A recent report highlighted the stark bias in coverage from legacy media outlets ABC, CBS, and NBC regarding pardons issued by President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden. The three mainstream media news networks reportedly spent 12 times as much news coverage on the Trump January 6 Pardons, compared to the sweeping preemptive pardons issue by Biden in the final hours of his presidency.
The Media Research Center launched a study of the reporting on the pardons from ABC, CBS, and NBC between Inauguration Day on January 20 and January 22. The organization concluded that the networks spent over 46 minutes covering the Trump pardons, while just over three minutes reporting on Biden’s grant of preemptive clemency.
More specifically, ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “World News Tonight” allocated 15 minutes and 30 seconds to the Trump pardons compared to just 34 seconds for Biden’s. Likewise, “CBS Mornings” and “CBS Evening News” spent 16 minutes and 32 seconds discussing Trump’s pardons compared to only 64 seconds on Biden’s. Moreover, NBC’s “Today” and “Nightly News” dedicated 14 minutes and 30 seconds to Trump and less than two minutes to Biden.
The American Tribune recently reported on how President Trump flipped the script on a reporter who tried to press him on the January 6 pardons. While signing executive orders in the Oval Office, he was asked, “Mr. President, are you commuting the sentences of anyone who assaulted a police officer on January 6?” Trump instantly turned the tables.
“Well, we’re looking at two police officers, actually, that Washington police officer who went after an illegal and things happened, and they ended up putting them in jail. They got five-year jail sentences, you know the case,” he said. “We’re looking at that in order to give them a … we’ve got to give them a break.” Trump confirmed that he would pardon the officers in question. The reporter then asked if there should be legal consequences for anyone who assaulted a police officer on January 6. Trump replied, “Well, I will say this, they’ve been in jail for a long time already.”
He continued, “I see murderers in this country get two years, one year, and maybe no time. So they’ve already been in jail for a long time. These people have been destroyed. What they’ve done to these people is outrageous. There’s rarely been anything like it in history, in the history of our country, and even people that were aggressive, and in many cases, I believe they happen to be outside agitators.”
Speaking about his last-minute pardons to the J6 Committee, Biden said, “On January 6, 2021, American democracy was tested when a mob of insurrectionists attacked the Capitol in an attempt to overturn a fair and free election by force and violence. In light of the significance of that day, Congress established the bipartisan Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol to investigate and report upon the facts, circumstances, and causes of the insurrection. The Select Committee fulfilled this mission with integrity and a commitment to discovering the truth.”
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Watch Trump address the J6 pardons below: