At the top of the 8 a.m. ET hour of NBC's Today on Monday, fill-in news anchor Tamron Hall promoted a fake campaign attack ad created by comedian Stephen Colbert which argues that if Mitt Romney believes corporations are people, "Then Mitt Romney is a serial killer. He's Mitt the Ripper." The ad follows with a woman screaming. [Audio available here [1]]
Hall explained to viewers: "Colbert is using his fake bid for the White House to call attention to unlimited spending by anonymous super-PACs." After the news brief, fill-in co-host Natalie Morales declared: "I love Colbert. What he gets away with." Weatherman Al Roker joked: "He's a great American." Co-host Savannah Guthrie argued: "...it's only slightly more over the top than some of the ads we've seen."
Here is a transcript of the January 16 news brief:
8:05AM ET
TAMRON HALL: And this political attack ad spoof by Stephen Colbert's super-PAC is a top search on Google
JOHN LITHGOW: If Mitt Romney really believes...
MITT ROMNEY: Corporations are people, my friend.
LITHGOW: Then Mitt Romney is a serial killer. He's Mitt the Ripper.
[WOMAN SCREAMING]
HALL: Colbert is using his fake bid for the White House to call attention to unlimited spending by anonymous super-PACs. It is now 8:05. Back to Savannah, Natalie and Al.
NATALIE MORALES: I love Colbert.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: I know.
MORALES: What he gets away with.
AL ROKER: He's a great American.
GUTHRIE: I was going to say, it's only slightly more over the top than some of the ads we've seen.
MORALES: Exactly.
- Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. Click here [2] to follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.