By Jorge Bonilla
The Regime Media kicked off their respective evening newscasts by hyping the upcoming presidential debates, which were just agreed to by President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. But ABC News, aggressively Biden-servile and an announced debate host, chose to disinform the public by insisting on casting Biden as the one who challenged Trump to a debate, when the record reflects the exact opposite.
Watch as ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir, who will co-moderate the September 10th debate with Lindsey Davis, falsely depicts Biden as the aggressor before throwing over to Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce, who promptly does the same:
DAVID MUIR: Early today, president Biden issuing the challenge. Trump, who refused to debate his primary opponents, saying yes. And within hours, two debates were set, one in June, the other in September, right here on ABC. Our Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce leading us off at the White House tonight.
MARY BRUCE: Tonight, in a true campaign surprise, President Biden and Donald Trump agreeing to two one-on-one debates, the first just a few weeks from now, at the end of June, the earliest general election showdown in American history. Trump has been pushing for debates for months.
DONALD TRUMP: I’m trying to get him to debate.
BRUCE: This morning, Biden with this surprise challenge.
JOE BIDEN: Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate. Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal. I’ll even do it twice.
BRUCE: Biden then taunting Trump, referencing the one day a week that he’s not tied up in court.
BIDEN: So let’s pick the dates, Donald. I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.
Note the sleight-of-word here: Right after Biden is said to have issued the challenge, Trump is depicted as “pushing for debates for months.” Biden is then again presented as the challenger.
Why insist on pushing such a blatant and easily refutable falsehood? Because it is the only way to cast Biden in a favorable light, as opposed to reporting that the incumbent President of the United States responded to his challenger after months of baiting.
CBS’s Nancy Cordes took a less obvious but similar approach on the CBS Evening News:
NANCY CORDES: President Biden threw down the gauntlet at 8:00 A.M. Eastern, in a video posted online.
On the other hand, Cordes is more transparent about Biden doing the debate as a way to inject life into his flagging campaign:
CORDES: So why are these two debating in June, more than four months before the election? Well, the campaigns say it’s because so many people now vote early, but the Trump team is also looking for a way to turn the page after his criminal trial ends, while Biden, who is trailing in many polls, could use a strong head-to-head performance to remind voters why they went for him over Trump in 2020.
NBC Nightly News was easily the most transparent of the three major networks:
PETER ALEXANDER: Tonight the stage is set for the first TV confrontation between President Biden and former President Trump in more than three years. The agreement punctuating a dizzying day of deal-making. The president posting this video responding to weeks of pressure from Mr. Trump for a debate.
…
Both sides bypassing the Commission on Presidential Debates’ proposal for three fall showdowns. President Biden’s decision comes after former President Trump repeatedly challenged him to debate.
DONALD TRUMP: You can see, we have an empty podium right here to my right. You know what that is? That’s for Joe Biden. I’m trying to get him to debate.
The clear and unequivocal truth is that Trump forced the issue on debate, and Biden accepted his challenge. Reporting the truth would not have changed much in the way of ABC’s report (and, to a lesser extent, CBS). But ABC insisted on casting Biden in the most favorable light, even at the expense of the truth.
If this is how ABC reports the debate announcement, how will they actually moderate the debate?
Editor’s note. This appeared at Newsbusters and reposted with permission.