MRC Alert: ABC’s WNT and CBS EN Tag Team to Barely Cover Obama’s Absence from Paris March

Tuesday, January 13, 2015 at 9:35 AM EST

Tracking Liberal Media Bias Since 1996

1. ABC’s WNT and CBS EN Tag Team to Barely Cover Obama’s Absence from Paris March

On Monday, ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir and the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley did their best to move on from the Obama administration’s decision to not have President Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, or Attorney General Eric Holder attend the march against Islamic terrorism in Paris on Sunday that drew well over one million people. All told, ABC ran only a 42-second segment on the White House’s response to the criticism on Monday and CBS had a news brief. Along with one tease on CBS, their coverage combined for a scant one minute and three seconds.

2. Nets Actually Cover Obama Being ‘Blasted’ for U.S. Absence at Anti-Terror March

On Monday, all three network morning shows surprisingly devoted full reports to President Obama being strongly criticized for not attending – or not at least sending a top official to attend – an anti-terror march in Paris on Sunday. At the top of NBC’s Today, co-host Matt Lauer announced: “While world leaders join millions for a massive anti-terror rally in Paris, the President is under fire for not taking part.” Opening ABC’s Good Morning America, co-host Robin Roberts declared: “As millions take to the streets, President Obama is taking heat for not taking part.” On CBS This Morning, Jeff Glor told viewers: “Secretary of State John Kerry said this morning he will go to France later this week. That announcement follows heavy criticism of President Obama for skipping Sunday’s rally in Paris..”

3. Muslim Journalist Blames Fox News for ‘Unfair Burden on Islam’ to Denounce Terrorism

Ahmed Shihab-Eldin attacked Fox News and others on Monday’s @This Hour on CNN for placing “an unfair burden on Islam,” particularly in the wake of Islamist terrorist attacks. Shihab-Eldin asserted that those calling on Muslims to condemn terrorism are “not aware of Google; or not paying attention; or perhaps, watching too much Fox News, where hosts constantly are…driving this point home – this us versus them…this point home that Muslims aren’t speaking out….I think it’s regrettable, and I think, arguably, bigoted.”

4. Andrea Mitchell Fears France Could ‘Go Too Far’ In Responding To Terrorist Attack

Andrea Mitchell, NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent and host of MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, sat down with Gerard Araud, France’s Ambassador to the United States, on Monday afternoon to discuss the fallout from last week’s terrorist attack on a French satirical newspaper. While the majority of the interview focused on the intelligence risks facing France following the attack, the MSNBC host found time to fret that the country could overreact in fighting terrorism. Mitchell asked Araud “do you fear an anti-Muslim backlash? Do you fear that France could go too far? There are suggestions that this country went too far after 9/11 in some of the security procedures.”

5. Even Liberal Rosie O’Donnell Hits Obama’s Absence from France

Even ardent liberal Rosie O’Donnell on Monday attacked the Obama administration for not sending representatives to the massive anti-terrorism rally in Paris. Yet, Nicolle Wallace, a former John McCain adviser who was supposed to represent conservatism on The View, defended the President. O’Donnell railed, “Couldn’t Joe Biden have been there and wasn’t Eric Holder in Paris?

6. Marco Rubio Schools CBS’s Charlie Rose on Cuba

On Monday’s CBS This Morning, as Florida Senator Marco Rubio denounced President Obama’s decision to reopen diplomatic relations with Cuba, co-host Charlie Rose attempted to push liberal spin on the topic: “But what about the argument that in fact – if in fact Cuba is opened up, it will change? Vietnam changed.” Rubio quickly shot him down: “It did not change politically. Nor has China, for that matter.” Rose continued: “But it changed in terms – it changed to a degree in terms of its economic participation.” Rubio pushed back: “Sure, but my interest is freedom and democracy….And there is no contemporary example of a country with a resistant tyranny that an economic change has opened.”

7. CBS Cheers Gov. Jerry Brown’s Liberal Record As California Governor

On Sunday, CBS News Sunday Morning reporter John Blackstone sat down with Governor Jerry Brown (D-Calif.) for an exclusive interview aimed at promoting the long-time liberal’s political career. The nearly 9 minute interview featured Blackstone heaping praise on the California Democrat while offering no critique of his liberal record in office. Instead, the CBS reporter spun Brown’s tenure as “solid” and “ahead of their time” and suggested that he bring his liberal governing style to Washington to “learn about how political problems have been solved here in California.”