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Fox News is talking more about abortion than the Democratic debates did

Media Matters for America

Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

During the four nights of the two Democratic presidential primary debates in June and July, Fox News outpaced CNN and MSNBC in the amount of time it gave to abortion coverage even though the network didn’t host either debate. CNN moderators failed to ask a single question about abortion during the second primary debate this week. And even though MSNBC moderators asked the candidates questions about the topic during the network’s debate in June, Fox News spent more time discussing the issue than CNN, MSNBC, or the candidates themselves did.

Right-wing media have been regularly dominating the conversation about abortion ahead of the 2020 elections, filling a void of abortion-related coverage by spreading misinformation and stigma about it. Fox News has been a frequent promoter of anti-abortion misinformation -- including the allegation that Democratic support for abortion access is “extreme.” Given this emphasis, as well as the decreasing accessibility of abortion care across the United States, it is essential that moderators ask candidates specific and nuanced questions about abortion during the debates.

This trend of right-wing media dominating abortion coverage continued during three of the four nights of the Democratic debates. Media Matters monitored both debates and live pre-debate and post-debate coverage on MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News and found that Fox News discussed the topic for almost 26 minutes total. In comparison, the topic was discussed on MSNBC for 11 and a half minutes and on CNN for about six minutes; this count includes the time when abortion was discussed on the debate stage as well as during pre-debate and post-debate coverage.

CNN's moderators failed to ask the candidates any questions about abortion during the network's two nights of debates. The only time abortion was discussed during CNN’s July 31 debate night was when Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) asked former Vice President Joe Biden about his different positions on the Hyde Amendment. Notably, even when discussing the Hyde Amendment (which prohibits federal funds from supporting abortion care except in cases of rape or incest), neither Harris nor Biden used the word “abortion.” The topic was also essentially absent from the July 30 debate.

Even though abortion was discussed during both nights of the MSNBC debate in June as moderators questioned candidates about it, Fox News still discussed the topic more each night than the debate participants and commentators on MSNBC or CNN did. During the first night of the June debate, Fox News discussed abortion for about nine minutes and 19 seconds between 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. In contrast, debate participants and commentators on MSNBC discussed the topic for only about four minutes and 15 seconds, and CNN commentators discussed abortion for only two minutes.

This disparity was even greater during the second night of the MSNBC debate. During the same time period of 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., Fox discussed abortion for 15 minutes and 48 seconds, while debate participants and MSNBC commentators discussed the topic for four minutes and 44 seconds. Commentators on CNN discussed abortion for less than two minutes.

Though there are many important topics that moderators should be raising during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary debates, Democratic voters are clear that they want to hear candidates discuss abortion. If moderators continue to prioritize optics, vacuous political theater, and right-wing talking points over substantive questions, right-wing media will continue dominating the discussion and will keep spreading anti-choice misinformation unabated on their own platforms.

Methodology

Media Matters searched the SnapStream video database for mentions of the following keywords: “abortion,” “Roe,” “reproductive rights,” “right to choose,” “pro-life,” “pro-choice,” “anti-choice,” “pro-abortion,” “decisions about her body,” “infanticide,” or “Hyde.” We searched on Fox News Channel, CNN, and MSNBC between 8 p.m and 1 a.m. for the June debates and between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. for the July debates due to the earlier start time.

We timed segments, which we defined as instances in which a speaker in the debate or on a network discussed abortion or a related topic. Segments included host monologues, news reports or packages, interviews, and guest panels. We did not include teasers for upcoming segments or rebroadcasts.

The only Black Republican in the House announced he will not seek reelection. Fox News covered it for 20 seconds.

Media Matters for America

Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) announced on August 1 that he is not seeking reelection in 2020.

I have made the decision to not seek reelection for the 23rd Congressional District of Texas in order to pursue opportunities outside the halls of Congress to solve problems at the nexus between technology and national security. https://t.co/GeZ4Hh264f

— Rep. Will Hurd (@HurdOnTheHill) August 2, 2019

Politico described the importance of Hurd’s retirement:

If you are a House Republican, this has been an absolutely gutting few weeks. And, truly, if someone is trying to spin you on how the political picture is not that bad for the House GOP right now -- at this moment -- you ought to discount them as a political professional or analyst. Because it’s really, really bad, deflating and discouraging.

On Thursday night, Texas Rep. Will Hurd -- the only black Republican in the House -- announced he would not run for reelection. He beat Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones by fewer than 1,000 votes in 2018 in a large district that runs the stretch of the Texas-Mexico border -- and she is running again. Republicans like to say this is an R+1 -- fine, perhaps -- but it’s an R+1 that Hillary Clinton won by 3 points, so it’s not much of an R+1.

Others agreed.

But while much of the political world is talking about the retirement announcement, Fox News is not as interested. Hurd was not mentioning at all during Thursday’s evening programming or Fox & Friends on Friday, and he has received only 20 seconds of coverage so far during Friday’s America’s Newsroom:

Both CNN and MSNBC covered Hurd's announcement on Thursday and Friday.

Fox News has spent plenty of time touting President Donald Trump’s alleged support in the Black community despite polls showing widespread disapproval of the president.

Hurd spoke about his decision not to run again with The Washington Post, calling out Trump’s racism:

In an interview Thursday with The Post, Hurd criticized Trump’s racist tweets last month in which the president said four Democratic minority congresswomen should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” Three of the women are from the United States; a fourth, Rep. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), is a Somali refugee who became a U.S. citizen as a teenager.

“When you imply that because someone doesn’t look like you, in telling them to go back to Africa or wherever, you’re implying that they’re not an American and you’re implying that they have less worth than you,” Hurd said.

Hurd recently told Meet The Press, “I shouldn't be the only African-American Republican in the House of Representatives."

New Bureau of Land Management head complained that federal employees aren’t held “personally responsible for the harm that they do”

Media Matters for America

Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

William Perry Pendley, the new head of the Bureau of Land Management, complained in a 2018 interview that employees like the ones he now manages aren’t held “personally liable” or “personally responsible for the harm that they do” regarding federal land management. He also said that one thing that would prevent such problems in the future “is the federal government owning less land.”

President Donald Trump’s administration this week appointed Pendley, a right-wing lawyer and commentator, as the acting head of the Bureau of Land Management after he worked at the agency for just a few weeks. Media Matters documented that he has argued that climate science isn’t real, claimed that environmentalists want to “destroy” civilization, and once asked, “How many have died and how many more will die because of diversity and race-based decision making?”

Conservation and environmental groups have heavily criticized Pendley’s hiring. Kayje Booker, the policy and advocacy director at Montana Wilderness Association, said: “It’s hard to imagine anyone in this position more dangerous or more conflicted than William Perry Pendley.”

Members of the Blackfeet Nation have also criticized the appointment. As The Washington Post summarized, Pendley is “still the counsel of record representing an aging businessman, Sidney Longwell and his small company Solenex. Solenex leased 6,247 acres in northwest Montana in 1982 during the Reagan administration for about $1 an acre. Longwell wants permission to build a six-mile service road and bridge over the Two Medicine River on lands considered sacred by the Blackfeet tribe. Interior wants to cancel the lease. He would use the road to bring in drilling rigs and other oil exploration equipment.”

Pendley takes over an agency that’s responsible for managing public lands even though he once wrote a 2016 National Review opinion piece which argued that the federal government should sell its public lands. In response to concerns about Pendley’s views, an Interior Department spokesperson claimed: “This administration has been clear that we are not interested in transferring public lands.”

However, Pendley also said in a previously unreported television interview that one of the ways to solve alleged problems with land management is for the government to own “less land.” He also criticized his future employees, saying they’re not held “personally liable” or “responsible for the harm that they do.”

Pendley appeared on the January 26, 2018, edition of the Colorado-based libertarian show Devil’s Advocate with Jon Caldara and talked about his cases against the federal government and the Bureau of Land Management. During the show, he said that “the federal government is the world’s worst neighbor. It absolutely is the worst neighbor.”

Later during the program, Pendley said that unlike private individuals, the federal government can dodge responsibility for their problems, alleging: “These agencies, these employees, they’re not personally liable, they’re not personally responsible for the harm that they do. They’re going to move down the hall, they’re going to move across the country.”

Pendley was then asked how to prevent such alleged problems with the federal government. He responded: “One of the things that prevents it is the federal government owning less land. We recognize the federal government, the United States government owns a third of the country, including especially here in the West.”

Amid unprecedented attacks on reproductive rights, CNN debate moderators completely ignore abortion

Media Matters for America

Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

During the July 30 and 31 presidential debates, CNN moderators Jake Tapper, Dana Bash, and Don Lemon failed to ask 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls a single question about abortion.

Nationally, as state legislatures continue to push an increasing number of abortion restrictions -- and with right-wing media already amplifying anti-abortion misinformation ahead of the 2020 elections -- the primary debates are a crucial opportunity for moderators to ask precise, nuanced questions about how presidential candiates would protect abortion access. CNN’s failure to ask about abortion was out of step with what Democratic voters wanted to hear about during the debates and was a missed opportunity to break right-wing media’s dominance of abortion-related conversations on cable news.

Abortion rights garnered hardly any recognition from moderators or candidates alike during the July 30 Democratic primary debate. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock briefly referred to himself as “pro-choice” in his opening statement.

The only substantive conversation about abortion happened during the July 31 debate. On stage, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) confronted former Vice President Joe Biden over his past support of the Hyde Amendment, a legislative provision that forbids the allocation of federal funds for abortion care except in limited cases. This amendment disproportionately affects people of color and those of lower socioeconomic status who might depend on federal support to access health care. Although this short exchange was the only discussion of abortion during both nights of the CNN moderated debates, neither candidate said the word “abortion.” In fact, five hours of political discourse yielded a mere two minutes of abortion conversation without anyone -- the 20 candidates or three moderators -- saying the word “abortion.”

This is not the first time CNN moderators have excluded discussion of abortion during presidential debates. After a 2016 Democratic primary debate, critics called out the network for not asking any questions about abortion despite coming days after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, a case concerning anti-abortion restrictions in Texas. After this week’s debates, abortion rights groups were confounded again by the lack of action

Given the already precarious state of abortion access, debate moderators need to ask candidates specific and nuanced questions on abortion -- otherwise right-wing media and anti-choice outlets will continue to dominate the conversation with harmful misinformation.

Rush Limbaugh has ramped up his Fox News appearances in 2019

Media Matters for America

Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh’s appearances on Fox News programs have significantly increased in 2019 compared to past years.

Media Matters analyzed Nexis transcripts from January 1, 2013, to August 1, 2019, and found a dramatic increase: While he rarely appeared on the network in prior years, this year Limbaugh has made eight appearances on various Fox news and opinion shows, including a scheduled August 1 appearance on Sean Hannity’s show.

By contrast, Limbaugh appeared on Fox a total of three times in all of 2018 and only two times in 2017, including one interview with Hannity that aired over two nights. Before President Donald Trump took office, Limbaugh appeared on Fox only one time each in 2015 and 2016; in 2014 he made only two appearances on Fox programs. In 2013, he made two appearances as well as calling in to Fox & Friends.

In 2019, Limbaugh is appearing on both Fox News opinion programs and the network’s “straight news” programming. Just days ago, Limbaugh assured Fox & Friends that Trump is not a racist. Earlier this month, he told the program that Democrats are conspiring to rig elections.

Fox’s supposed “news”-side programs have also let Limbaugh peddle conspiracy theories and other wild claims without question. In April, Limbaugh said Hillary Clinton should be investigated, indicted, and put in jail, and he used a racial slur when discussing Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) with Fox “straight news” anchor Martha MacCallum. In March, days after Limbaugh suggested that the New Zealand mass shooting might have been a false flag done to smear conservatives, he appeared on Special Report with Bret Baier. Baier did not ask about Limbaugh’s remarks.

Bret Baier did not really challenge a single thing Rush Limbaugh said during a 7.5 minute interview on his straight-news show last night. Limbaugh called Mueller's investigation a "manufactured coup" and said "the mainstream media" should be investigated. https://t.co/HftPbARszP pic.twitter.com/cXjB0KUMay

— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) March 29, 2019

Limbaugh has a decades-long history of sexism and misogyny, including calling then-13-year-old Chelsea Clinton a “dog” and claiming feminism “was established to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream.” Limbaugh also has a history of racism, often using coded language and other dog whistles that became more explicit after the election of President Barack Obama. Recently, Limbaugh has called Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) “some young uppity,” warned that the U.S. will become “undermined from within” by immigrants, and said that Obama and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) are not African Americans and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) is not a person of color.

Limbaugh’s racism, sexism, and bigotry have taken a toll on his radio show; in recent years, he has become toxic to advertisers, especially after he called then-law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” for testifying before Congress about women’s health care. Limbaugh’s remarks led advertisers to shy away from right-wing radio as a whole. .

While right-wing radio has struggled, the Republican Party has effectively merged with Fox News. Even though Limbaugh has his own connection to Trump, appearing on Fox can boost him within the right-wing bubble -- something he didn’t have to worry about just a few years ago.

This post has been edited for clarity.

Media shrugged off billboard’s implicit threat toward four congresswomen of color

Media Matters for America

Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

Numerous online and cable news outlets dismissed a North Carolina gun store billboard that implicitly threatens four freshman Democratic congresswomen of color, either suggesting the image was simply “mocking” the women or ignoring it altogether.

Cherokee Guns in Murphy, NC, recently put up a billboard depicting Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) as “idiots” and referring to them as “the 4 horsemen,” a reference to the Bible’s apocalypse. The billboard was “signed” by “the Deplorables” -- a reference to supporters of President Donald Trump -- and it advertised that the gun store is “1 mile on right."

The billboard was slammed by gun safety organizations and other advocacy groups as “dangerous” and “hateful rhetoric” that is “encouraging gun violence” against members of Congress. The ad was also criticized by two of the congresswomen themselves before the advertising company that operates the billboard reportedly promised to take it down. However, Cherokee Guns is standing by its message and has started offering bumper stickers of the image instead.

At least one outlet -- The Washington Post -- highlighted the billboard's inherent threat in its headline, but many online and print news outlets simply shrugged at the message. In headlines, CBS News, USA Today, Fox Business, Fox News as well as a host of local outlets characterized the billboard’s threat as merely “mock[ing]” the targeted representatives.

Cable news has so far ignored the story almost completely. A Media Matters search found no mention of the gun store’s billboard on CNN or Fox News during live programming between 5 a.m. on July 28 -- shortly after Cherokee Guns posted an image of the billboard to Facebook -- and the time of this publication on August 1. MSNBC mentioned the story only once during that same time period, discussing it briefly as part of a larger segment on Trump’s racist attacks against the congresswomen.

The threatening billboard follows a long and well-established pattern of rhetoric from right-wing media harassing the four congresswomen -- often referred to collectively as “the Squad.” Fox News has spent months attacking Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Tlaib, and Pressley as “dangerous” and claiming they are fighting against the interests of America. The network’s hosts and contributors have also repeatedly defended Trump’s racist attacks against them.

Tomi Lahren previously pushed the same sexist smear about Kamala Harris on Fox Nation

Media Matters for America

Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

Fox News commentator Tomi Lahren apologized on Thursday for her sexist tweet about Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) the previous night, arguing that it was “the wrong choice of words.” But she previously pushed the same repugnant smear on her Fox Nation show, and several other Fox commentators have also promoted the narrative.

During the July 31 Democratic presidential debate, Lahren attacked Harris for her relationship with former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown in the mid-1990s, tweeting, “Kamala did you fight for ideals or did you sleep your way to the top with Willie Brown?”

The sexist narrative has gained traction on anonymous message board fever swamps and among right-wing influencers like Gateway Pundit’s Jim Hoft, talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, and the actor James Woods. In a February article on the unique challenges women face on the presidential campaign trail, The New York Times’ Maggie Astor cited critics’ references to Harris’ past relationship with Brown, calling them “a common tactic faced by women that sexualizes them and reduces their successes to a relationship with a man.”

Lahren’s vile Tweet was widely condemned, including by some of her Fox colleagues. Network commentators Britt McHenry and Kat Timpf both chastised the Fox Nation host on Twitter, and several Fox employees admonished her in comments to CNN’s Oliver Darcy. “It makes me sick that I work for the same company as Tomi Lahren,” one told him.

On Thursday morning, Lahren tweeted, “I apologize for my comment on Kamala’s personal relationship. It was the wrong choice of words. There are many other things to take her to task for and I will stick to those.”

But Lahren hasn’t limited her use of this misogynistic smear to her personal Twitter feed -- she previously devoted an entire episode of her Fox Nation show to the claim.

Lahren accused Harris of “using an extramarital affair to boost her political career” and “dating [her] way to the top” during the January 29 edition of Final Thoughts, her weekday afternoon program on Fox’s streaming service. The episode featured the chyron “Kamala’s Affair Boost.”

Lahren faced no apparent consequences for the Fox Nation segment, which largely flew under the radar. That’s by design -- the streaming service was intended to provide content that “could be even less restrained than the network’s evening programming,” in part because its audience is the biggest Fox superfans. By contrast, her more publicly accessible tweet drew immediate criticism from others on Twitter, including her colleagues, and she apologized within hours.

But other Fox personalities have used their network platforms to make similar insinuations about Harris’ decades-old relationship with Brown.

Joseph diGenova, a Republican lawyer who regularly appears on Fox, referred to Harris as “Willie Brown’s paramour” during a May 1 segment on the Fox prime-time show The Ingraham Angle.

DiGenova was responding to Harris’ questioning of Attorney General William Barr during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, in which he claimed she had been “pretty snitty.”

Ingraham chuckled and responded, “Ouch.”

Others at Fox have made their references more oblique.

Fox contributor Newt Gingrich argued that Harris “has to be very careful about Willie Brown” with regard to “her early career” on the January 28 edition of Fox & Friends. He added that she “may end up with some interesting things to answer.”

Gingrich also referenced the narrative during a July 8 appearance on Fox Business’ Mornings with Maria while bringing up a San Francisco Chronicle column Brown wrote in which he argued after the June primary debates that the candidates are not yet ready to defeat President Donald Trump.

In discussing the piece, Gingrich volunteered that Brown “knows Kamala Harris very, very well.”

Host Maria Bartiromo chimed in that Brown was “for a long time, very close with Kamala Harris.”

“He really was,” Gingrich replied. “And I think they may have had a falling out.”

Less than 10% of questions were about climate change at CNN's two-night debate in Detroit

Media Matters for America

Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

The climate crisis was the topic of 9.5% of questions during CNN's two-night Democratic presidential primary debate in Detroit on July 30 and 31. The moderators posed a total of 242 questions or invitations to speak on a topic, and just 23 were climate-related. Fifteen of the 20 candidates were brought into the climate discussions.

In comparison, at the two-night NBC debate in late June, less than 6% of the questions were about climate change and only 10 of 20 candidates were asked about the issue.

During both debate nights in Detroit, moderators ignored climate change during the first half of the event -- even though the public told CNN in an online poll that they wanted to hear about the climate crisis more than any other topic.

On both nights, CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash moderated the climate portion -- and on both nights, she asked whether the Green New Deal was "realistic," focusing on the second night on questioning the feasibility of social and economic components of the Green New Deal.

Bash's July 30 climate questions are discussed here. Her July 31 questioning began with an invitation to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to explain why his campaign is centered around fighting climate change:

DANA BASH (MODERATOR): Let's now turn to the issue of the climate crisis. The United Nations says the world needs to cut all carbon emissions by 2050 or risk facing disastrous consequences. Gov. Inslee, many of your fellow Democratic candidates say that climate change is the biggest existential threat facing the country. You, though, are calling it the No. 1 priority in your campaign. What do you know that the others don't?

While answering, Inslee called former Vice President Joe Biden's plan "middling," so Bash invited Biden to respond and then asked entrepreneur Andrew Yang to weigh in. She also allowed further back-and-forth between Inslee and Biden. Bash's next question was to Biden:

DANA BASH: Just to clarify, would there be any place for fossil fuels, including coal and fracking, in a Biden administration?

Bash invited California Sen. Kamala Harris to respond, and Harris brought up the Green New Deal. Bash then turned to New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand:

DANA BASH: I want to talk about that with Sen. Gillibrand. You're a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal, which includes the guarantee of a job with medical leave, paid vacations, and retirement security for everyone in America. Explain how that's realistic.

She invited Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to give her views on the Green New Deal, then turned to New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker:

DANA BASH: Sen. Booker, what's your response? Is the job guarantee in the Green New Deal realistic?

After bringing seven candidates into the climate discussion, Bash shifted to the issue of lead poisoning, as she had done the night before, first by posing a question to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio:

DANA BASH: Mayor de Blasio, your administration has come under fire after hundreds of children living in New York City public housing tested positive for elevated levels of lead. As you know, we're not far from Flint, MI, where residents are still dealing with the consequences of having lead in their drinking water. How can you assure the people of Flint and across the nation that you are the right person to handle such a problem?

Bash also asked former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro to explain why he's "the right candidate to solve this problem."

Though some of its climate questions were weak, CNN deserves credit for bringing up a critical environmental justice issue in a nationally televised debate -- a rarity.

Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet was the only candidate over the two nights who was not asked to speak about climate change or Flint and the lead crisis.

Overall, climate activists were justifiably underwhelmed by the discussions on both nights of CNN's debate and are redoubling their calls for one of the remaining 10 planned debates to be dedicated entirely to the climate crisis.

Methodology: In counting the number of questions asked by debate moderators, Media Matters included invitations to candidates to make responses, as well as follow-up questions to the same candidate on the same topic. We did not include invitations to make opening or closing statements. We also did not include interjections or clarifications from the moderators unless they were interjections to allow a different candidate to speak.

Second round of Democratic debates sees improvement in how moderators ask about gun violence

Media Matters for America

Don Lemon showed during the first night of CNN’s Democratic primary debates that moderators can ask candidates about gun violence in a straightforward manner that elicits wide-ranging answers. Lemon’s handling of the issue was in stark contrast to the sensationalist manner in which NBC’s Chuck Todd raised gun violence issues during the first round of debates. (One important note: Many other topics at the CNN debate were not covered as well as gun violence as moderators adopted right-wing frames in asking their questions.)

Gun violence was discussed for roughly 10 minutes during CNN’s July 30 debate that featured 10 Democratic presidential contenders. Lemon, who co-moderated the debates with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, raised the issue by asking South Bend, IN, Mayor Pete Buttigieg what he would do about an “epidemic of gun violence” in the United States:

DON LEMON: Let’s turn now to the issue of gun violence. There were three large-scale shootings this past [weekend] in America, at a park in Brooklyn, on the streets [of] Philadelphia, and one that left three dead and 12 injured at a food festival in Gilroy, California. Governor - excuse me, Mayor Buttigieg, other than offering words of comfort, what’re you specially going to do to stop this epidemic of gun violence?

Lemon’s question was a marked improvement from the questions Todd asked during NBC’s June 26 debate. In that first Democratic debate, Todd framed his gun violence questions around the sensationalistic right-wing talking point that strengthening gun laws would necessitate the government taking people’s privately owned firearms.

Todd’s question had forced candidates to use their limited response times to defend themselves from a false charge, rather than giving them an open-ended opportunity to discuss their views on addressing gun violence like Lemon’s question did. Beyond Buttigieg, six other Democratic contenders were also asked last night to share their views on preventing gun violence.

The candidates’ responses raised several important issues including what to do about everyday gun violence (which receives less attention than public mass shootings despite accounting for the bulk of the gun homicide death toll), how we are currently raising a second generation who has lived through regular school shootings, how gun violence is a public health issue, how to address the National Rifle Association’s influence on the political system, and how money in politics contributes to inaction at the federal level on gun violence. Candidates also discussed several specific gun violence prevention proposals, including implementing extreme risk protection orders, disarming domestic abusers, expanding gun background checks, banning assault weapons, and reversing restrictions on research by the Centers for Disease Control on gun violence.

Following the larger discussion of gun violence, Lemon briefly raised the issue again later in the debate, asking Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) about the fact that “the alleged shooter in this weekend’s attack in Gilroy, California referenced a well-known white supremacist book on social media.” Mainstream media have a tendency to shy away from clear discussions of ideologically motivated violence -- possibly for fear of appearing partisan because the vast majority of recent politically motivated violent attacks in the U.S. were inspired by right-wing ideology.

While last night’s questions about gun violence were a good start there are still areas of improvement for debate moderators. Moderators can also ask candidates about solutions for communities disproportionately impacted by everyday gun violence without tying it in with a mass shooting. That being said, Lemon’s initial gun violence question was more inclusive than most media discussions of public mass shootings because he did not ask just about the headline-grabbing Gilroy Garlic Festival mass shooting but also mentioned shootings in Philadelphia and Brooklyn. While public mass shootings receive significantly more coverage than everyday gun violence, even within mass shooting coverage there is a disparity in which the media largely ignore mass shootings that occur in communities of color.

Prior to the July 30 debate, Media Matters interviewed a number of gun violence experts to ask them about Todd’s question at the first debate and how future gun violence debate questions might be better framed. The experts we spoke to emphasized some points that were raised at the CNN debate, including discussion of gun violence as a public health issue and everyday gun violence (which was referenced more so by the candidates than Lemon). But other issues are still yet to be explored, notably the fact that roughly two-thirds of the 36,000 annual gun deaths in the U.S. are gun suicides.

CNN’s second night of debates to be held this evening offers an opportunity to build on the largely thoughtful gun violence discussion that occurred last night.

Right-wing outlets tout post-debate Drudge poll that 4chan users had gamed

Media Matters for America

Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

Users of the far-right message board 4chan organized to rig a Drudge Report online poll following the July 30 Democratic presidential debate. Multiple right-wing outlets touted the results. 4chan users similarly rigged previous post-debate Drudge polls.

After the first night of the CNN debate, users on 4chan’s “/pol/” message board shared the poll and urged others to vote for author and presidential candidate Marianne Williamson.

One user cheered that the message board was “rigging the Drudge poll,” calling it “a good thing.”

It is unsurprising that 4chan users would attempt to rig this online poll, because there has been widespread reporting about how they have done it multiple times before -- and will again, regardless of the candidates in the debate. Last month, users on the message board targeted Drudge polls after both parts of the first Democratic presidential debate to vote for candidates Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, and entrepreneur Andrew Yang, along with Williamson. And in May, users on the message board manipulated a Danish tabloid's online poll about Denmark’s then-upcoming elections.

And yet, multiple right-wing outlets wrote up the poll’s results as meaningful. Breitbart touted it in a headline. Media Research Center claimed the poll showed that “the public has spoken,” and organization vice president Dan Gainor wrote an op-ed on FoxNews.com citing the poll as proof of Williamson’s supposed post-debate rise. Gainor’s op-ed even led FoxNews.com.

11% of CNN moderators' questions were about climate crisis at first Detroit debate night

Media Matters for America

Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

Note: This post is about night one of the second Democratic debate. For analysis of both nights, July 30 and 31, see here.

The public told CNN that the climate crisis was the topic they most wanted to hear about from candidates at the Democratic presidential primary debate in Detroit, MI, but during the first night of the debate on July 30, climate change was not among the top three most-asked-about topics.

On July 30, 11% of the moderators' questions and invitations to speak were related to climate change -- 14 out of a total of 125. Eight of the 10 candidates on stage were given the opportunity to weigh in on the topic.

In comparison, at the two-night NBC debate in June, less than 6% of the questions were about climate change and only half of the candidates were asked about the issue.

The climate portion of the evening came more than halfway through the debate and was moderated by CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash. She began by asking former Rep. John Delaney (D-MD) about the Green New Deal:

DANA BASH (MODERATOR): Congressman Delaney, I’ll start with you. You say the Green New Deal is about as realistic as Trump saying Mexico is going to pay for the wall. But scientists say we need essentially to eliminate fossil fuel pollution by 2050 to avoid the most catastrophic consequences. Why isn’t this sweeping plan to fight the climate crisis realistic?

Bash also invited Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper to give their views on the Green New Deal.

Bash then approached the topic of climate change from a different angle, asking Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) about a bill to phase out sales of gasoline-powered cars, which is intended to help fight climate change:

BASH: Congressman Ryan, we are here in Michigan, where there are about 180,000 workers in auto manufacturing. Your state of Ohio has around 96,000 workers in that industry. Senator Sanders is co-sponsoring a bill that would eliminate new gas-powered car sales by 2040. Given the number of auto manufacturing workers in your state, how concerned are you about Senator Sanders' plan?

Bash also invited Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX), and South Bend, IN, Mayor Pete Buttigieg to weigh in.

In all, Bash posed questions or made invitations to speak about climate change 14 times, drawing in eight of the candidates.

But Bash's climate-related questions drew plenty of criticism. She directed the main questions initially to two centrist Democrats who are polling in the 1% range and asked them why or whether they opposed ambitious climate policies. She did not ask the leading candidates specifically about their more aggressive proposals.

The two candidates who were omitted from the climate discussion -- Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and author Marianne Williamson -- were asked questions related to the water crisis in Flint, MI. Bash directed the first one to Klobuchar:

BASH: I want to ask you about something that CNN heard from a Michigan Democratic primary voter, but we’re reaching out and getting their questions. Kimber from Birmingham, Michigan has this question, “What is your plan to address infrastructure, including the water issue so another Flint, Michigan does not happen again?”

Bash then asked Williamson for her views on the Flint water crisis.

This was a rare instance of corporate media acknowledging the issue of environmental justice during a major debate.

Climate activists were not satisfied with the amount and quality of attention given to climate change on the first night of the Detroit debate and are continuing to demand that one of the 12 planned Democratic debates be dedicated completely to the climate crisis. Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez said last month that he trusts the host networks to ask about climate change “early and often” at the debates, but we aren't seeing that so far.

Our official response to night one of the #DemDebate >> https://t.co/8PinfC31q1

It's not just that these debates aren't focusing enough on the climate crisis, it's that moderators are asking the wrong questions and falling prey to GOP framing.

We need a #ClimateDebate.

— Greenpeace USA (@greenpeaceusa) July 31, 2019

In rare TV appearance outside of Fox, Alliance Defending Freedom attorney repeatedly misgenders trans athletes

Media Matters for America

Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

Extreme anti-LGBTQ group Alliance Defending Freedom’s (ADF) Christiana Holcomb repeatedly misgendered two trans athletes during an NBC Today segment covering ADF’s legal complaint that objects to trans athletes’ participation in sex-segregated sports. ADF rarely appears on TV news networks other than Fox News, where its staff have appeared at least six times this year.

In June, ADF filed a Title IX discrimination complaint to the U.S. Department of Education on behalf of three high school track athletes in Connecticut, taking issue with the state’s policy allowing transgender athletes to compete in sports that align with their gender identity. ADF first announced that it was filing the complaint on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight.

ADF’s attorneys regularly promulgate their anti-LGBTQ views on Fox News and rarely appear on other news networks. In fact, a Media Matters analysis found that no ADF staff have appeared on the cable news channels MSNBC or CNN since at least August 2017 -- though in 2017, ADF attorney Kristen Waggoner and client Jack Phillips appeared on at least two broadcast news shows, NBC’s Megyn Kelly Today and ABC’s The View. Fox provides a safe space for ADF’s dehumanizing rhetoric, as its hosts regularly give the group a platform to discuss its anti-LGBTQ cases and often echo its anti-trans rhetoric such as its penchant for misgendering trans people.

During the July 26 segment, Holcomb repeatedly referred to transgender girls as “biological male.” Holcomb makes it a rule to misgender trans people, including in her news appearances, statements, legal documents, and tweets. Misgendering is a type of harassment that violates journalistic standards and has real negative impacts on transgender people.

Today’s correspondent Stephanie Gosk also missed an opportunity to properly contextualize ADF as an extreme anti-LGBTQ group, instead describing ADF only as “a Christian law firm that has previously fought against transgender causes.” In fact, for over two decades, ADF has led an anti-LGBTQ crusade that seeks to prevent LGBTQ people from adopting children, bar transgender students from using facilities that align with their gender identity, and promote the discredited and harmful practice of conversion therapy. And in October, ADF will argue in front of the Supreme Court on behalf of Harris Funeral Homes, which fired its employee Aimee Stephens after she came out as trans. ADF is arguing that employers should be allowed to fire their staff just for being trans. The Supreme Court will decide if Title VII of the Civil Rights Act’s protections against sex discrimination also apply to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

In contrast to Holcomb’s anti-trans views, the Today segment also featured compelling interviews with trans students Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood. Miller responded to ADF’s complaint, saying, “You don’t want us running with the boys, and not the girls. So what are we? Are we not human like everybody else?”

From the July 26 edition of NBC News’ Today:

STEPHANIE GOSK (CORRESPONDENT): In June, Selina [Soule], two other unidentified female students, and their parents filed a complaint with the Department of Education for discrimination. They are being represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian law firm that has previously fought against transgender causes. Attorney Christiana Holcomb says, in this case, the state of Connecticut is violating Title IX.

Explain to me the complaint.

CHRISITIANA HOLCOMB (ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM): What we’re hoping to achieve is to have the department start an investigation and ultimately to restore fairness and a level playing field to women’s sports. I don't think any solution can be truly fair that allows a biological male to come in and take away athletic opportunities from young women.

GOSK: Right now in the NCAA, if a transgender athlete has taken hormone suppression for a year, they are allowed to compete. Does that rise to your level of fairness?

HOLCOMB: You know, I think even that poses significant questions of fairness. Because even under that rubric, a biological male can come in and be on the podium displacing a young woman.

GOSK: While Andraya and Terry did not discuss their private medical history, they do say the issue goes far beyond the podium and the medals.

TERRY MILLER (STUDENT ATHLETE): So, you don't want us running with the boys, and not the girls. So, what are we? Are we not human like everybody else? Am I just some “it” or my life doesn't matter? How do you think we feel? We go through this every day, and we're brave enough to keep running.

New Interior Department senior adviser Christian Palich is a climate denier and former coal group president

Media Matters for America

Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

The Department of the Interior has hired former coal association president and right-wing energy commentator Christian Palich as a senior adviser. Palich previously appeared in the media to praise President Donald Trump for rolling back environmental protections and has tweeted that climate change is “junk science” and the Sierra Club wants to “kill jobs & destroy families for a phony cause.”

Under the Trump administration, the Department of the Interior has been rolling back environmental protections and pursuing actions to benefit the oil and gas industry. A recent analysis by the Center for Western Priorities found that the department “has completed or taken action on at least 53 policy changes requested or supported by energy companies and associations as of June 2019.”

In 2018, the Union of Concerned Scientists released a report documenting that senior political officials at Interior “have unleashed constant—and ongoing—attacks on science, from sidelining the work of the agency's own scientists to systematically refusing to acknowledge or act on climate change.” The House recently held a hearing in which former Interior employees said that the department had suppressed its work on climate change.

Palich’s hiring continues the department’s anti-environmental trend. Palich, who states on his LinkedIn page that he started working at Interior last month, was previously the president of the pro-Trump Ohio Coal Association from 2013 to 2017. From April 2017 to February 2019, he worked as the deputy associate administrator for congressional and intergovernmental affairs at the Environmental Protection Agency -- an appointment that drew criticism from environmentalists because of his coal industry connections.

In the first half of 2019, he briefly worked as the vice president of government and public affairs at the lobbying firm Siekman, Siekman & Associates. In his now-removed biography for the firm, Palich touted his role as a commentator in the media, describing himself as a “leading, national voice” on energy issues and noting that he has “appeared multiple times on Fox & Friends, On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, Fox Business, and NBC” and been “published in the Boston Globe, the New York Times, and across Ohio media.”

Palich praised Trump in the media for undoing environmental protections. He appeared on the March 29, 2017, edition of one of the president’s favorite programs, Fox & Friends, and hailed Trump for signing an order rolling back President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, calling it a “great day” and saying that “we have a president of the United States that stands with” the coal industry. He also praised Trump in a November 25, 2016, op-ed in The Columbus Dispatch, writing: “Just as he recognized an untapped potential in the American electorate, Trump recognizes similar potential in American coal. Making America Great Again will create a huge demand for energy -- and coal, with all of its technological advancements, will be there to meet it.”

Palich has frequently attacked climate science and environmentalists on his Twitter account. Here are some examples:

In response to President Barack Obama’s 2014 State of the Union speech, he wrote: “I walked to work in -7 temps this morning same day #POTUS says the debate on global warming is settled. Seems legit... #SOTU.”
He wrote of the Clean Power Plan in August 2015: “Even if you buy #EPA's bad science (which I don't), #CPP is still bad policy for America.”
In November 2015, he wrote that the Sierra Club wants to “kill jobs & destroy families for a phony cause.”
In February 2016, he tweeted in response to Obama’s criticism of Republicans for not wanting to act on climate change: “Not destroying our economy over junk science & a radical enviro agenda. Sign me up. #GOP #CoalCountry.”
After Trump’s election, he tweeted: “Time to push fight back on all the radical enviro regs that have been illegally been brought on America over last 8 yrs. @realDonaldTrump.” He also tweeted: “Really enjoying the radical enviro panic right now. Americans flat out rejected this agenda yesterday by a large margin. #CoalCountry.”
In January 2017, he celebrated the news that the new Trump White House had deleted references to climate change from its website, tweeting: “Looks like there is a new sheriff in town. #MAGA.”

He also attacked his future employers and colleagues while working for the Ohio Coal Association. In a February 2016 tweet, he promoted a FoxNews.com op-ed by right-wing lawyers John Yoo and Dean Reuter, who claimed that the federal government bureaucracy is unaccountable. Palich wrote: “All great points & being in the #coal industry we see everyday just how unaccountable @EPA, @OSMRE, & @Interior are.”

Media Matters previously documented that William Perry Pendley, who has just been made acting chief of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, is also a climate denier. Pendley has additionally argued that the federal government should sell its public lands, that environmentalists want to “destroy” civilization, and that diversity is killing people. Pendley’s appointment comes as two former directors of the bureau “say plans to move the agency’s headquarters to Colorado are an early step toward abolishing the entire agency and transferring millions of acres of federal land to the states,” as Bloomberg reported.

ABC, CBS, NBC repeated Trump’s evidence-free claim about his 9/11 response on social media

Media Matters for America

Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

Social media accounts of ABC, CBS, and NBC uncritically repeated President Donald Trump’s claim that he “spent a lot of time” with first responders at the World Trade Center site in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

During a July 29 White House signing ceremony for legislation permanently extending aid to first responders through the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, Trump said to the assembled audience, which included some first responders to the terrorist attack: “I was down there [at ground zero] also, but I'm not considering myself a first responder. But I was down there. I spent a lot of time down there with you.”

Some reporters pointed out that Trump lacked evidence for this claim, and a New York Times fact check of the statement quoted a retired New York City Fire Department deputy chief who said he “spent many months” at the site but never saw Trump there. Trump also has a history of making false and dubious statements concerning the 9/11 attacks.

Despite Trump’s record of falsehoods and exaggerations on this topic, Twitter accounts associated with ABC, CBS, and NBC as well as the Facebook pages for CBS and NBC repeated the president’s claim in their posts without noting that it might be false.

At bill signing ceremony for bill funding 9/11 victims compensation, Pres. Trump says, "I was down there also. But I'm not considering myself a first responder. But I was down there, I spent a lot of time down there with you." https://t.co/VdY3HuFnsI pic.twitter.com/iIKGzwyP2a

— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) July 29, 2019

WATCH: President Trump says he was "down there [at Ground Zero]," but doesn't consider himself a "first responder" moments before signing 9/11 Compensation Fund bill https://t.co/Ax43BKl3yl pic.twitter.com/IVAwiGRPOy

— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 29, 2019

President Trump to 9/11 first responders: "I was down there also, but I'm not considering myself a first responder. But I was down there. I spent a lot of time down there with you." pic.twitter.com/i1fHtt4pYQ

— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 29, 2019

President Trump to 9/11 first responders: "I was down there also, but I'm not considering myself a first responder. But I was down there. I spent a lot of time down there with you." pic.twitter.com/BJCj9bc6pX

— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) July 29, 2019

President Trump to 9/11 first responders: "I was down there also, but I'm not considering myself a first responder. But I was down there. I spent a lot of time down there with you." pic.twitter.com/EEvXzVajZg

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 29, 2019

Fox's Brian Kilmeade insists that Trump “was downtown a lot after the 9/11 attacks”

Media Matters for America

While speaking to a group of 9/11 first responders and their families on July 29, President Donald Trump suggested without evidence that he was at ground zero in New York City with first responders following the attacks, saying that he “spent a lot of time down there with you.”

In reality, Trump has repeatedly lied about his involvement in the response to the 9/11 attacks while also shamelessly trying to push his own brand.

Trump gave an interview the afternoon after the attacks bragging that his building was now the “tallest” in lower Manhattan.

Trump collected $150,000 in state funds intended to help small businesses following the attacks, even though his business was not effected.

Since then, Trump has lied about his involvement repeatedly, suggesting that he “helped clear the rubble.”

Trump claims he helped clear rubble and search for survivors on 9/11: pic.twitter.com/G3yodnBMK2

— Angelo Carusone (@GoAngelo) April 19, 2016

Trump also lied that he watched “thousands” of Muslim Americans celebrate the attack.

17 Years of Donald Trump's Weird Lies About 9/11 pic.twitter.com/5TMIt0QlyR

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) September 11, 2018

Still, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade responded incredulously to criticism that Trump was lying while talking to 9/11 first responders, insisting that Trump “was downtown a lot” following the attacks.

From the July 30 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:

BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): Just like when people [are] saying he wasn't there at 9/11, he was downtown a lot after the 9/11 attacks.