Ignoring a Black Conservative: ABC, NBC Skip Sen. Scott’s Police Reform Bill

Nicholas Fondacaro | June 17, 2020
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***To read the full blog, please check out the complete post on NewsBusters***

After previously boasting about Democratic Party pandering (kneeling while wearing marks of the slave trade) and decrying President Trump’s executive order on police reforms, ABC’s World News Tonight and NBC Nightly News completely ignored the Senate GOP’s Justice Act, a package of police reforms authored by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). And while CBS Evening News did mention the bill, they only spent 22 seconds on it. Thus, all of them failed to mention Senator Dick Durban’s (D-IL) racist sniping at Scott.

Instead of dedicating airtime to Scott’s reform bill, ABC and NBC each spent plenty of airtime gushing about John Bolton’s new anti-Trump book. ABC gave it five minutes and 31 seconds over the course two segments, while NBC allotted one segment at two minutes and 14 seconds. CBS also had two segments totaling four minutes and 25 seconds. One of those segments wondered if new impeachment charges would be filed against the President.

CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell couldn’t get through mentioning Scott’s Justice Act fast enough:

Today, Senate Republicans unveiled a police reform bill that would discourage but not ban tactics like chokeholds and no-knock warrants. Democrats have a competing version in the House. Now, the new plan comes a day after President Trump issued an executive order on police reform that critics say doesn't address larger concerns about racial bias in policing.

She glossed over what was in the bill and failed to mention what the name was, who wrote it, and completely ignored Durban’s racially charged assertion that the bill was a “token” and “half-hearted.” Plus, the way she wrapped up the news brief made it seem as though Scott’s bill was an attempt to make up for Trump’s executive order.

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