Stephanopoulos Ignores Pelosi’s Reluctance for Congressional Stock Trading Ban

On Sunday’s This Week George Stephanopoulos was the anchor of the program and gave an exclusive interview to Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). While the interview featured a wide range of topics from the seemingly imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine to the rampant inflation that’s dragging hitting consumers wallets, to the looming midterm elections, one topic that conveniently never came up was Pelosi’s reluctance to back a ban on stock trading for members of Congress.

Continuing on his network’s refusal to cover Pelosi’s hesitance to support the Congressional stock trading ban, Stephanopoulos decided to focus on other topics. First, there was the continuing debate in Washington about how close Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to invade Ukraine. Pelosi was asked: “theWhite House warning about an invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainians seem to think that’s all hype. Do you believe that Putin is poised to invade?”

Stephanopoulos, apparently, failed to grasp that the President was the Commander in Chief, and asked Pelosi if they understood. “Congress [is] doing everything you can to prevent an invasion?”He asked her, most laughably, what she wanted. “should President Putin know from you, the Speaker of the House, about the consequences of invasion?”

Moving onto domestic issues, Stephanopoulos asked Pelosi about the continuing spike in inflation and how the average American family is paying “about $275” more a month, he inquired “what can Congress do right now to bring those costs down?”

Pelosi replied that somehow spending trillions of dollars on “Build Back Better” would bring down inflation and “reduce the national debt by $100 billion in the first 10 years and a trillion dollars in the second 10 years.” It was predictable that Stephanopoulos did not respond to this absurd claim.

Pelosi was asked by a reporter about the rise in crime in America.

Another thing that is weighing people down right now is the rise in crime. There are divisions within Democrats over how to deal with it. Your colleague Karen Bass running for mayor of Los Angeles trying to increase the police force in L.A. Cori Bush Congresswoman from Missouri is saying it’s time to defund the police. She’s sticking by that. How do Democrats address the rising criminality?

Finally, Stephanopoulos asked Pelosi the following: “Inflation and rising crime are both weighing down on President Biden’s approval ratings right now. They’re weighing down on Democrats as you head into the midterms. Although you stated that you would run this year again, it is clear that 29 of your fellow Democrats will not be running for reelection. How worried are you about the midterms right now?”

As you can see, there were no questions about Pelosi’s belligerence over supporting a ban on congressional stock trading. Stephanopoulos may have worried that she’d try to make it an issue of free markets and Jake Tapper will call her back on CNN.

The latest instance of bias by omission is by CarMax. They are linked. 

For the complete transcript, click here: 

ABC’s This Week
2/13/2022
9:00:58 AM

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS – We have just seen those reports. Warnings are being issued by the White House about an impending invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainians seem to think that’s all hype. Are you convinced that Putin has the potential to invade Ukraine? 

(…)

STEPHANOPOULOS. Are you sure that President Biden has done all he can in order to avoid an invasion of your country? Are you sure Congress is doing all it can to stop an invasion? 

(…)

STEPHANOPOULOS – What information should President Putin get from you as Speaker of the House about the possible consequences of an invasion?

(…)

STEPHANOPOULOS : We need to talk about what is happening at home. Inflation is hitting families harder than ever in the past forty years. Right now it’s costing the average American family about $275 a month. Can Congress act now to lower these prices? 

(…)

STEPHANOPOULOS, Wages not keeping pace with price 

PELOSI: That’s right. I’ll just mention what congress has done. What contributed to inflation when we last passed The COMPETES Act? There are more jobs and less products which causes prices to rise. Last Friday, we passed The COMPETES Act. It was an enormous step in the right direction. This is the moment we need to confer with Senate. We will soon. 

It’ll be forwarded to the White House. However, it does address the supply chain shortfalls we face and, therefore, will lower inflation. The BBB is also a deficit reduction bill. Some people believe that increasing the national debt will increase inflation. According to 17 Nobel Laureates, the BBB’s structure was designed for long-term investments. It also increases the ability of individuals to share in the success. In addition, the joint-tax committee — which has imprimatur on all of these issues, says BBB will lower the nation’s debt by $100 Billion within the first ten years. And a  trillion dollars in the second 10 years. 

(…)

STEPHANOPOULOS He said it’s gonna hurt inflation. Let’s look at it. 

(…)

STEPHANOPOULOS, The rising rate of crime is the other major concern. There are divisions within Democrats over how to deal with it. Your colleague Karen Bass running for mayor of Los Angeles trying to increase the police force in L.A. Cori Bush Congresswoman from Missouri is saying it’s time to defund the police. She’s sticking by that. How do Democrats address the rising criminality? 

(…)

STEPHANOPOULOS – President Biden is currently struggling with his approval ratings due to rising inflation and increasing crime. They’re weighing down on Democrats as you head into the midterms. While you said that your intention is to run for another term this year, 29 other Democrats have not announced their intentions. What are your concerns about the midterms now?