On Friday evening, ABC's World News and the NBC Nightly News both informed viewers that Cindy McCain - wife of Senator John McCain - supports repealing the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy on gays in the military. NBC's Chuck Todd merely mentioned her disagreement with her husband on the issue while noting that Senator McCain "is the guy holding up" any change in the law.
But ABC went further in showing a clip from a Web ad [1]of Cindy McCain asserting that homosexuals in America are treated "like second-class citizens." Anchor Diane Sawyer introduced the clip: "And someone we haven't heard from in a while, Cindy McCain, wife of Senator John McCain, speaking out, disagreeing with her husband who opposes a repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. She condemned the government policy that prevents gays from serving openly in the military."
Then came a clip of Cindy McCain: "Our government treats the LGBT community like second-class citizens."
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Friday, November 12, World News on ABC, followed by the relevant portion of the same day's NBC Nightly News:
#From ABC's World News:
DIANE SAWYER: And someone we haven't heard from in a while, Cindy McCain, wife of Senator John McCain, speaking out, disagreeing with her husband who opposes a repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. She condemned the government policy that prevents gays from serving openly in the military.
CINDY MCCAIN: Our government treats the LGBT community like second-class citizens.
SAWYER: And, by the way, today the Supreme Court ordered that the policy should stand until a federal appeals court rules on the issue.
#From the NBC Nightly News:
CHUCK TODD: Then there's Don't Ask Don't Tell, that law, Brian. The Supreme Court decided today it's not going to intervene in an appeal that would temporarily suspend the law. This puts the issue of gays serving openly in the military back in the hands of the courts unless Congress changes the law. And, Brian, Senator John McCain is the guy holding it up right now here, which, by the way, puts him at odds with his own wife, Cindy McCain, who is arguing to see the law repealed.
- Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center