While MSNBC was decrying President Biden for not mentioning January 6 in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, CBS’s post-speech coverage featured something of a debate over whether or not Biden should have or needed to mention the Capitol riot at all.
CBS congressional correspondent Scott McFarland, CBS’s CBS journalist was the first to speak out about the January 6th talk. He seemed to suggest that this should have been an issue Biden had touched upon:
Another note: Norah mentioned that the panel made no mention of January 6, even though Merrick Garland (the attorney general) was sitting close to the front. He is responsible for prosecuting January 6rioters. Even as President Biden entered those doors, furniture blocking was in place for January 6 2021, to stop the mob from breaking into their homes.
“Scott McFarland, important to have your perspective from inside the chamber and your reporting that’s been centered around January 6,” CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell said in thanking him.
But CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King decided to chime in to wonder, “Is that so surprising though, guys, that he wouldn’t mention January 6?” She then seemed to warn if he did talk about the riot, then he’d need to mention former President Donald Trump:
You can’t mention January 6 and not go into ex-President Donald Trump territory, I think. He wants unity. When he said something disparaging about Donald Trump, there were noticeable boos. Is it any surprise that he avoided January 6,?
“I mean, not given what he needed to do. The President’s approval ratings are in the tank,” argued O’Donnell in agreement. “He’s facing a midterm election where his party is facing big losses, he needed to go for the middle big time, and I think he was doing that tonight.”
Then came an eyebrow-raising moment from John Dickerson where he seemed to tacitly admit that the media still needed their marching orders on how to spin the address, saying, “we’ll see what gets extruded into the public through the news system. Because who knows what people are going to pick up out of this once it gets through.”
Although, he did seem uninspired by the speech (much like NBC) when he said he was “not sure” he “heard anything in this speech that immediately goes and changes the conversation. That’s a tall order but I’m not sure I heard it.”
Nancy Cordes, chief White House correspondent, highlighted the ongoing debate in the Democratic Party over how to address the issue heading into the midterms.
The party is split on how much time it should be spending January 6. There’s one faction that says, “look, this was an attack on democracy itself. We have to get to the bottom of who started it, how it happened, so we can prevent it from happening again.” But then there’s another section of the Democratic Party that says, “you know what, we have to be forward-looking, we got to be putting forth a positive agenda if we want to win votes in November. We can’t spend that much time focusing on the past.”
Judging by how CBS and MSNBC had different takes when it came to wanting the President to talk about it, it’s perhaps also a debate within newsrooms and media outlets. So, they’re just like the Democrats in yet another way. They should be more critical of Biden, and not just his Afghanistan disaster.
CBS’s debate about id January 6 should have been mentioned in the State of the Union was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Xfinity.
Below is the transcript. Click “expand to read:
CBS State of the Union
March 1, 2022
Eastern, 10:19.33NORAH O’DONNELL: I want to bringing in congressional correspondent Scott McFarland. He’s inside the House chamber. Scott knows that the agenda of President Trump has been seriously impeded by Senator Manchin, and Senator Sinema. We want to hear about your interactions with them tonight.
SCOTT McFARLAND: Senator Manchin was sitting amongst the Republicans, next to senator Susan Collins. When he stood for Democrats-only applause, he was alone on an island.
This just feels so much different than previous years. The members of Congress were not accompanied by guests at the top levels. The members of Congress were actually spread throughout the higher levels. There was much less noise and energy in the upper levels, which meant there wasn’t as much revelry, despite strong applause. This year, there is a new feel to the chamber. The COVID restrictions are still hanging over it even though they have been removed.
Another note: Norah mentioned that the panel made no mention of January 6, even though Merrick Garland (the attorney general) was sitting close to the front. He is responsible for prosecuting January 6rioters. Even as President Biden entered those doors, furniture blocking was in place for January 6 2021, to stop the mob from breaking into their homes.
O’DONNELL: Scott McFarland, important to have your perspective from inside the chamber and your reporting that’s been centered around January 6. I am grateful.
GAYLE King: What is it that makes him so surprised, guys? Why wouldn’t he mention January 6th? You can’t mention January 6 without getting into territory of former President Donald Trump. He wants unity. There were noticeable boos from the crowd when he spoke about Donald Trump, which was rare. Is it any surprise that he avoided January 6,?
O’DONNELL: I mean, not given what he needed to do. O’DONNELL: The president is in the tank.
KING: Yeah.
O’DONNELL: He’s facing a midterm election where his party is facing big losses, he needed to go for the middle big time, and I think he was doing that tonight.
JOHN DICKERSON (Yes) And we’ll see what gets extruded into the public through the news system. It’s hard to predict what the public will take away from it once it is out there. Most of what we know is that the Unions are being monitored by the president and it will be watched again to determine what remains. And I’m not sure I heard anything in this speech that immediately goes and changes the conversation. It’s quite a task, but it’s not something I can recall hearing.
NANCY CORRDES: There is a split in the party over how much time they should spend January 6. There’s one faction that says, “look, this was an attack on democracy itself. We have to get to the bottom of who started it, how it happened, so we can prevent it from happening again.” But then there’s another section of the Democratic Party that says, “you know what, we have to be forward-looking, we got to be putting forth a positive agenda if we want to win votes in November. We can’t spend that much time focusing on the past.”
(…)
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