I am not sure which is worse: that CBS News’ Gayle King is rewriting history to rehab Billy Bush or that she does not know basic details of what was arguably the biggest story of the 2016 presidential election.
Then again, what else should we expect from a journalist who claims the Obama administration was scandal-free?
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King interviewed Bush this week to promote his reentry into the world of news television three years after the discovery of the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood tape. The interview was so softball that King should be able to write it off on her taxes as an in-kind contribution to Bush’s rehabilitation campaign. She not only assists Bush in minimizing his role in the Access Hollywood incident, but she also promotes the idea that he is something of a victim in all of this.
“Listen, we all cringe when we hear that tape,” King told her two co-hosts this week after airing a preview of the interview. “Billy himself cringes, too. But that tape was in 2005 when it happened.”
In the Access Hollywood tape, then-NBC host Bush laughs and goads then-NBC megastar Donald Trump, who in turn brags about grabbing women by the “pussy.” Shortly after the tape surfaced during the 2016 presidential election, NBC fired Bush. It should be noted here that NBC did not report first on the tape’s existence (that distinction goes to the Washington Post), though “everyone” at the network knew about it, according to Bush. King allowed Bush’s allegation that his former employer sat on the Access Hollywood tape to go without any further comment or inquiry.
King’s co-host, Tony Dokoupil, interjected this week as she teased her interview with Bush, saying about the fact that the tape was from 2005, “You forget that.”
“I forgot that, too!” King responded.
Co-host Anthony Mason added, “It’s so far back!”
So the hosts of CBS’ flagship morning show, which includes King, who is billed as a sharp-eyed, top-notch journalist, all say they don’t remember a basic detail about one of the biggest, if not the biggest, story of the 2016 presidential election? That is something I think they should probably not admit out loud.
This is not a one-off for King, by the way. She repeated elsewhere at her network that she had no idea until 2019 that the Access Hollywood tape is from 2005.
“It didn’t occur to me until [Bush] pointed out that the tape was 2005,” King admitted a second time. “So, think about this: He gets fired in 2016 for something that was in 2005 that he didn’t even say the word! He was sort of collateral damage, for a lack of a better word, and you lose your job and your career just like that.”
King said elsewhere in reference to Bush that he “has had a lot of time, a lot of soul-searching. He has dug really deep to find out, ‘Who am I? How did this happen?’”
Back at her morning show, King told her co-hosts, “[It’s] 2005 five, you guys. And that — it was [Bush’s] first year as a host of the show. Donald Trump was the biggest star on the network at the time. So you’re just kind of, ‘Ha! Ha! Ha!’ going along.”
She then promoted Bush’s claim that he did not even hear when Trump said the “P-word.”
“I go, ‘Billy, how did you not hear it?’ He goes, ‘You’re looking for the next shot, you’re talking with the crew … ’ I, I actually believe that,” King said.
She concluded, “I think you get a whole different perspective. Billy certainly says he has learned and grown from that, and his new show starts tonight. A lot of people are pulling for him.”
So wait, which one is it? Did he do, hear, and see no evil, or has he learned and grown from it?
This is, of course, a complete whitewashing of what happened. The idea that Bush was only half-listening or that he was just a kid who did not know any better: utter nonsense. For reference, here is a transcript of the worst part of the Access Hollywood conversation, which shows Bush was very much a willing and involved participant:
Trump: Whoa! Whoa!
Bush: Yes! The Donald has scored. Whoa, my man!
[Crosstalk]
Trump: Look at you, you are a pussy.
[Crosstalk]
Trump: All right, you and I will walk out.
[Silence]
Trump: Maybe it’s a different one.
Bush: It better not be the publicist. No, it’s, it’s her, it’s —
Trump: Yeah, that’s her. With the gold. I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.
Bush: Whatever you want.
Trump: Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.
Bush: Uh, yeah, those legs, all I can see is the legs.
Trump: Oh, it looks good.
Bush: Come on shorty.
Trump: Ooh, nice legs, huh?
Bush: Oof, get out of the way, honey. Oh, that’s good legs. Go ahead.
I am not saying Bush should be exiled permanently. I am not saying he should be denied the opportunity for redemption. Everyone deserves a second chance. All I am saying is that journalists who want to tell his story ought to do so accurately and fairly. In other words, they ought to do the opposite of what Gayle King did this week.
