MRC Alert: Amid Scandals and Crises, NBC Does Fawning Interview With ‘Father-in-Chief’ Obama

Friday, June 13, 2014 at 9:05 AM EDT

Tracking Liberal Media Bias Since 1996

1. Amid Scandals and Crises, NBC Does Fawning Interview With ‘Father-in-Chief’ Obama

Despite Al Qaeda being on the rise in Syria and Iraq, numerous unanswered questions remaining about the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner exchange, and the ongoing VA scandal, NBC News decided to send former first daughter and Today show correspondent Jenna Bush Hager to the White House to conduct a softball interview with President Obama on fatherhood. Today co-host Savannah Guthrie teased the pro-Obama fluff at the top of Thursday’s broadcast: “Father-in-chief….In an exclusive interview with Jenna Bush Hager, President Obama gets personal about his own childhood without a father and what it’s like to raise kids in the White House.” http://www.mrc.org/biasalerts/amid-scandals-and-crises-nbc-does-fawning-interview-father-chief-obama

2. ABC Ignores Its Own Journalist Hounding Carney on Obama’s ‘Accomplishments’ in Iraq

Thursday’s World News on ABC led with the rapid advance of an Islamist group into the heart of Iraq, but glossed over how correspondent Jonathan Karl grilled outgoing White House Press Secretary Jay Carney over how this development casts doubt on two of President Obama’s supposed “top foreign policy accomplishments: ending the war in Iraq and decimating and destroying core al-Qaeda.” Terry Moran noted how “President Obama today, resisting pleas from the Iraqi government for immediate U.S. air strikes to turn the tide, tread cautiously.” Martha Raddatz later underlined that “Obama said himself today that these fighters could end up being a significant threat to our homeland.” But neither journalist mentioned how their colleague sparred with Carney about the President’s past boasts about Iraq and al Qaeda. http://www.mrc.org/biasalerts/abc-ignores-its-own-journalist-hounding-carney-obamas-accomplishments-iraq

3. Networks Dance Around Mentioning President Obama When Discussing Increased Iraq Violence

Al Qaeda militants have seized control of two cities in Northern Iraq, including Mosul the nations second largest and Tikrit, the hometown of Sadaam Hussein. Despite the increased violence, all three network morning shows did their best to downplay or ignore the Obama Administrations Iraq policy for potentially contributing to the violence. On Thursday, June 12, ABC, CBS, and NBC all provided extensive coverage on the latest violence on and the danger of the radical Jihadists taking over parts of Iraq but the networks downplayed President Obamas decision to quickly withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. The only reference to was to fret that the administration was unclear whether or not to send in military support, http://www.mrc.org/biasalerts/networks-dance-around-mentioning-president-obama-when-discussing-increased-iraq-violence

4. Even Jimmy Fallon is Taking Jabs at Obama Now

With his approval ratings dropping and numerous scandals swirling around him it could be argued that America is going through Obama Fatigue right now. And maybe the President himself is getting tired of it all too. Or at least thats what Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon noticed when he took a jab at Obama on Wednesday night. http://www.mrc.org/biasalerts/even-jimmy-fallon-taking-jabs-obama-now