Big Three Nets Ignore Rep. Carson's Lynching Smear of Tea Party
Representative Andre Carson's inflammatory attack on the Tea Party has yet to have received any attention from the Big Three networks. As reported by Politico on Wednesday, Rep. Carson accused Tea Party-friendly members of Congress of wanting to bring back Jim Crow and went so far to accuse his colleagues of wanting to bring back lynching: "Some of them...would love to see you and me...hanging on a tree."
Jake Sherman's report for Politico noted that the "explosive comments, caught on tape, were uploaded on the Internet Tuesday, and Carson's office stood by the remarks." The Blaze, a website run by Glenn Beck, uploaded a video compilation onto YouTube on Tuesday morning which included the Indiana Democrat's smear of the Tea Party. Carson attacked the Tea Party immediately after complimenting Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Emanuel Cleaver at a CBC town hall in Miami on August 22:
REP. ANDRE CARSON, (D), INDIANA: Under Chairman Emanuel Cleaver's leadership, we have seen change in Congress...the Tea Party is stopping that change. And this is beyond symbolic change. This is the effort that we're seeing of Jim Crow. Some of these folks in Congress right now would love to see us as second-class citizens. (audience members reply, "Yes!") Some of them in Congress right now of this Tea Party would love to see you and me...hanging on a tree. (audience members reply, "Yes!") Some of them right now in Congress are comfortable with where we were 50 and 60 years ago.
None of the Big Three networks evening programs on Tuesday- ABC's World News, CBS Evening News, or NBC Nightly News- covered Rep. Carson's snipe at the Tea Party. The following morning, none of their morning show covered it either.
By contrast, these networks were quick to go after Rep. Joe Wilson after his infamous "you lie!" outburst at President Obama on September 9, 2009. Within 24 hours, then-CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric highlighted the "congressman last night calling a President an outright liar to his face" and stated that this was "just the latest indication of how ugly the debate over reforming health care has gotten." On NBC Nightly News, Brian Williams trumpeted "the outburst heard 'round the world," as correspondent Kelly O'Donnell played up the "stunning outburst" and the "fit of anger" displayed by Rep. Wilson. ABC World News's tease of their story on the Republican's outburst used an almost identical line: "the shout heard 'round the world."
One wonders how long it will take ABC, CBS, or NBC to cover Rep. Carson's smear, if at all.
—Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here.
