The official excuse from ABC News is that a decision was made to edit out 10 words spoken by Michelle Obama “solely for time.” This excuse is of course absolutely ridiculous, and the chummy photo above of ABC “reporter” Robin Roberts hugging The State is a much better explanation as to why ABC News chose to protect the First lady from what was likely a gaffe and what would have been a story for the network.
Yesterday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” the First Lady said the following to Robin Roberts:
She was standing out in a park with her friends in a neighborhood blocks away from where my kids grow – grew – up, where our house is. She had just taken a chemistry test. And she was caught in the line of fire because some kids had some automatic weapons they didn’t need. I just don’t want to keep disappointing our kids in this country. I want them to know that we put them first.
What I’ve bolded, though, was edited out of the actual broadcast. No one heard Ms. Obama claim — probably incorrectly — that Hadiya Pendleton was gunned down by “automatic weapons.”
But because ABC News has nothing to fear from the rest of the media, it can play, “Huh? Who us?” all the live-long day.
Are we really supposed to believe that ABC News chose to give up what would be an attention-getting story in the interest of “time?” The First Lady of the United States claiming automatic weapons were used in the murder of Hadiya Pendleton is news.
It’s just a fact that no one knows what kind of weapon was used. Furthermore, no one really believes the weapon was an automatic.
Either the First Lady making a gaffe or — and this is what I believe — purposefully spreading falsehoods to exploit the awful death of a 15-year-old girl. Nothing in Barack Obama’s gun control proposals touch the likely weapon used in this terrible crime — a revolver or semi-automatic hand gun. But if the First Lady can manufacture a connection (knowing the media will never hold her accountable), it only helps her husband’s gun-grabbing cause.
And so what we have here is a major news organization protecting the First Lady from herself — choosing to forgo a pretty good story to protect her from criticism and ridicule. What we have here is both Michelle Obama and ABC News caught in brazen falsehoods.
I’m thrilled Robin Roberts is healthy enough to be back at work, which, unfortunately, is as a toadie for The State.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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