Cheap Shot: ABC Invokes Sarah Palin in Story on Violent Little League Coaches
ABC's David Wright is obsessed with Sarah Palin. The Nightline correspondent on Wednesday gratuitously attacked the former vice presidential candidate in a segment that has nothing to do with politics. Wright investigated angry, violent coaches of youth sports.
After featuring clips of men encouraging third grade football players to hit each other in the head, Wright made an abrupt left turn into liberal bias: "That full-throated passion, part of the culture of sports in this country. Lampooned in movies like Kicking and Screaming and celebrated by the original hockey mom herself, Sarah Palin, in 2008." [MP3 audio here.]
While playing footage of the reality show Friday Night Tykes, Wright marveled, "These are third graders...Another coach pushing his players to do things the NFL has banned."
When did Palin go on expletive-laden rants in front of children? When did the Republican encourage violence against young kids? Wright didn't say. Instead, he played a clip of Palin from her 2008 vice presidential acceptance speech: "You know, they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick."
Just prior to the Palin remark, Wright featured a clip of the Will Ferrell assaulting a child in the movie Kicking and Screaming.
This isn't the first time the reporter has forced his politics into an unrelated story.
On the February 16, 2009 Nightline, he produced a seemingly uncontroversial segment on the 50th anniversary of the Barbie doll. He casually mentioned, "She's been an astronaut and a rock star, pop icons Beyonce and Shakira."
After discussing the many careers Barbie has had, the journalist mocked, "Some would argue she also ran for vice president in 2008."
Wright can be reached on Twitter here.
— Scott Whitlock is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Scott Whitlock on Twitter.
