do going forward as a nation.
ROSE: And does the President’s response to this suggest that he’s unfit to be President?
MCAULIFFE: Well, I can say this: I disagree strongly with the President about his remarks that it was all about the Lee statue. As I just mentioned, it wasn’t. I have lost three great citizens.
...
NORAH O’DONNELL: Governor, did you say that you spoke with President Trump and what did you tell him?
...
GAYLE KING: But then, Governor, after that phone call, he had that remarkable news conference, and when it was other, you issued a statement saying, “We need real leadership in this country.” What does real leadership look like to you in this case, and do you still want him to come to Charlottesville?
...
KING: Do you want the President to come to Charlottesville? Do you want him to come? You had asked him to come over the weekend. Do you still feel that way?
...
O’DONNELL: Governor McAuliffe, thanks for joining us for your first interview.
