NBC News Asks the Hard-Hitting Questions About Hillary
“What’s she like as a grandmother? I mean, paint us a picture of Hillary Clinton at home, hanging out, talking baby talk....You say she sings. Does she have a good voice?”
— NBC’s Savannah Guthrie to Chelsea Clinton, September 15 Today.
Softballs to Hillary on E-Mails: “You’ve Been Transparent”
“You talked a lot about transparency, that, when you think about trust, there’s been a lot of talk about that in your campaign and voters having questions, they have questions. Maybe related to this, trust and transparency are related, you’ve been transparent in the release of these e-mails, but what about before? Because there was a period where you held on to the whole kit and caboodle before any investigators were asking for it long after you were out of the State Department.”
— CBS’s Face the Nation anchor John Dickerson to Hillary Clinton, September 20.
Rooting for “Remarkable” Bernie’s Socialist Boom
“Eight years ago, Barack Obama offered a message of hope and change, presenting himself as a leader from a new generation. This time around, Democratic imaginations and hearts are fired up by a white-haired 74-year-old socialist who is riding a populist surge.”
— AP’s Catherine Luce on September 21.
“You’ve been preparing for this your whole life in some ways....You’ve turned out these big crowds. You inspired 200,000 volunteers. You moved people....It is a remarkable thing, as a liberal, to see the success you’re having, the resonance that your message is having and I don’t know what’s going to happen in the campaign long term, but good luck to you, sir.”
— MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow to Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders on The Rachel Maddow Show, September 17.
“There’s no question that Bernie Sanders is talking to a progressive wing of the party. I don’t know, maybe there will be a socialist wing of the Democratic Party out of this.”
— Longtime ABC, CBS and CNN political correspondent Jeff Greenfield on the September 10 edition of The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC.
Effort to Defund Planned Parenthood Leads to Violence
“Today, the group released a statement saying, ‘due to the recent campaigns of false attacks against Planned Parenthood, we have increased security measures over the last couple of months.’...Law enforcement sources say there is concern the debate in Congress could fuel frustrations and lead to more crimes and so could the release of more videos.”
— CBS Evening News reporter Weijia Jiang, September 19.
It’s “Offensive” to Say Planned Parenthood Sold Baby Parts
“She played real fast and loose, though, with the facts around Planned Parenthood and I think she really is overreaching in the criticism she’s making of an organization that millions of women in this country have gotten services from. And to imply that they are selling and harvesting and selling baby parts — that doesn’t bear out with the facts and I think it’s really offensive.”
— The Daily Beast’s Eleanor Clift on the syndicated McLaughlin Group, talking about Carly Fiorina’s performance at the Republican debate, September 19.
“Planned Parenthood denies any wrongdoing, and the videos show no evidence of it.”
— NPR correspondent Jennifer Ludden on All Things Considered, September 9.
Trump Fails Pelley’s Test
“We were with you in New Hampshire when that man stood up...And said, ‘we have a problem in this country and it’s Muslims.’ You let that pass, and I wonder what that tells us about you?...It was a testing moment for a man running for President.”
— CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley to Donald Trump, September 22.
Llamas Loves Hillary’s Impersonation of “Infamous” Trump
ABC’s Tom Llamas: 
“Trump’s tough stance on immigration making him popular and infamous at the same time here....His words providing ammunition and even entertainment value to Hillary Clinton.”
Hillary Clinton: “You know, I kind of wish I had that same sort of mentality like, ‘Oh, listen, I don’t need to tell you anything. When I get there, peace will be breaking out everywhere. Prosperity will be raining down upon you. We will have the new age!’”
Llamas: “Not a bad impersonation.”
— ABC's Good Morning America, September 15.
Conservative Bigots Strike Again!
“If you have an irrational hatred of President Obama and you think he’s an illegal immigrant or whatever, if you are an Islamophobe...the Republican Party makes a home for you.”
— Washington Post columnist and MSNBC analyst Eugene Robinson on the September 21 Hardball.
NBC Mocks the GOP’s “Real Housewives” Debate
NBC’s Tamron Hall: “A friend of mine said it was like The Real Housewives with Andy Cohen, because they were just pitted against each other.”...
NBC’s Natalie Morales: “Yeah, came off a little high school. A lot of that, you know, the back and forth. And just the jabs were constant. It was more about who had the best jab rather than who had the best, you know, content in their answer.”
— Discussing the GOP presidential debate on Today, September 17.
Chris Matthews: “Apocalyptic” Rubio Still Fighting Cold War
“You know, Gene Robinson, I know you remember this certainly better than I do, but I — when these guys talk, Rubio talks, a Cuban-American, and Cruz talks, a Cuban-American, I swear they still are fighting a Cold War. They talk about apocalyptic terms. They use terms like existential. They talk about ICBMs hitting this country. They are — they are trapped in a mindset that began in the 1950s and to these guys, it never left them. I don’t know — they treat Obama like he’s Castro. I don’t get it. I don’t know — I guess I do get it. The only guy that stood up to them tonight was Kasich.”
— MSNBC’s anchor Chris Matthews during a live, post-debate edition of Hardball, September 16.
Carly Fiorina Is Just as Neanderthal as the Men
“Fiorina says if she’s the nominee, Hillary Clinton won’t be able to play what she calls the gender card, but on so many so-called women’s issues, Scott, from Planned Parenthood to paid maternity leave, Fiorina’s views are identical to the men she shared the stage with last night.”
— CBS correspondent Nancy Cordes on the September 17 CBS Evening News.
“She has the nerve to use the term women’s suffrage when she’s against Planned Parenthood and women’s maternity leave. She’s against ObamaCare. She’s anti-choice. She uses the term women’s suffrage. She should be ashamed of herself. It’s not your face, honey, it’s your policy.”
— The View co-host Joy Behar objecting to a super PAC commercial on behalf of GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, September 15 on ABC.
The Gospel According to Whoopi
“There’s nothing in the Book that says anything about abortion. Let’s make sure of that. The Ten Commandments are the Ten Commandments. There’s only ten. Only ten.”
— The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg, discussing the Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion, September 22.
Exploiting the Reagans to Push a Liberal Agenda
“Do you think there’s any part of her [Nancy Reagan] who thinks, you know, she’s obviously a Republican through and through, but is there any part of her that looks across the aisle and thinks, you know, although she’d prefer a Republican to be in the White House, there’d be some satisfaction for her in seeing Hillary Clinton — just to have a woman in the Oval Office finally?”
— Bloomberg’s John Heilemann to Reagan Library Director John Heubusch, on With All Due Respect before the debate, September 16.
“Reagan’s message was infused with sunny optimism, the flip side of today’s angry rhetoric....And Reagan compromised with Democrats on taxes and immigration. So, while today’s candidates talk about building walls....Reagan enacted immigration reform....Reagan saw America as a shining city on the hill. A country welcoming people in, not shutting them out.”
— Andrea Mitchell previewing the Republican presidential debate on NBC Nightly News, September 16.
Late Night Fawns Over “Incredible” Dems
“The two leaders over there on the Republican Party, one is a real estate mogul....The other guy is a neurosurgeon....You were a Senator, you were First Lady, Secretary of State. Is it possible that you have too much experience to become the President of the United States?”
— Jimmy Fallon to Hillary Clinton on NBC’s The Tonight Show, September 16.
Vice President Joe Biden: “My mom used to say, ‘remember, nobody is better than you, but you’re better than nobody. Everybody’s equal.’ My mother really pounded it into our heads.”
Host Stephen Colbert: “You know, there’s another person who said that and that’s Thomas Jefferson and this is why I think people want you to run for President. And I know that’s an emotional decision you have to make, but it’s going to be emotional for a lot of people if you don’t run. And sir, I just want to say that I think that your experience and your example of suffering and service is something that would be sorely missed in the race.”
— CBS’s Late Show, September 10.
“Incredible. She has launched a one-woman crusade against the billionaire class. She’s like Batman, but her enemy is Bruce Wayne....The first time I met you, you were not a Senator. Now you are a Senator. And not only are you a Senator, you’re one of the household names in American politics.”
— Stephen Colbert to Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, September 23 CBS’s Late Show.
Forget ISIS, Climate Change Is Civilization’s Real “Crisis”
“I felt hopeless for a long time watching a government that’s paralyzed by denialism on the right, about what I think of as the biggest crisis that our society and our global civilization faces.”
— Avatar and Titanic director James Cameron discussing global warming with MSNBC’s All In anchor Chris Hayes, September 15.
Whoopi to GOP: “Get Out of My Vagina”
“Now that they defunded Planned Parenthood, now that you’ve defunded it, and perhaps forgotten why Planned Parenthood came into being, which was, people got tired of tripping over women with hangers hanging out of their bodies, because they were giving themselves these abortions. It was supposed to be safe and clean. So explain to me now what you’re going to do, because if you think this is going to stop women from doing it, it’s not. People who are desperate enough to go and get an abortion, there’s a reason they need it. They feel they need it. And it’s, it’s, get out of my vagina!”
— Co-host Whoopi Goldberg on ABC’s The View, September 21.
PUBLISHER: L. Brent Bozell III
EDITORS: Brent H. Baker, Rich Noyes, Tim Graham
DEPUTY RESEARCH DIRECTOR: Geoffrey Dickens
RESEARCH ANALYST: Mike Ciandella
NEWS ANALYSTS: Scott Whitlock, Kyle Drennen, Matthew Balan, Jeffrey Meyer and Curtis Houck