News of an obscure GOP Hill staffer’s resignation was quickly covered by the big three networks Monday, but days had passed before they began reporting the Jonathan Gruber scandal.
Elizabeth Lauten quit Monday as communications director for Rep. Stephen Fincher, R-Tenn., after her Facebook criticism of Sasha and Malia Obama sparked a huge media backlash.
“It is one of the few rules that the news media and the mob usually both adhere to: Leave families out of the fight. However, tonight a Republican staffer is out of a job after something she wrote on social media about the first daughters,” NBC News’ Brian Williams said during Monday’s evening newscast.
“CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley” followed suit: “[E]lizabeth Lauten: A congressional aide whose Facebook post about President Obama’s daughters, Malia and Sasha, sparked a firestorm.”
ABC News’ “World News Tonight With David Muir” said this Monday: “The Republican aide [sparked] a firestorm when she posted criticism of the first daughters.”
In a now-deleted Thanksgiving Day post, Lauten wrote this about the Obama girls and the White House turkey pardoning ceremony: “Dear Sasha and Malia, I get you’re both in those awful teen years, but you’re a part of the First Family, try showing a little class. … Act like being in the White House matters to you. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar. And certainly don’t make faces during televised public events.”
She later apologized for the remarks, writing on Facebook: “After many hours of prayer, talking to my parents, and re-reading my words online, I can see more clearly just how hurtful my words were. I’d like to apologize to all of those who I have hurt and offended with my words, and I pledge to learn and grow (and I assure you I have) from this experience.”
Lauten’s critics kept up the pressure, however, and her resignation followed.
In contrast to the coverage of the GOP staffer flap, the networks were much slower to cover recently unearthed footage showing Gruber, one of the chief architects of Obamacare, saying the healthcare law was passed in 2010 thanks to a “lack of transparency” and the “stupidity of American voters.”
“Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage,” Gruber said during an academic panel discussion in 2013. “Call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever. But basically, that was really, really critical to getting the thing to pass.”
The conservative activist group American Commitment first uncovered Gruber’s 2013 remarks and posted the video to YouTube Nov. 7.
Six days later, CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley offered that network’s first Gruber comment, saying Republicans had turned him into “an all-important player.” CBS News’ Jan Crawford also reported on Gruber’s remarks the same day.
“NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” has yet to cover the Gruber controversy. NBC News’ Chuck Todd did, however, address the issue on Nov. 16 when he asked Secretary for Health and Human Services Sylvia Mathews Burwell during a “Meet the Press” interview to respond to the MIT health economist’s remarks.
“World News Tonight With David Muir” didn’t cover Gruber’s controversial comments, which continued to grow in number with the unearthing of additional videos from separate events, until Nov. 18, when the network dedicated one minute and 16 seconds to the topic.
On Nov. 18, Todd told Newsmax TV’s Steve Malzberg that the networks likely responded slowly to Gruber’s remarks because it’s a “political story.”
“I’m not saying it’s not a story. Look, I’m not in charge of any of those newscasts, but what is the news today of that? It’s a political story. Network news in general hasn’t been covering the political-back-and-forth of Washington a lot lately,” Todd said.
Spokespersons for ABC, CBS and NBC News declined to comment when asked by the Washington Examiner about the disparity in coverage and timing of the Lauten and Gruber stories.
Fox News’ Bret Baier said Monday the difference in how Gruber and Lauten have been covered by the three networks is telling.
“A segment on broadcast network news shows (30-minute programs that these days seem to have precious little time for Washington stories), front page treatment in the Washington Post, A16 in the New York Times and multiple segments on cable news yesterday and today,” he said.
“Contrast that to the coverage of Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber’s unearthed video comments about how the law was formed thanks to the ‘stupidity of the American voter’ and other clips,” he added.
