It's the End of the World as ABC Knows It, Spinning Another Story as 'Armageddon'
Spinning liberal-friendly stories as the end of the world is a popular thing at ABC. Good Morning America's Jim Avila on Wednesday hyped the scandal involving Chris Christie as "traffic armageddon," a hyperbolic term the network loves. On Saturday, Avila mentioned the "four-day traffic armageddon." [MP3 audio here.]
As the sequester set in on April 22, 2013, co-anchor George Stephanopoulos freaked out: "Breaking this morning: Airport armageddon. Almost seven thousand flights could be delayed." On March 1, 2013, a GMA graphic warned of "budget armageddon." On April 23 reporter Matt Gutman predicted an "airline apocalypse."
On the April 28, 2013 edition of This Week, Stephanopoulos saw "armageddon at the airports."
On Wednesday, Avila hyperventilated, "One of those inquiries will begin tomorrow with the aides Christie fired being subpoenaed to testify before the state legislature about who ordered Fort Lee's traffic armageddon."
On Saturday, he explained that "e-mails do show just how the four day traffic armageddon" came about.
So, which is it? Was sequester the "armageddon?" Or was it an "apocalypse?" Or did the New Jersey governor bring about "armageddon" with a traffic jam?
Despite the massive problems with the President's health care law, ABC has failed to fret about ObamaCare armageddon.
A transcript of the January 15 segment is below:
7:09
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Now to New Jersey governor Chris Christie digging out from that traffic scandal that could block his road to the White House. He tried to move beyond BridgeGate in his state of the state speech yesterday and a new poll shows he's holding his own with New Jersey voters. ABC's Jim Avila has been on the story from the start.
JIM AVILA: Chris Christie's fourth state of the state address as New Jersey governor was clearly high stakes. The normally bombastic governor stood outside the statehouse chamber, his face showing the tension, his entrance muted despite three minutes of applause.
CHRIS CHRISTIE: Now, the last week has certainly tested this administration.
AVILA: The first four paragraphs of the speech dedicated to those substantiated allegations that some of his closest advisers urged the port authority to close lanes on the George Washington bridge as political retribution.
CHRISTIE: Now, I'm the governor and I'm ultimately responsible for all that happens on my watch, both good and bad.
AVILA: It was not a full mea culpa. The governor using the time-worn phrase other politicians have used to avoid personal responsibilities. "Mistakes were made" rather than "I made a mistake."
CHRISTIE: Mistakes were clearly made and as a result we let down the people we're entrusted to serve.
AVILA: But Christie did promise not to stonewall the federal investigation into whether his aides broke the law when they ordered traffic problems at Fort Lee and crippled traffic across the George Washington bridge, the busiest in the world for a work week in September.
CHRISTIE: Now, without a doubt, we will cooperate with all appropriate inquiries to ensure that this breach of trust does not happen again.
AVILA: One of those inquiries will begin tomorrow with the aides Christie fired being subpoenaed to testify before the state legislature about who ordered Fort Lee's traffic armageddon And new this morning, a Quinnipiac poll shows how popular Christie is in New Jersey. His approval rating dropped 20 points after the scandal, but it still stands at 55 percent. Robin?
— Scott Whitlock is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Scott Whitlock on Twitter.
