Topic: Media Research Center
We've documented how the Media Research Center went all in on advocating for and defending Larry Elder as the Republican candidate in the California recall election (while probably relieved that it was no longer forced to suppress its natural transphobia in order to defend an early GOP front-runner, Caitlyn Jenner). That continued the day before the Sept. 14 election. Curtis Houck attacked MSNBC's Joy Reid for criticizing Eider:
MSNBC’s The ReidOut host Joy Reid continued the liberal media’s meltdown over the possibility of Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) losing Tuesday’s recall election, warning Friday that Republican candidate Larry Elder would not only bring a far-right vision to California, but he will have exploited recall process with help from “right-wing activists” and “wealthy conservative donors” to infect Californians with deadly bouts of COVID.
Reid opened by bragging about improving polls for Newsom because of what The Los Angeles Times “a referendum on Trumpism,” adding she meant it translated into scaring voters that Elder “would turn the great state of California into another Texas or Florida.”
[...]
She also dismissed disapproval of Newsom in the Golden State as Astroturf, spitting on the face of millions of California by dubbing recall as “nothing more than a Republican power grab organized by right-wing activists and financed by wealthy conservative donors.”
Houck made no effort to disprove anything Reid said.
Meanwhile, Scott Whitlock was praising actress Rose McGowan -- whom the MRC was attacking just a few years ago as among the "wealthy celebrities" who showed "lack of empathy" by calling for new gun regulations after the Las Vegas massacre -- for her endorsement of Elder:
Normally if a movie/TV star endorsed a Democrat and made a blockbuster claim about a prominent Republican, journalists and network outlets would be anxious to repeat and promote the claim. But when actor and activist Rose McGowan endorsed Larry Elder and the recall effort against Gavin Newsom, there was a collective media yawn from ABC, CBS and NBC.
In addition to the endorsement, McGowan also accused Newsom’s wife of being in on the effort to protect convicted sex rapist Harvey Weinstein. Yet there has been no network coverage of her Sunday appearance with Republican Elder. MSNBC on Monday allowed a scant 47 seconds with Hallie Jackson trying to “both sides” the blockbuster claim: “You've got both sides trying to bring out some star power and some last-minute allegations coming from some.”
In other words, Whitlock got mad at MSNBC for doing to McGowan what the MRC had done a few years earlier.
Nicholas Fondacaro ranted: "The Monday night before California’s recall election, two of the broadcast networks were solidly backing embattled Governor Gavin Newsom as they downplayed his COVID hypocrisy and tried to stoke fear of Republican front runner and radio host, Larry Elder."
And that was it for the MRC's electioneering. But when the election results showed decisively supporting Newsom and rejecting the recall, the MRC went into sore-loser mode afterwards. Whitlock whined:
The media on Wednesday are cheering how Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom won his recall election, but that's not at all how some media liberals reacted when it was a Republican Governor, Wisconsin's Scott Walker, who won his recall back in 2012. Then, they grumbled about the defeat of a union-backed attempt to remove the conservative, lamenting all the money spent.
All three networks trumpeted Newsom surviving California’s recall election as a “resounding affirmation” and “vindication” for the Democrat’s policies. CBS Mornings journalist Major Garrett touted the California results: “The Governor told me he'd made mistakes. But now he has something other elected officials don't have: vindication. This recall election in the end was a referendum on his pandemic policies and the result was a blowout.”
Garrett seemed to have no issue with the massive amount of money spent to save the Democrat. He matter-of-factly explained: “Newsom raised about $70 million to fight the recall, roughly six times the total of conservative radio talk show host and GOP front-runner Larry Elder.”
Whitlock served up some whataboutism as well:
This is a quite a contrast to the tantrum thrown by journalists when the people of Wisconsin rejected a recall of Walker. On the June 6, 2012 Nightly News, then-anchor Brian Williams contemptuously lectured that "money flowed into that state from all over the country, from people who had never been to Wisconsin, had no connection to Wisconsin.”
Unlike the lack of concern about money in 2021, Williams warned, “Part of the new and unlimited spending that is changing politics in a hurry.” Then-CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley complained, "The Wisconsin battle also was a preview of how much money is changing politics these days. Donations flooded into the state on both sides. The recall election may have cost more than $75 million, and about half of that came from outside Wisconsin. A lot of it from wealthy individuals."
Wilmouth returned to serve up a different brand of whataboutism, this one of the Fox-fluffing kind:
As the California recall campaign closed, New Dayand other CNN shows ignored news reflecting unfavorably on Democrats while going negative against Republican candidate Larry Elder until the very end.
New Day and other CNN shows completely ignored liberal actress Rose McGowan's endorsement of Elder as she also accused Democratic Governor Newsom's ex-wife of trying to protect Democratic donor Harvey Weinstein from McGowan's charges of sexual assault.
As for the woman who made a racially-charged attack on Elder by throwing an egg at him while wearing a gorilla mask, Erin Burnett OutFront and Early Start were the only two CNN shows to give it any coverage, with Early Start burying it before 6:00 a.m. Kyung Lah even hinted that Elder was to blame for the attack as she asserted that he "draws out some hatred from people."
By contrast. New Day's competitor on Fox News Channel, Fox & Friends, covered both stories. On election day Tuesday, Fox showed a clip of McGowan being interviewed by Fox host Tucker Carlson discussing why a liberal like here would support Elder.
Wilmouth offered no evidence that the egg incident was "racially charged." Instead, he continued to praise Fox News for hyping the "racist egg attack," while complaining that CNN "jump[ed] on Elder for suggesting 'shenanigans' by Democrats might cost him the election, with CNN host Brianna Keilar calling it 'the little big lie' on Monday's show."
Given that no credible evidence has surfaced to back up Elder's pre-emptive claim of voter fraud, it can be argued that CNN was right to point that out. Strangely, Whitlock didn't question why Fox News chose to censor that.
Then again, the MRC knows what side its bread is buttered on. It has been publishing Elder's column since early this year. Elder suspended the column during his campaign, but he returned with two columns on Sept. 29 and Oct. 1 reflecting on his failed campaign -- and the MRC published those without comment.
