Big Three Networks Ignore Obama's Medal of Honor Screw-Up
Barack Obama's confusing one living American war hero with a fallen one he honored in 2009, has been completely ignored by the Big Three network newscasts, including the same NBC Nightly News that threw a fit over Sarah Palin's recent recounting of an event over 200 years ago, Paul Revere's ride.
On Thursday, at Fort Drum, New York, as reported by the Military Times, Obama told the 10th Mountain Division he had the privilege of meeting "a comrade of yours, Jared Monti" adding it was "the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honor to who actually came back and wasn't receiving it posthumously." Turns out Monti did receive it posthumously, as Obama presented the award to his parents at a White House ceremony in 2009. After CBN inquired about the gaffe, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney clarified that the President had confused Monti with "Salvatore Giunta, who was the first living recipient of the Medal who served in Afghanistan."
This insensitive blunder by the President was not covered the Big Three Network evening news shows on Wednesday and received zero stories on Thursday's morning shows.
NBC Nightly News, which spent three straight nights mocking Palin on her Revere account, as reported by the MRC's Rich Noyes, ignored Obama's mistake, even as Jim Miklaszewski played clips from the very Fort Drum speech in which Obama made his screw-up. While CBS Evening News also covered Obama's event with the troops they too failed to report Obama's error.
On ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer there wasn't even a story on Obama at Fort Drum, but they did air bits of a David Muir interview with First Lady Michelle Obama which Sawyer teased this way: "And still ahead, right here on World News, the First Lady talks to David Muir, what she wants for her daughters when they fall in love."
The following are the relevant excerpts from the June 23 editions of the CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News and ABC World News:
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Last night President Obama spelled out his plan for withdrawing 33,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan, bringing them home by next summer. Today the President wasted on time. He hit the road to sell this plan, while back in Washington some of America's military brass weighed in on what they think of it. More tonight from our Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski.
BARACK OBAMA ENTERING ROOM: At ease everybody.
JIM MIKLASZEWSKI: President Obama took his new strategy today to the Army's 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York.
OBAMA: Thank you everybody.
MIKLASZEWSKI: The division which led the surge of 33,000 additional forces into Afghanistan. The President tried to assure these soldiers that his plan to now begin withdrawing U.S. troops would not put them or the gains they fought for, at additional risk.
OBAMA: To all of you who are potentially gonna be redeployed, just know that your commander-in-chief has your back.
CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley
SCOTT PELLEY: President Obama said today the withdrawal from Afghanistan will not mean giving up the gains that America has fought for. He was speaking to some of the men and women who have fought the most at Fort Drum. Combat brigades from the 10th Mountain Division had deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan 16 times in the 10 years. At this historic turning point in the war we asked Mandy Clark what the troops in Afghanistan are saying and she found them at the hospital at the Bagram Airbase - the first stop for wounded warriors on a long trip home.
ABC World News With Diane Sawyer
DIANE SAWYER: And still ahead, right here on World News, the First Lady talks to David Muir, what she wants for her daughters when they fall in love.
...
DAVID MUIR: All of the children here, when you walk into a room their faces light up and back home we see the same thing, all of your work with children. And I'm curious, politics aside, if I could ask you personally if you would like another four years to continue your work as First Lady?
- Geoffrey Dickens is the Deputy Research Director at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow Geoffrey Dickens on Twitter.
