During NBC’s Nightly News program on Monday the network ran not one but two reports on Donald Trump’s actions following the terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida. Both reports were about Trump’s attacks on President Obama and Hillary Clinton. In addition, they both chastised Trump for what he had tweeted following recent terrorist attacks. But while they were focused on Trump they ignoring Clinton’s major flip-flop on using the phrase “radical Islam.”
The first report was by NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, a known Clinton fan. “Trump also challenged by Guthrie for tweeting on the day of the shooting,” reported Mitchell on Savannah Guthrie’s interview with Trump, “He was being congratulated for being right on terrorism.” Mitchell then tried to rebuke Trump, “But NBC found only four tweets congratulating him, not tens of thousands.”
In NBC’s Katy Tur’s separate report she took a jabs at the presumptive GOP nominee. “Trump messaging today, the same as it was after the terror in San Bernardino, Paris, and Brussels. One rush to tweet self-congratulations,” she said with disgust, “The tweets often coming before offering condolences.”
The network’s competitors, ABC and CBS, on the other hand didn’t spend time on Trump’s tweets at all. They chose instead to report on the major flip-flop made by Clinton. “Clinton has long argued that using the term radical Islam also plays into terrorists’ hands, but in interviews today under pressure from Trump, she changed course,” reported CBS’s Nancy Cordes.
ABC’s Tom Llamas reported how Trump used to hit her for not being able to use the phrase, “Trump portraying Clinton as so scared, she won't even utter the phrase radical Islam.” Llamas continued, “But today, Clinton did say those words.”
CLINTON: Whether you call it radical jihadism, radical Islamism, I think they mean the same thing. I'm happy to say either.