The network evening newscasts all led their programs on Tuesday night with the House testimony of special counsel Robert Hur, presenting it as a bipartisan grilling over his report declining to prosecute President Biden for his willful retention of classified documents for decades. All three surely upset Democrats by putting Hur's words on screen that Biden would present to a jury was a well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.
But that's why Hur declined to prosecute: that Biden did willfully retain classified documents, but that a jury would find reasonable doubt in Biden's intentions.
If your standard was letting both parties and the special counsel have their say, the networks all satisfied that standard. NBC and White House reporter Gabe Gutierrez was the sharpest and most substantive, while ABC and their White House repeater Mary Bruce concluded with spin that Biden’s interview with Hur had “vivid” moments and he was “joking” with interviewers.
Gutierrez went back to underline that Biden yelled at a press conference that Hur bringing up his son Beau was none of his "damn business." He noted "the transcript of Hur's interview released today confirmed it was the president himself who brought up his son's death, as NBC previously reported." Then viewers saw Gutierrez pressing White House counsel spokesman Ian Sams "Why did the president say it was Robert Hur who brought up his son's death when the transcript shows otherwise?" Sams evaded the question.
On ABC, anchor David Muir summarized that Hur "recently decided not to prosecute President Biden for his handling of classified documents, but went on to criticize Biden's memory in his report."
Mary Bruce spun Biden's memory -- never noting Biden couldn't remember on multiple occasions whether he was vice president in 2009 (he was). Bruce said "he can recall the day his son died, but not the year, and has to be prompted by the staff. But the president offers vivid descriptions of years-old events. he's conversational, he jokes around with interviewers, and yes, he does go off on tangents, but that is not unusual for this president."
On Tuesday's 'World News Tonight,' ABC gave a whopping 29 seconds to Hur "forcefully pushing back" on Pramila Jayapal's spin of "exoneration." Mary Bruce touted Biden as "nuanced," sure, he had a few lapses, but he was also "vivid" in his answers and "joking" with interviewers. pic.twitter.com/jyjRCtCRdJ
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) March 13, 2024
It was odd that Muir pitched the Jayapal-Hur exchange on exoneration as "That sums up the day."
By the morning, the Hur story receded. All three networks led with the debate over forcing TikTok to divest from its communist-China backers. ABC seemed eager to “move on,” as Biden spokesman Ian Sams insisted. Hur was nowhere in their top of the show summary.
Their lead items (all deemed more important than Biden's misuse of classified documents) were:
- Putin throws another nuclear threat over Ukraine
- The TikTok debate in Congress
- Boeing trying to regain its image
- Measles on the rise
- The dark side of Nickelodeon for child actors
- Ikea price cuts
- Actress Christina Applegate’s interview on her multiple sclerosis.
In the morning report, Mary Bruce found "both sides furious," tilted the spin and soundbites toward the Democrats, airing only one soundbite from Rep. Tom McClintock, but airing Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Ted Lieu, and Pramila Jayapal.
None of the networks made one important point about oversight and politics: the House Republicans are holding hearings on Biden where the Democrats are allowed to staunchly defend their leader and viciously attack Trump....unlike the airless Pelosi-Picked Panel hearings, which never allowed in any Republicans to defend Trump, even the witnesses (live and on videotape).
