ABC's Jake Tapper on Thursday night scolded Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for a 'gaffe' over his assertion that 'corporations are people' since 'everything corporations earn ultimately goes to the people.'
That common sense observation came in reaction to a bunch of hecklers, from a left-wing activist group, who confronted Romney in Iowa, yet neither ABC or CBS acknowledged their agenda. The CBS Evening News, in fact, put 'Voter Anger' on screen over one of the screaming leftists as anchor Scott Pelley declared 'voters are angry about the economy.'
(On FNC's Special Report, Carl Cameron noted Romney was 'badgered, at the state fair, by a Democratic group, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement [1]...' Even NBC's Chuck Todd, on the NBC Nightly News, reported Romney was 'challenged on taxes by a group of Democratic activists.')
Previewing the then-upcoming GOP debate in Ames, Iowa, ABC's Tapper asserted: 'Romney's detractors call him insincere and note his propensity to gaffe as happened today when he said corporations are people.'
CBS teased its newscast with a clip of Romney saying 'corporations are people, my friend,' before Pelley painted the hecklers as average citizens: 'Voters are angry about the economy. Norah O'Donnell is with the Republican candidates as they get an earful in Iowa.'
A Des Moines Register blog post, 'Activist group vows to heckle others the way it did Romney [2],' identified the man CBS's opening teaser showcased as a typical voter:
The main heckler was Joe Fagan, 71, of Des Moines, who is a former Catholic priest and a retired activist for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. Asked if he'd gone to the fair intending to aggressively question Romney, Fagan replied: 'You're damn right I went out there to do that.'
Fagan said both political parties are engaging in 'garbage talk' about Social Security and Medicare cuts, which he said would add terrible burdens on middle-class and lower-class Americans. He made no apologies for the angry edge to his questions. 'You know what? The tone of what they're talking about doing is more important than the tone of my voice.'
O'Donnell subsequently failed to identify the agenda: 'At the Iowa State Fair today, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney faced a feisty crowd, including some hecklers. He was asked how he would save Social Security and Medicare and if wealthy Americans or corporations should pay more taxes.'
