Media top headlines September 2
In media news today, Chris Hayes downplays Biden's phone call with ex-Afghanistan president Ghani, ex-CBS anchor Dan Rather gets crushed for tweet comparing pro-lifers to the Taliban, and an MSNBC analyst likens the Texas abortion law to slavery
Less than one week after the horrific Kabul terrorist attack that left 13 U.S. servicemen dead, MSNBC's liberal primetime lineup appears ready to move on from covering the dramatic fallout from President Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Rachel Maddow, MSNBC's biggest star, completely avoided the subject of Afghanistan despite several controversies that are plaguing the Biden administration from the hundreds of Americans and Afghan allies who were left stranded, the growing terror threat as the Taliban has taken over the country, to the controversial July phone call Biden had pressuring then-Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to push a "perception" of stability in the country.
Instead, "The Rachel Maddow Show" spent a whopping 36 minutes and 50 seconds sounding the alarm of the Texas abortion law that bans pregnancy terminations after six weeks, which has sparked an intense backlash among liberals.
(MSNBC)
Maddow's colleague, "All In" host Chris Hayes, similarly avoided the subject of Afghanistan and chose to dedicate nearly 20 minutes of his show to panic about the GOP-backed abortion law.
The word "Afghanistan" was uttered once in passing by one of Hayes' guests, former Republican congressman David Jolly, who was railing against Republicans during a panel discussion.
Hayes seemed to hint that he was moving on from the Afghanistan crisis in a tweet he sent downplaying Biden's phone call with Ghani.
"Telling the failing Afghan government to ‘fake it till you make it’ as a means of extending its reign as long as possible is a sad statement on cumulative US failures in Afghanistan but not a scandal any more than the war itself was," Hayes tweeted on Wednesday.
Unlike Maddow and Hayes, "Last Word" host Lawrence O'Donnell did address Afghanistan but only to hyperventilate on the GOP criticism of the withdrawal.
That coverage, lasting roughly seven minutes, was overshadowed by the 19 minutes and 26 seconds O'Donnell dedicated to the abortion law.
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The minimal coverage to Afghanistan didn't only occur on MSNBC. CBS completely avoided the subject as well as even mentioning President Biden during Wednesday's newscast of "CBS Evening News."
CBS anchor Norah O'Donnell did save over two minutes of her program to discuss the Texas law.
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