The liberal Big Three networks finally found a use for President-elect Donald Trump, and it’s to smear Republican members of Congress. The same networks who blacked-out unethical Democrats were up in arms Tuesday after the House GOP attempted to reform the Office of Congressional Ethics, but after it’s retraction they credited the president-elect. “The best-laid plans of Republicans armed with a head of steam and an ambitious to-do list went off the rails this opening day of the new Congress after a tweet from Donald Trump,” announced Anchor Lester Holt on NBC Nightly News.
“Trump calling out some of his fellow Republicans after they quietly voted last night to strip power from the Office of Congressional Ethics,” Holt continued to praise, “The president-elect tweet sent GOP lawmakers in full retreat and damage repair mode today.”
During her report, NBC’s Kasie Hunt took the time to mock Congressional Republicans claiming the first day of total GOP control, “Was an embarrassing start, dawning with these headlines directly at odds with Trump’s drain the swamp campaign promise.” “The independent bipartisan watchdog was created in 2008 after a series of scandals sent Republicans like Jack Abramoff and Congressman Bob Ney to jail for fraud and bribery,” she continued, insinuating Republicans go hand-in-hand with impropriety.
The insinuation that the GOP’s actions were to allow themselves to act unethically was a common theme on ABC’s World News Tonight as well, with correspondent Mary Bruce reporting:
Tonight, Donald Trump urging Republicans to fall in line with his campaign promise to change Washington. But late last night, behind closed doors, more of the same. House Republicans gutting the office of congressional ethics; created to ensure they play by the rules… Nancy Pelosi tweeting: "So much for draining the swamp."
All three liberal networks credited Trump for the reversal of the plan, CBS’s Nancy Cordes noted, “The final straw came in the form of a social media scolding from President-elect Donald Trump … That prompted an emergency meeting and an about-face.” All three also played down, or flat out did not report, that in Trump’s tweets he did mention that the Office Congressional Ethics was “unfair.”
CBS came the closest to reporting that fact, stating, “Republicans say they still intend to reform the office, which currently has the power to investigate anonymous complaints that can turn out to be baseless.”
The Big Three networks performed an about-face of their own Tuesday in regards to Trump’s use of Twitter. There were many instances before and after the election where reporters would chide or pooh-pooh Trump’s use of the social media platform, especially when it came to foreign policy. But since Trump’s latest tweets involved their favorite target to smear, it appears they made an exception to their outrage.