Instead of Praising Historic Condi Rice, NBC Warned About Her 'Hard-Right' Turn

[See NewsBusters for more.] All three networks on Friday praised the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first female African American on the Supreme Court, as “history made” and “an inspiration for everybody in this country.” And while all Americans should rightly be proud of another racial barrier falling, liberal journalists were not as excited when Condoleezza Rice became the first female African American Secretary of State. The newly reelected George W. Bush officially nominated Rice on November 16, 2004. On that day’s Today show, not-yet-disgraced host Matt Lauer opened the show not with history, but by fretting: “Rice in the pressure cooker. President Bush is expected to nominate his National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice to replace Colin Powell as Secretary of State.... Does her nomination mean that U.S. foreign policy will take a hard right turn?”