All three network morning shows on Monday promoted President Obama's
attempts to deflect tough questions on a several administration scandals
during a pre-Super Bowl interview with Fox News host Bill O'Reilly on
Sunday. On NBC's Today, news reader Natalie Morales described
how during the "sometimes contentious interview" the President "said he
tries to focus not on the fumbles, but on the next plan." [Listen to the audio [1]]
ABC's news reader Josh Elliott touted the same line on Good Morning America: "The President said he tries not to focus on the fumbles in his administration, but rather, on the next plan."
On CBS This Morning,
correspondent Bill Plante proclaimed: "The ten minute interview was
combative and it highlighted the administration's shortcomings.
President Obama's signature achievement, the new health care law, came
under fire first." In the clip that followed, O'Reilly asked Obama if
that supposed "signature achievement" was "the biggest mistake of your
presidency."
Both NBC and CBS also made sure to promote the President lashing out at Fox News [2] over its sustained coverage of the administration's handling of the Benghazi terrorist attack and IRS scandal. On Today,
Morales declared: "The President said some people think he sought to
downplay the Benghazi attacks because Fox has been telling them that."
Plante noted how Obama "told O'Reilly that these were all settled issues
and he accused Fox News of keeping them alive."
While CBS actually offered a full report on the interview featuring
long clips of O'Reilly grilling Obama, ABC and NBC could only manage
thirty-five and forty-one seconds respectively on the topic. Good Morning America gave two minutes to an interview with Miley Cyrus and Today spent over four minutes recapping the top Super Bowl commercials.
— Kyle Drennen is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter. [3]